Welcome to Litsy!

Other than Nancy Drew, I haven‘t really read any middle grade since I was middle grade myself. However, this one came to mind. It‘s a brutal story about boys and violence. Some adults have a problem with it but kids don‘t, in my experience. They get it.

“MiddleGradeMonday

Thanks for the tag @Eggs

#LuckyInLove
#chocolate
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

This reminds me how much I love Robert Cormier. I need to go back and revisit his books. 💜

Happy National Chocolate Day!

To play, tag a book with a chocolate theme or the word “chocolate“ in the title, answer the questions, and then tag and share!
I'll go first:
Favorite chocolate: Cadbury Dairy Milk Fruit & Nut
Favorite Halloween chocolate: Reese's peanut butter cups/pumpkins

#NationalChocolateDay
Wanna play, @tiedyedude?!

Read this a few years ago. Wishing all the Litsy teachers and students a successful year of learning! 📚

#darkacademia #bookbinge

#SummerSpecial
#ChocolateDay
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Another highly banned YA novel from the 1970s. Love his books. 💙💚💙

I do not like Lord of the Flies. I did like this. 🤔 Im not sure why bc they give me the same vibes. Peer pressure, conformity, under dogs, good people unable/ unwilling to stand up to bullies.

The annual Trinity boy‘s prep school fundraiser involves selling chocolates. This year the school‘s secret society,The Vigils, is asked by Brother Leon to make certain it is a success. Sadistic Brother Leon has misappropriated school funds. New student Jerry Renault decides not to participate,and the school is in an uproar. #bullying #facultycorruption #bannedbook
#darkacademia #booked2022

New audiobook combined with old paperback that is sitting on my shelves unread. #libby #mttbr #booked2022 #darkacademianovel

Powerful book (banned at some point) with great characterizations; did not know there was a sequel…

#chocolate 🍩🍫🤎 #ItHadToBeYou @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Brilliant. Upsetting, but brilliant writing. Bullies use psychological and physical abuse to entertain themselves. Ugly. Even the teachers can't be trusted. Just as relevant now as it was in #1974.

I know its a metaphor but I cant help to think, damn, all that for some chocolates! 😂

“No I‘m not going to sell the chocolates.”
Cities fell. Earth opened. Planets tilted. Stars plummeted. And the awful silence.
#112

⭐️⭐️This book was given to me by a friend who had read & loved it in high school. And honestly, if I had read it in high school & had gone through it with a teacher, I think I would have liked it a lot more. There‘s tons to unpack in this book, & it could lead to really interesting classroom discussions. But I didn‘t like it at all. So I can see this being a good book to use in class, but it‘s not one I enjoyed reading on my own.

This was my second read-through of this book and I'm still not a fan. Maybe it's just that it's a very "boy book" but there are very few female characters, and those that are mentioned are not done so in a positive light.

She chews while I read. Perfect snowy day activities! ❄️ 🍫 🦴

“To give him a chance. A chance to get rid of his chocolates, old buddy“

My coworker went to #Switzerland and didn‘t bring me back any chocolate! The nerve! In his defense, though, he had a travel nightmare and barely got to the conference in time for his presentation. #letstravelaugust

#TimBitTunes #ConstantCraving
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oXqPjx94YMg

I am constantly craving CHOCOLATE 🍫

1). I hated every moment of reading The Chocolate War. The misogyny and toxic masculinity constantly made me want to throw the book. 2). In grad school I bought lunch a lot cause too busy. 3). Getting pushed off my surfboard by a manatee and thinking it was a shark 4). Coffee 5). Green Wolves! #friyayintro

The bus can represent a lot of things in life depends on how someone would interpret it. It can mean opportunities long been waiting for you and yet you missed the chance or purposely chose something you thought the easy way out but at the end of the day, you realized you're wrong.
#sadtruth

This book is probably the first book I've read recently that didn't end the way that I needed it to. It broke my heart and gave me despair. Even though I will never read this book again, I really believe that it is an important piece of literature. #read #chocolate #realistic #fiction #life #robertcormier

A favorite when I was growing up. I‘m still a fan now. I‘m sensing a theme here - I gravitate toward really dysfunctional books. Makes sense. I‘m pretty dysfunctional. To wit, it really bothers me that I used the word dysfunctional twice (thrice now) and that they line up one above the other. That‘s the less harmful kind, but I have plenty of dark kind too.

