Rereading The Chocolate War at 41 flipped my take on it

I hated this book when we had to read it in 9th grade. Thought it was just about a kid getting bullied and the ending felt so unfair. But last month I picked it up again after my niece got assigned it and they tried to pull it from her school in Phoenix. Reading it now I see how it's really about how groups pressure you to go along with things, and how that Jerry kid refusing to sell the chocolates is a bigger deal than I gave him credit for back then. It made me think about whether I'd have the spine to stand alone like that at 41, and honestly I'm not sure I would. Anyone else change their mind about a banned book they first read as a teenager?

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verac404d ago

Actually, it wasn't pulled, they just threatened to and the school board voted to keep it, which is pretty cool for Phoenix. But yeah, rereading as an adult hits way different, especially that ending.

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