Found my old high school's copy of 'The Chocolate War' in a used bookstore last month

I was digging through a box at this little shop in Eugene and there it was - the exact same edition I got detention for reading in study hall back in '89. The librarian at my school had hidden it in a back room after some parents complained. The funny thing is, I don't even remember what was so controversial about it now. Just a kid getting pushed around by a secret society at school. But back then, a teacher said it promoted 'rebellion for the sake of rebellion' and that was enough. Has anyone else run into a book they got in trouble for reading years ago? Does it still feel like the same book to you?

2 comments

2 Comments

gavin_kim37d ago

oh man, that's wild. I had almost the exact same thing happen with "The Giver" back in middle school. Some mom at the PTA meeting lost her mind because of the whole releasing babies thing and my teacher got told to keep it off the class reading list. I found a copy at a garage sale a couple years ago and honestly it hit different as an adult. It went from being this weird dystopian story to me actually understanding why the main character wanted to feel pain and love and all that stuff. Still feel a little rebellious cracking it open though, lol.

morgan3167d ago

Hiding a book in the bathroom is the classic workaround.