#QuotsyMay18 | 15: #Chocolate

I never read this in school so now I‘m making up for lost time. I didn‘t really know much about it going in, including its controversial history somehow. The courage to stand up for what you believe in the face of evil is a message that still resonates today. I‘ll be thinking of this book for a long time to come.

I thought of these two from my YA TBR for #war. I read a few Robert Cormier as a teen, and have heard a lot about The Chocolate War... someday I‘ll finally read it! #readingresolutions

In other news, we got a piano today!! A sweet friend has been wanting to get a new piano, and she kindly gave us her old one. My musician husband is so excited to finally have a piano at home. 😊 🎹 🎶

I originally grabbed this for my kids from a bunch of books a friend was giving away, but they weren't interested, so I'm going to give it a go.

Finishing this up tonight for my YA Lit class. ☕️ #80in18 #YALit #YA

Saw this in a display at our local library. It has been a banned book. I‘d never heard of it. Written in the 70s , I found it a good read with plenty to think about even now. Seems it is often read at high schools. I was wondering if anyone read it as a set book and what did you think?
I enjoyed reading the new introduction by the author.
@MrsMalaprop

I have not read fiction that made me feel so awful, that was so unremittingly terrible, in a very long time. Had it not been for a class, I would not have finished it. Just, Jesus. #inls530

First book for my YA lit class! #gradlife

Is it just me, or do a lot of children and YA novels feature #workaholics as parents? I suppose it's a common enough trait in real life that it wouldn't illicit any raised eyebrows from readers. Plus, if parents are always at work, it leaves the kids alone to experience adventures or drama. In The Chocolate War, we rarely see Jerry's dad, who's always at work. Granted, after his wife's death, it may just be his way of coping. #JubilantJuly

Just bought this because of someone's post!?! Radical teens. Defiance. Secret School Society. #tbr #smellsliketeenspirit #junetunz

A childhood classic. Who knew the teenage candy business could be so cutthroat? #war #maybookflowers

Cormier's often challenged book is as poignant today as it was in 1974. Exploring the themes of conformism, power, and evil, the novel highlights the price the protagonist pays for staying true to his ideals. I was bothered by the many allusions to females as objects and the overused male self-pleasure references. The well-crafted characters and fast-paced plot, however, make it worth the read.

I absolutely love the antics of The Assignments in this book. I laugh every time.

Meh. I can see how this is a classic YA and an important book in the 70s before the YA market emerged, but I found it a bit underwhelming. It was just too cynical for my tastes or rather too uncomplicatedly cynical. I get that people are obsessed with power, but the two key figures were pretty one-dimensional. Boring! I also never felt like I understood Jerry, the character standing up to the bullies. #Audiobooks

Not the brightest start to the #24in48 weekend, but a pick nonetheless

Do I dare disturb the universe?

There's a reason this is the oft-quoted line from this book. By the time you get here, things are getting pretty heavy.

Still slowly working my way through the classics of YA lit.

#bookssetinschool #booktober This classic book set in a school deals with one student trying to decide whether to take on the bullies or go with the flow. As he ponders this question featured on a poster in his bedroom, he decides to take them on. It is a rough road ahead. #setinaschool

I didn't hate this book, but I don't think I'd read the second part of this series. I didn't feel particularly attached to the characters and while the plot sounded interesting, it just didn't hold my interest as much as I would have liked. I think I may have liked this more if this was the first Cormier book I'd read, but it's nowhere near as fantastic as "I Am the Cheese."

In honor of a middle school English friend who had to unassign The Chocolate War to an entire class because two parents were uncomfortable with a reference to masturbation and didn't want their sons to "get ideas". She assigned Huckleberry Finn in its place. No complaints. #somethingforsept @RealLifeReading

Haven't read this since I was a little kid, still love it. Still won't sell chocolate.

I'd never read this before and I have to say I'm so happy I waited until now to do so. This story is truly timeless and horrifyingly apropos when you consider the current state of the world. Cormier's commentary on humanity, power and corruption is so astute, it's almost a shame this is considered a YA novel, only because that category will prevent others from reading what is a great, clever, and terrifying view of human life. This book man. Wow.

"They tell you to do your thing but they don't mean it. They don't want you to do your thing, not unless it happens to be their thing, too."

I get that this book was revolutionary in the young adult genre because of its unconventional ending, and I can appreciate the realism but that doesn't make my heart hurt any less for Jerry.