Heroes: A Novel - Hardcover

Robert Cormier

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786229098 ISBN 13: 9780786229093

Publisher: Thorndike Press, 2000

Synopsis

Heroes is a tale of bravery, revenge, murder, and love, for young adult readers. The story centers on Francis Cassavant, a World War II hero. Francis is horribly disfigured in the war by a grenade and returns home without most of his face. He wanders the streets of his hometown, unrecognizable, and ruminating over his planned revenge against Larry LaSalle. Francis and Larry were once friends and were both decorated for their service in the war. As a result of his injuries, Francis has a newfound feeling of fatalism and devises a plan to murder Larry for a crime he committed against Francis's high school sweetheart, Nicole.

About this title

Review:

Eighteen-year-old Francis Cassavant has returned from World War II an unwilling hero. Although he can still see and hear, a grenade has blown away his nose, his ears, his teeth, and his cheeks, leaving him faceless. Hiding his ghastly wounds with bandages and a white silk scarf, Francis welcomes the anonymity his mutilation brings him, for he has returned to his hometown with a secret mission--a plot for revenge (against his enemy Larry LaSalle) that he values more than his own life. Francis's eerily matter-of-fact acceptance of his hideous mien, along with his sweetness and selflessness, contrast sharply with his obsessive need for vengeance. No one recognizes him as the quiet kid who once loved Nicole Renard and hung out with fellow teens at the Wreck Center. LaSalle, formerly a charismatic youth leader, has also come back from the war a hero, and only Francis knows the dark side of this older man's concern for young people. But does LaSalle's one evil act wipe out all the good he has done? And is Francis just as guilty because he could have prevented it and didn't?

Robert Cormier--winner of the Margaret A. Edwards Award and many other honors--has once again crafted a riveting yarn of psychological suspense. Francis's story is revealed only gradually in hints that keep the reader guessing. Young teens will find it a quick and absorbing read, and older adolescents (and full-fledged adults, too) will relish pondering the many-sided ethical questions Cormier raises about heroism, guilt, and forgiveness. (Ages 13 to 16) --Patty Campbell

From the Publisher:

Praise for Heroes:

*"[Cormier's] story, as dark as any he has written thus far, will hold fans from first page to last, and set them thinking about what really lurks behind the face of a hero."
--Publishers Weekly, starred

*"Once again, Cormier has written a suspenseful novel that addresses serious questions of concern to most young adults."
--Voya, starred

"...Cormier sketches the dark underbelly of a brief historic time in shadows that will follow the reader long after the story has ended."
--Booklist

About this edition

• Publisher: Thorndike Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0786229098
• ISBN 13: 9780786229093
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 147