Heroes

They teach this book in schools and talk about what being a “hero” really means. From that perspective this is a great book.

When I was a kid I found this book in my middle school library. It had me from the get-go and I had to see how it ended! I read in 3x. My high school didn't have the book.I spoke about it throughout college but couldn't remember the name. Finally I googled it and now one of my favorite books is back in my life.

Just like late stage Philip Roth, Robert Cormier ended his esteemed career writing novellas which burned away the extraneous to focus in his returning themes. Heroes is an especially powerful and well constructed piece of writing and the familiar town of Monument appears in a World War setting. The novel involves love, regret, the nature of heroism and the ever present question of suicide. The suspense is taut, the writing crisp and the reader’s emotions are on a roller coaster.Highly recommended.

Book in not the best condition very old looking and yellow. I was hoping for a book in better condition.

It seems like a lot of Amazon readers, the ones who post reviews anyways, prefer happy endings and think every book should be uplifting. That's not life, people. Heroes is a realistic story about a young man who has been shattered by several events in his life, including being deformed by a grenade in WW2. This a post-war story about Frenchtown in Canada, and about how all of the towns' inhabitants, especially the veterans, have been shaped by the war. Cormier shows the reader that "heroes" is a more complex concept than the old Westerns Francis, the story's protagonist. used to watch in the cinema as a teenager, accompanied by the girl he loved. I like that Cormier keeps the resolutions to the story lines realistic. Nothing is over-the-top in this novel, which is so refreshing for the ya genre. This is a grim story that does not oversimplify life. If you like simple, peppy books, this is not for you.

not cormier's best work

okay

This book "Heroes," by Robert Cormier, is truly a memorable one. It talks of a young boy(a soldier who earned a silver star) around the age of 15 coming back to his hometown, Frenchtown, after World War 2. His main purpose of coming back was to carry out his mission on assasinating his childhood hero, Larry LaSalle.Larry LaSalle, was described as an extradinary character. He would walk in a Fred Astaire way and smile the old movie-star smile. He was great in every sport, mainly known as a dancer. The only background that everyone knew about Larry was that he was a star in New York and Chicago. However nobody knew of his reason for his return back to Frenchtown.Larry LaSalle was a true hero for the kids. At the Wreck Center, he would always be around to encourage the kids, and would always find a way to make each individual a star. He turned a bully into a singer, a shy gawky girl into a dancer, an imcompetent individual, our main character Francis, to exceed in a sport, ping-pong(oh excuse me, table tennis).This book was especially special for me as I recall precious memories of when I was a child going to the recreation center every day during the summer.Larry LaSalle became especially close to Francis and his young glamouring girlfriend, Nicole Renard. Nicole was a goddess to Francis. She was everything to him... but something tragic happened to change their lives... which caused Francis Cassavant to carry out his "mission".I truly love this book. It's a book that will remain in your memories.

Read this as a student at secondary school and remember enjoying it so decided I had to get a copy to give it another read - good sized book and print

***TRIGGER WARNING /MATURE THEMES INCLUDING: Rape/Non-Con Sex, War and mentions of Child Abuse.***--------------Robert Cormier is amazing. I hadn't heard of him before this year until I had to purchase the book for my English GCSE coursework but I wish I'd discovered him sooner. Hero's' is a short but very entertaining read that provides a brilliant insight into life in the 40's - at the time of WW2. Without giving too much away the plot is as follows:It centres on young Francis Cassavant, a war veteran who is on a mission of revenge upon returning home to Frenchtown. There's a catch; Francis has been left extremely disfigured by an explosion, leaving his face unrecognizable.That's probably all I should say. The books speaks for itself.Its backed up by a strong line of secondary character's including Nicole and Larry.Personally I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a quick but memorable read. Although I would strongly advise that no kids under 13 should read this because it contains mature themes and some strong language here and there.I must stress, it isn't a lighthearted book. Its absolutely fantastic but heavy. As it contains themes of sexual assault on youngsters. Its not shown in the book directly but it might be upsetting for some people. If this is a trigger for anyone then I would skip chapter eleven. That's all I'm going to say.I will be on the look out for more of Robert's books and I can't wait to read THE CHOCOLATE WAR.Thank you for reading!!! Xx

My daughters English teacher recommended this book to read ready for GCSE’s next year and as it’s only a short book will get her to enjoy reading. Well she started it and LOVES it, in fact she’s asked for more from the author. Definitely worth it !!!

Another English teacher here, re-reading Heroes in preparation for teaching it for GCSE. It's such a good read, and a real page-turner. I think the students are going to find it very thought-provoking. We've been watching a war film and discussing the nature of 'the soldier' and 'the hero' before we read the book. I hope it will encourage them to read other Cormier books.

Good story