num_pages: 256
description: Before there was Lois Lowry’s The Giver or M. T. Anderson’s Feed , there was Robert Cormier’s I Am the Cheese , a subversive classic that broke new ground for YA literature. A boy’s search for his father becomes a desperate journey to unlock a secret past. But the past must not be remembered if the boy is to survive. As he searches for the truth that hovers at the edge of his mind, the boy—and readers—arrive at a shattering conclusion. “An absorbing, even brilliant job. The book is assembled in mosaic a tiny chip here, a chip there. . . . Everything is related to something else; everything builds and builds to a fearsome climax. . . . [Cormier] has the knack of making horror out of the ordinary, as the masters of suspense know how to do.”— The New York Times Book 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 An ALA Notable Children’s BookA School Library Journal Best Book of the YearA Horn Book FanfareA Library of Congress Children’s Book of the YearA Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award Nominee
language: English
title: I Am the Cheese
titlecomplete: I Am the Cheese
characters: Amy Hertz, Brint, Louise Farmer, Mr. Grey, David Farmer, Adam Farmer
genres: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Teen, School, Young Adult, Read For School, Classics, Realistic Fiction, Suspense
ratings_count: 16429
places: The United States of America
awards: awardedAt: 852105600000
name: Phoenix Award (Children's Literature Association), awardedAt: 347184000000
name: California Young Readers Medal
category: Young Adult, awardedAt: 662716800000
name: Margaret A. Edwards Award
publisher: Ember