The most popular of Cormier's young-adult novels, and the one with which he is most identified, The Chocolate War is a book that incites extreme opinions in most of its readers. The majority of critics either find the book offensive or excellent - very few are lukewarm about its value. It is a book of beguiling simplicity that nevertheless explores universal human themes about the struggle against oppression and a pack mentality, and the assertion of character during the formative years of young adulthood.
The book has been banned more often than any of Cormier's other novels and is considered by many to be an offensive work that presents a skewed version of reality. It has also been...
