From School Library Journal
Grade 9 Up-Francis Cassavant, now 18 and the recipient of the respected Silver Star for heroism, returns to the Frenchtown section of Monument following World War II intent on murdering his former mentor and fellow Silver Star winner, Larry LaSalle. With a face ravaged by shrapnel from the grenade he fell on?ostensibly to save his comrades, but in reality to take his own life?Francis walks the streets of his old hometown. Wearing a silk scarf to mask his disfigurement, he remembers his childhood in the prewar days and searches for his nemesis, whom he feels sure will also return. Memories of his innocent years at St. Jude's Parochial School are sardonically juxtaposed with the present horror of his desolate existence. Expert at nothing as a boy, Francis was empowered by the encouragement of Larry, the acrobat, dancer, teacher, and coach at the town's recreation center. Francis's dreams and youth were shattered when the man, home on leave, raped Francis's girlfriend, and he failed to intervene. Disillusioned, the boy forged his birth certificate, enlisted to die an honorable death, and ended up living a nightmare. Cormier takes the notion of heroism and deconstructs it. The hero is epitomized by Francis: a white scarf, no more than a veneer, hiding an appalling reality of hypocrisy and betrayal. The thread of Catholicism is woven throughout the narrative. Characters are not absolutes, but capable of great and evil acts. This lean, compelling read may not rank among the most popular of Cormier's works, but it is a powerful and thought-provoking study.
Jennifer A. Fakolt, formerly at Carson City Public Library, NV
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
Cormier (Tenderness, 1997, etc.) again poses a set of chewy moral dilemmas, but he develops them within a sketchy plot more suited to the short-story form. Francis Cassavant returns to Frenchtown after WWII with a Silver Star, with much of his face blown away by a grenade on which he threw himself, and a fixed intention to kill Larry LaSalle. While he waits for Larry, a war hero with a Silver Star of his own, to return from the service, Francis wanders the streets and relives the past: Strong and handsome, Larry had been a hero even before the war, brilliant at bringing out talents in young people, turning shy, unathletic Francis into a table-tennis champ, with enough self-confidence to date lovely classmate Nicole Renard; two years later, back on a triumphant furlough, Larry raped Nicole as Francis stood by in the next room. While Francis's shocking opening description of what's left of his face will churn many stomachs, his long wait for Larry is more tedious than tension-building, and the weary tone of his narrative puts a dreary cast over his observations of a post-war world. To readers familiar with Cormier's work, the climactic confrontation will hold few, if any, surprises. More a deliberately constructed intellectual exercise on the ambiguities of heroism than a story with flesh and blood charactersand, surprising for this author, spelled out as suchthis will disappoint readers hoping for another Tenderness. (Fiction. 12-15) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Review
"[A] powerhouse novel . . . that will follow the reader long after the story has ended."
--Booklist
"Cormier's . . . story will hold fans from the first page to the last."
--Publisher Weekly, starred
"Powerful."
--VOYA, starred
From the Paperback edition.
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
From the Inside Flap
In Heroes, Robert Cormier explores the nature of heroism through a young and tragic life.
Francis Cassavant returns from World War II to seek revenge on his childhood hero. He lost his face in France when he fell on a grenade, earning the Silver Star for Bravery. His hero also holds the Silver Star for Bravery--but do either deserve it? Examine the nature of heroism in the latest powerful novel from Robert Cormier.
From the Back Cover
Francis Joseph Cassavant is eighteen. He has just returned home from the Second World War, and he has no face. He does have a gun and a mission: to murder his childhood hero.Francis lost most of his face when he fell on a grenade in France. He received the Silver Star for bravery, but was it really an act of heroism? Now, having survived, he is looking for a man he once admired and respected, a man adored by many people, a man who also received a Silver Star for bravery. A man who destroyed Francis's life.
About the Author
Robert Cormier is the award-winning author of many books for young adults, including The Chocolate War, I Am the Cheese, and Tenderness.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
My name is Francis Joseph Cassavant and I have just returned to Frenchtown in Monument and the war is over and I have no face.
Oh, I have eyes because I can see and eardrums because I can hear but no ears to speak of, just bits of dangling flesh. But that's fine, like Dr. Abrams says, because it's sight and hearing that count and I was not handsome to begin with. He was joking, of course. He was always trying to make me laugh.
If anything bothers me, it's my nose. Or rather, the absence of my nose. My nostrils are like two small caves and they sometimes get blocked and I have to breathe through my mouth. This dries up my throat and makes it hard for me to swallow. I also become hoarse and cough a lot. My teeth are gone but my jaw is intact and my gums are firm, which makes it possible for me to wear dentures. In the past few weeks, my gums began to shrink, however, and the dentures have become loose and they click when I talk and slip around inside my mouth.
I have no eyebrows, but eyebrows are minor, really. I do have cheeks. Sort of. I mean, the skin that forms my cheeks was grafted from my thighs and has taken a long time to heal. My thighs sting when my pants rub against them. Dr. Abrams says that all my skin will heal in time and my cheeks will someday be as smooth as a baby's arse. That's the way he pronounced it: arse. In the meantime, he said, don't expect anybody to select you for a dance when it's Girls' Choice at the canteen.
Don't take him wrong, please.
He has a great sense of humor and has been trying to get me to develop one.
I have been trying to do just that. But not having much success.
an excerpt from Heroes
My name is Francis Joseph Cassavant and I have just returned to Frenchtown
in Monument and the war is over and I have no face.
Oh, I have eyes because I can see and eardrums because I can hear but
no ears to speak of, just bits of dangling flesh. But that's fine, like
Dr. Abrams says, because it's sight and hearing that count and I was not
handsome to begin with. He was joking, of course. He was always trying
to make me laugh.
If anything bothers me, it's my nose. Or rather, the absence of my nose.
My nostrils are like two small caves and they sometimes get blocked and
I have to breathe through my mouth. This dries up my throat and makes
it hard for me to swallow. I also become hoarse and cough a lot. My teeth
are gone but my jaw is intact and my gums are firm, which makes it possible
for me to wear dentures. In the past few weeks my gums began to shrink,
however, and the dentures have become loose and they click when I talk
and slip around inside my mouth.
I have no eyebrows, but eyebrows are minor, really. I do have cheeks.
Sort of. I mean, the skin that forms my cheeks was grafted from my thighs
and has taken a long time to heal. My thighs sting when my pants rub against
them. Dr. Abrams says that all my skin will heal in time and my cheeks
will someday be as smooth as a baby's arse. That's the way he pronounced
it: arse. In the meantime, he said, don't expect anybody to select you
for a dance when it's Girl's Choice at the canteen.
Don't take him wrong, please.
He has a great sense of humor and has been trying to get me to develop
one.
I have been trying to do just that.
But not having much success.
