Must Have Been World's Finest (2017 Reading Challenge)

Nah, it was just old Mother's Day candy, that they jacked the price up on. I'm going to tell the truth.

If this book was chocolate, it would be semi-sweet baking chocolate. It's an ingredient needed to see bigger pictures. Those pictures are corruption, school politics & finance seen through the wall of a private Catholic school for boys.

I am the product of two inner city public schools that were given some special programs. I went to a learning center in elementary school where STEM corporations would come in teach us Algebra via Project SEED. I also went to a magnet high school for health related sciences.

Our schools were fortunate but we still had fund raisers. Fund raisers seem to be voluntary. There was no shame given if you didn't sale candy & baked goods.

That was not the behavior shown in The Chocolate War(also a movie). The basic plot is centered around a freshman student at an all-male private Catholic school who decides not to sell chocolate. It starts out as a prank but ends with him standing against the machine.

The machine in this case is a desperate interim head master and an underground secret student society. The underground society ruled the school with the interim head master looking the other way as long as they kept the others in line during this fund raisers.

I buy into this book being challenged for its sexual content, strong language, and violence. Yes, it is heavy on the masturbation talk. I, Outspoken_Diva actually wished some of these guys would have sex, just so they could shut up about "jacking off". But I'm not dumb. I know exactly why this book was banned. Do you know what kind of upheaval schools could have had if this book was read. Students don't need anything to influence them to protest. LoL Young people are sensitive to being "screwed with".

But I have a feeling the author was trying to "screw with" readers also. He kind of hid the evils (at least what looks to be the origins) of society, big business, & the "old boys" club in a young adult novel. It was written 1976. Those institutions were talked about but mostly viewed as protests or whining. This book is clever way to introduce to young adults the political hierarchies in every organization in life.

There is a small group of people seen and/or not seen running the show. There can be one powerful person letting them do it. And they will hide their hand if that group messes up. There is also leadership there just trying to do their job and one day figure out and say I need to do something. There is the "muscle" that is manipulated like the rest. There is a person learning a lesson watching others fight evil. And the lesson that "Evil can run show".

So, that is my bitter sweet commentary of The Chocolate War. If anyone knows where I can buy a bar of World's Finest, let me know. When I was young that was what we sold. I rarely see World Finest sold now. We also sold those giant gourmet lollipops, that are found in Walmart now. I don't need the candy. I also don't need another candle. After seeing this kind of school desperation, I would just like to support.

As Always Talking to You in Adult Terms