The bestselling controversial novel about corruption and misuse of power in an American boys' school.The headmaster of Trinity College asks Archie Costello, the leader of the Vigils, a secret society that rules the school, to help with the selling of 20,000 boxes of chocolates in the annual fund-raising effort. Archie sees the chance of adding to his power - he is the Assigner, handing out to the boys tasks to be performed if they are to survive in the school. Freshman, Jerry Renault, a newcomer to the corrupt regime, refuses to sell chocolates. Enormous mental and physical pressure is put on him but he will not give in - the result is an inevitable, explosive tragedy.

 

 

This book is the winner of numerous awards

This book features in the following series: Chocolate War, Lions Teen Tracks, M Books, M-Books, New Windmills Ks3, Readers Circle .

This book has been graded for interest at 12-16 years.

There are 288 pages in this book.

It is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed.

This book was published in 2001 by Penguin Random House Children's UK .

Robert Cormier, originally a journalist, wrote for young adults for many years. His work is known for its devastating truthfulness. He has achieved success on both sides of the Atlantic. Robert Cormier lived most of his life in Massachussetts; he died in 2000.