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I met Robert Cormier in 1995 and he told me that the book "The Chocolate War" was inspired by his son's school-wide project of selling chocolates every year to raise money. While his son didn't disagree with the practice and wanted to participate (and Robert and his wife had no problems with the program), the "seed of the idea" came when Robert thought, "what would be the ramifications to the student who did NOT want to participate in the school-wide activity?" From that he started telling about how he developed the characters based upon their need to create a power-situation over the students and how one student's defiance against the "system" and those who were corrupt ended up causing his own destruction. Although rather pessimistic (as all his novels), the thoughts and actions of the characters became clear to me as the reader once I realized where he had gotten the idea; his comparison of simple situations that we are all involved in each day, to more complex situations that spiral out of control when power becomes the ultimate game played by those who are in control of weaker individuals, still rings true. Thus the reason why "The Chocolate War" has become a contemporary classic. Shonda Brisco, MLIS Trinity Valley MS / US Librarian Trinity Valley School Fort Worth, TX 76132 817-321-0100 ext. 410 briscos@trinityvalleyschool.org "Those who have the highest expectations for the web in terms of student research, are those who work with it, and students, the least." -- LM_NET librarian ________________________________ From: School Library Media & Network Communications on behalf of Kathy Mee Sent: Fri 4/1/2005 7:48 AM To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU Subject: [LM_NET] TARGET: Specifics against banning Chocolate War Hi, As this is my 1st year running a high school library, and my 1st experience defending a challenged book, I thought I would ask for a little help! A parent is challenging the book "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier which is part of our 9th grade curriculum. The English department would like to go in armed to the teeth with specific arguments that have been used in the past to win this little battle. We know many of the broad arguments, Freedom of Speech, etc, but would like some specific arguments that relate to this particular book. Do any of you know of websites that get into detailed points? I've searched the archives, and haven't found anything, and also done some internet searching. I will continue my quest, but thought that some of you might have already experienced this, since the book has been controversial for so many years! Many thanks, Kathy Mee Milan High School Media Center Milan, MI -------------------------------------------------------------------- All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law. To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL 3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation. LM_NET Help & Information: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/ EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://elann.biglist.com/el-announce/ LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html -------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------- All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law. To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL 3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation. LM_NET Help & Information: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/ EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://elann.biglist.com/el-announce/ LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html --------------------------------------------------------------------