summary of Heroes by Robert Cormier as The Story begins Francis cassavant has just completed his service in World War II and is heading back to his hometown of Monument Francis starts his story by talking about how he got horrible injuries when he fell on a live bomb and saved his platoon his face was scarred for life but he made it through and was given the Silver Star medal for his bravery Francis went to a soldier's Hospital in England to get better when he came back home he had one goal to kill Larry LaSalle his childhood hero and a fellow Silver Star winner who was the man who sent him to war Francis hides his true identity from the people in his hometown by giving a fake name at his boarding house and carrying a blanket and hat with him at all times to cover his wounds as he walks around Frenchtown looking for Larry he meets other soldiers and starts going to the Saint Jude club which is their favorite bar at the bar the other soldiers are excited to talk about their plans for the future now that the war is over but they never talk about what they did during the war Arthur riviere one of the soldiers finally figures out who Francis is but agrees to keep it a secret not long after that Francis sees Arthur passed out drunk in an alley as Francis helps him Arthur starts to talk about how he feels he complains that no one wants to talk about the horrible truth of what happened during the war and he says that the war wasn't a stage for glamorous heroic soldiers but for a group of scared children caught up in a violent fight for survival Francis tells the story of his simple innocent childhood through a series of flashbacks the story is all about how he tried to win Nicole Renard's love Francis was liked by his friends but he wasn't well known or even very famous so it was hard for him to get the attention of the girl he liked at first but his luck started to change when Larry moved to town and the Town's new Leisure Center opened it was called the rec center because of how badly it was fixed up and because it had been the site of a wedding that turned into a mass shooting the kids of Frenchtown flocked to the rec center when Larry was in charge Larry had a special way of making even the quietest kids feel like they were skilled and valued Francis became the ping pong winner with Larry's help this got Nicole's attention and made him a hero to all the kids in Frenchtown Francis seemed to be living in a perfect world he was called a hero and was getting closer to his childhood sweetheart but the attack on Pearl Harbor and the U.S entry into World War II changed everything Larry was the first young person from Monument to join the military when he left the rec center was no longer open Francis and Nicole on the other hand fell in love but all of a sudden Monument got word that one of their own Larry LaSalle had been given the Silver Star for bravery in the South Pacific and a leave of absence to go home during the town's party for Larry's return Larry got together his old Rec Center crew to sneak into the rec center after hours people started leaving after a fun night until only Larry Nicole and Francis were left Larry asked Francis to leave so that he could have one last dance with Nicole Francis didn't know what was going on but he did what Larry said Francis was about to leave but at the last minute he decided to stay hidden in the dark where he heard Larry rape Nicole Francis stayed hidden because he was too scared and confused to move when Nicole came out of the darkness she saw Francis standing there the whole time she didn't say anything to Francis because she felt betrayed and disgusted Larry left Frenchtown the next morning to go back to battle but he didn't know that Francis had seen him do something wrong Francis sat outside Nicole's house for days feeling sad until she finally came out and sent him away in a rage that night Francis thought about killing himself so he climbed up the tower of the Town Church in the end he decided that killing himself in such a public way would only shame his family he changed his birth certificate the next day and joined the army hoping to Die With Honor in battle back in the present Larry shows up again in Frenchtown Francis puts a gun in his pocket and goes looking for him Larry and Francis used to be friends and Larry doesn't know that Francis saw the rape so he welcomes Francis with open arms Francis tells the other man that the real reason he went to war was because he wanted to die he also says that he saw the rape happen Francis pulls out his gun to get revenge on Nicole but Larry pulls out his own gun and tells Francis how much he lost in the war he also says that he has thought about killing himself Larry gets Francis to leave so that he doesn't have to deal with the guilt of killing Francis is outside when he hears one gunshot coming from Larry's room now that that part of his life is over Francis finds Nicole in Albany where she has moved when they see each other again they have an awkward talk and Nicole doesn't say that they could get back together but she does say she's sorry for blaming Francis for her pain when she asks Francis what he wants to do he tells her what a soldier from the Saint Jude Club told him finish high school and use the GI bill to go to college when they run out of things to talk about Francis asks Nicole to come back she says no one leaves Francis thinks of all the things he could do next as he walks into the train station he could find his War buddy Enrico find the Doctor Who said he could fix his scarred face or become a writer like Nicole wanted him to when they were younger then he thinks of Nicole one last time as well as the gun in his duffel bag and the thought that he might kill himself in the end he puts his bag on his shoulders and goes for the next train out of Albany he doesn't say anything about his final decision or where he's going about the author Cormier was born into a working-class family in Leominster Massachusetts as French Canadian neighborhood his family had to move off and so they could pay their rent but they never left the town Cormier knew in the seventh grade that he wanted to be a writer he was class president in high school and went to Fitchburg State College Cormier quickly became a famous journalist and writer of books for young adults his writing has won in many awards over the course of his life he died in 2000 because of problems caused by a blood clot hope we summarized it fully and you liked it please hit the like button and subscribe to our channel so that we are motivated to create more videos