The Chocolate War

Kathy Barry's article "Author Cormier rejects conservative trend of banning books"

Sound Off article on Barnstable High School students

Letter from Robert Cormier to Ms. Dudar 17 May 1980

Letter from Robert Cormier to Liz 10 June 1995

Cormier discusses the futility of censorship in protecting children from the world.

Letter and attachment from Robert Cormier to Kent 15 December 1981

Cormier describes the outcomes and actions of defenders in censorship battles in South Carolina and Massachusetts. Attached is a newspaper clipping on a South Carolina censorship battle.

Letter from Robert Cormier to Kathy, Joyce, et al 10 October 1984

Cormier writes to supporters of his works about his upcoming sequel Beyond the Chocolate War and his admiration of the work of teachers.

Letter from Robert Cormier to Maxine Goodsell 7 February 1998

Cormier writes about the limiting influence literature would have on the behavior of its readers.

Brett Rock and Mark Reeves' letter to school committee members

Two freshmen students write to the school committee defending The Chocolate War, refuting its power to incite students to challenge their parents and teachers. They ask the committee to trust in their students' judgment. The letter is signed by 38…

Letter from Robert Cormier to Gloria 26 January 1987

Cormier summarizes a number of censorship attacks on his books in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Florida. He also mentions how he responds to censorship attempts of his work.

Dee Richardson's article "A High School Senior Meets Robert Cormier"

Richardson recounts a student's journal entries on The Chocolate War as he worked on a paper on censorship of Cormier's work. The article includes portions of Paul's letter to Cormier and Cormier's complete response. Richardson closes on the…

Joseph Sepesy's letter and term paper sent to Robert Cormier

Joseph Sepesy's term paper for Dr. Gary Salvner's Spring 1988 Adolescent Literature course at Youngstown State University is largely an analysis of Jerry's character.

Autobiographical sketch draft

This draft describes how Cormier shared a draft of The Chocolate War with his 15-year-old daughter to test Fabio Coen's idea that the excised chapter is unnecessary to the story. He then expresses his thanks for his network of supporters and family.

Letter from Robert Cormier to Annie, Safa, et al. 25 February 1987

Robert Cormier writes to a class about how a character's development follows inevitable paths. He also addresses how the sequel to The Chocolate War aims to address readers' questions. Cormier later discusses the dangers of precautionary…