Synopses & Reviews
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of its publication, Alfred A. Knopf is proud to reissue I Am The Cheese in hardcover with an introduction by Robert Cormier. "
An ALA Notable Children's Book
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
A Horn Book Fanfare Honor Book
A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
A New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year
Winner of the 1997 Phoenix Award by the Children's Literature Association
Reading Group Guide
In Robert Cormier's unforgettable novels, an individual often stands alone, fighting for what is right--or just to survive--against powerful, sinister, and sometimes evil people. His twisty, gripping stories explore some of the darker corners of the human psyche but always with a moral focus and a probing intelligence that compels readers to examine their own feelings and ethical beliefs. The questions that follow are intended to spur discussion and to provoke thoughtful readers to contemplate some of the issues of identity, character, emotion, and morality that make Cormier's books so compelling.
1. Adam is pedaling on the bike at the beginning and the end of the novel. What do you think this endless cycling refers to? Does the book have a sense of motion? Is there a destination?
2. Discuss the meaning of the title. Is it significant that it comes from a nursery song sung by Adam at the end of the book?
3. Adam is struggling to understand his identity. What composes his identity? What composes your identity? What defines you?
4. Do you think this novel is a tragedy? What types of injustice are done to Adam? How does the government view him? Does it value him? In what way(s)?
5. Adam is being manipulated by the doctors/ government. How is Cormier manipulating you as the reader and why?