A YA novel published in 1974. Highly praised, and equally controversial, the story involves a "secret" society known as The Vigils (which everyone knows about) in a Catholic high school where "leadership" translates to manipulation, humiliation and exploitation. Both students and faculty are motivated entirely by self-interest, and neither Christianity nor good ol' fashioned morality are evident anywhere. Youthful hi-jinks have a cruel edge, and the Vigils encourage their de facto leader, Archie, in his sadistic assignments which amount to continual hazing. An annual school-wide fundraiser takes on serious significance when Brother Leon announces that thisyear the price of a box of chocolates will be twice what it was in the past, AND the goal for the sale is to move 20,000 boxes, which is also a doubling of the previous goal. Brother Leon solicits Archie's help in bringing the Vigils on board with this daunting undertaking, so naturally Archie decides to "assign" one of freshmen to refuse to participate in the sale. All hell breaks loose when Jerry decides to continue his refusal past the one-week assignment.

This is a profound exploration of issues basic to adolescent life. Herd mentality; peer pressure; personal integrity; identity; conformity; respect for vs. blind acceptance of vs. rebellion against authority; sexual expression/fantasies/repression; bullying...no wonder there have been so many attempts to ban it. It's about REALITY, for cryin' out loud. Kids shouldn't be exposed to that. They can't handle reading about the kind of stuff so many of them deal with on a daily basis. My only quibble with this story is that there are NO responsible, caring adults in it. I think I understand the author's decision (and it must have been intentional) to leave them out. The school is a closed society, even though the boys go home at the end of the day; what happens at Trinity stays at Trinity. It's obvious that the boys are without sincere guidance at a critical point in their lives. (There are brief references to Jerry's Dad, who works nights, and whom Jerry doesn't want to worry, possibly included to explain the apparent overall lack of parental involvement in these kids' lives.)
A tough read, with an important message. Ironically, it might be most important for the adults who would ban it to get that message themselves. ( )

Basically, Lord of the Flies but at a Catholic school? ( )

I love the writing style- the analogies are top notch, and the conversations are well-written. However, I didn't like how often it shifted perspective. It was hard to follow which section was about which character; sometimes it would shift perspective mid chapter. Other than that, I enjoyed this book.

Read for college YA lit class ( )

This book reaffirms my belief in the horribleness of everyone. ( )

For all the hype surrounding this book I expected something spectacular. It was good, but not that good. Perhaps the hype is because this is one of the few books about boys, for boys, written boy (well, man). ( )