I Am the Cheese (Laurel-Leaf Library) (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author) "I am riding the bicycle and I am on Route 31 in Monument, Massachusetts, on my way to Rutterburg, Vermont, and I'm pedaling furiously because..." (more)
Key Phrases: gray man, Amy Hertz, Adam Farmer, Belton Falls (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Imagine discovering that your whole life has been a fiction, your identity altered, and a new family history created. Suddenly nothing is as it once seemed; you can trust no one, maybe not even yourself. It is exactly this revelation that turns 14-year-old Adam Farmer's life upside down. As he tries to ascertain who he really is, Adam encounters a past, present, and future too horrible to contemplate. Suspense builds as the fragments of the story are assembled--a missing father, government corruption, espionage--until the shocking conclusion shatters the fragile mosaic. Young adult readers will easily relate to the shy and confused Adam, whose desperate searching for self resembles a disturbingly exaggerated version of the identity crisis common to the teenage years.

First published in 1977, I Am the Cheese provides an exciting introduction to psychological thrillers. This sensitive, emotional, subtly crafted novel by Robert Cormier (author of The Chocolate War) was a New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year, as well as a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year. --Emilie Coulter --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

A horrifying tale of government corruption, espionage, and counter espionage told by an innocent young victim...the buildup of suspense is terrific."-- School Library Journal, starred review -- Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Laurel Leaf (August 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440940605
• ISBN-13: 978-0440940609
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (297 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #328,579 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hi Ho the Dairy Oh, February 29, 2004

By	E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Chilling. Sometimes authors can be separated into "Authors That End Their Depressing Book Hopefully" and "Authors That End Their Books In Deep Dark Dank Despair". Robert Cormier is of the latter category. In his remarkable, "I Am the Cheese", Cormier tells the technically adept tale of Adam Farmer. Cutting between scenes in which Adam tries to remember the events of his past and scenes of him riding his bike on a small quest to find his father, the book is a deft portrayal of what is real and what is imagined.

More than anything else, this is one of the rare psychological thrillers written specifically for youth. As Adam realizes what has happened to him, so too does the reader. And as Adam starts to mistrust his interrogator, ditto the reader. Clues to Adam's past come to him slowly, their subtlety impressive. For example, Adam discovers that his has two birth certificates. One says his correct birthday. The other, a birth date in a completely different month. This is a small discovery on his part, but a perfectly chilling one. He doesn't understand the significance of this discovery, nor does the reader, but we're compelled to discover what it all means.

If you've a kid who'd be interested in a book with an unreliable narrator, you couldn't do much better than this. Adam is sympathetic, but ultimately not in control of any of the forces that guide his travels. He is the world's victim, a fact explored fully at the novel's shocking close. DO NOT read the last page of this book if you want to be surprised. I, myself, caught an accidental glance and knew more than I ever wanted to as a result. This is not a book for anyone who likes their protagonist to overcome his/her personal struggles and triumph in some small way in the end. Nor is it a book for those who like the protagonist to use his/her brains to outwit his/her enemies and triumph in the end. This is more a book for those who like their protagonist to be helpless in the face of an unspeakable accepted evil and who will not triumph in any way at all in the end. Not your cup of tea? Avoid this book. Want a good book with a riveting story? Then enjoy the delights of, "I Am the Cheese".

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I am the reviewer..., November 16, 2000

By	John O'Hara (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews

As a young child, I considered Robert Cormier one of my heroes. He wrote engaging, enigmatic stories that did not pander to his young adult audience, yet his novels were not too tough-and-stringy for such readers to digest. I read his entire catalog of books, from "The Chocolate War," to "Fade," and everything else in between, and each enthralling book helped me to examine (what were) complex social and moral issues. His books were refreshing and thought provoking, and I greatly appreciated Cormier's assumption that young children were capable of understanding three dimensional characters, hard truths, and pain more substantial the pain of a friend moving away or of losing a beloved pet.

Cormier's novels had a deep and beneficial impact on my developing personality, and I thank him.

Over the years, although I did not forget his name, I did not think about Cormier very much. He served his purpose, I felt, and had nothing new to offer.

Many of us know already that Robert Cormier recently passed away. I read it in the Boston Globe, and I was deeply saddened. I decided to, out of respect, re-read my favorite of his novels, "I am the Cheese." I was a little nervous, expecting to be disappointed.

This was not the case. "I am the Cheese," is a novel that is in many ways formatted for children. However, it is also a novel that can bring back (and make real), for those adults who want them, the feelings of loneliness, despair, suffocation, and unreasonable fear that we felt when we were thirteen or so.

This is no summer Disney flick with a few hidden tongues-in-cheek for Mom n' Dad. "I am the Cheese" is a (yes) simple, but POWERFUL tour-de-force of brittle yet sepulchral sentiment.

As adults (and I guess I am one, but only by default), we pretty much have our minds made up about any issue we might come across. Conservative or liberal, religious or agnostic, and so on. I strongly recommend this book for adults, because it is a gateway to the mind of that child we try so hard to forget; the child who is alone, running away, in constant motion, trying to cope and trying to make sense of it all. And doing just that without the benefit of a helpful tradition of longstanding opinion or any sense of real identity.

Finally, adults should keep in mind that this, or any of Cormier's novels, really are excellent books for growing young adults. Yes, Cormier is notoriously associated with banned books and with inciting rebellion in the minds of young readers. Many parents are protective about what ideas their children are exposed to, and do not want to reinforce such messages. Others feel that such frank material is not suitable for an impressionable mind. Keeping this in mind, I nonetheless ask all parents to yank the (flavor of the month) Backstreet Boys' unofficial bio out of the hands of your daughters, and the 50 page, illustrated, pro wrestling advert out of your sons'. You may replace this saccharine, rotting, yet somehow book-shaped compost with "I am the Cheese," (or at least some Sallinger).

Before it is too late...

Rest in peace, and thank you, Mr. Cormier. You have my love.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The favourite book of the day, August 2, 2001

A Kid's Review

The favourite book of the day

I am the Cheese By Robert Cormier

I am the cheese is a heart beating thriller EDont be fooled by its name. The main character of this book is a lost, confused soul trying to find his past and his future. He is on a journey to find his father but the difficulties he has to go through! To find out about his past and future of his life, with long and short discussions with a therapist trying to help him. What has he forgotten and why has he forgotten? This is not your typical hero save the day story. This story has mostly everything, adventure, exploration, romance, excitement.

Adam is the characters name Eor is it? One day, when Adam decides to take his fathers old bike along with a package for his father, he sets out to a town but on the way there finds it is not as easy as it seems. In the mean time, he is sitting in a doctors room!

This book is mainly a serious hard-to-put-down book. The theme of the book is about real life and how you can trust no one except yourself and only them know who you are in life!

I would have to say this book is the hard to put down, if you are the thriller type. Age 15 and up ward would enjoy this book because it can be hard to understand at times. It is good to think over the book at places before trying to read on. It comes together well at the end but dont expert a romance even though it does have a bit of romantic friendship to it - Susan Trompeter