It's cold as I pedal along, the wind like a snake slithering up my sleeves and into my jacket and my pants legs, too. But I keep pedaling....
A b... read full description
reviews
Nov 20, 2008
Matthew
rated it: 
When I first saw this book, I thought it was strange book that no one would read and it was one of the books I just quote…dumb but Robert Cormier, who describes the protagonist, Adam Farmer, and his epic journey to see his father in Rutterburg, Vermont creates this amazing book -- all in flashbacks. He tells the story of Adam as if he was telling it himself.
Adam Farmer a normal kid in school, one day finds the need see his father in Rutterburg, Vermont. He abandons his mother and h More...
Adam Farmer a normal kid in school, one day finds the need see his father in Rutterburg, Vermont. He abandons his mother and h More...
11 comments
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(6 people liked it)
Mar 13, 2008
Ives
rated it: 
I Am the Cheese
Robert Cormier
220 pages
HarperCollins,1985
$7.99
ISBN Dell,1981 ISBN 0-440-94060-5.
Have you ever thought about living the life of a victim? Always having the fear of being heard or watched from left to right, up to down? A little taste in what the "bitter-sweet" life is here in this compressed, and brilliant book. The lives of a small, mysterious family of the Farmers (Adam Farmer: Student, son of Mr. & Mrs. Farmer) More...
Robert Cormier
220 pages
HarperCollins,1985
$7.99
ISBN Dell,1981 ISBN 0-440-94060-5.
Have you ever thought about living the life of a victim? Always having the fear of being heard or watched from left to right, up to down? A little taste in what the "bitter-sweet" life is here in this compressed, and brilliant book. The lives of a small, mysterious family of the Farmers (Adam Farmer: Student, son of Mr. & Mrs. Farmer) More...
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Jun 11, 2008
Kenny
rated it:
I am the Cheese by Robert Cormier was a fantastic book because it totally caught me off guard until the very end of the book. The reason was that Adam, the protagonist, tells a story while he rides a bicycle in a circle. Adam is mentally ill and is put in a facility because Adam knows something that the government doesn't want him to remember. As a result, the government drugs Adam in the hope of erasing his memories. The ending is very surprising, so i do not want to ruin the book. The title is
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(3 people liked it)
Mar 02, 2008
Hong Deng
rated it:
This book is about a boy named Adam who was going on a personal journey of finding his real identity. He lived happyliy with his family until one day he became suspicious of his parents and later on found out that his real name is Paul Delmonte. His family had being disguised since he was litte to avoid terrorists. Not long after he found the truth, his parents both died from a car accident and he lost his memory and had to stay in a hospital to recover. The book is really interesting because
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(3 people liked it)
Jun 11, 2008
I have first read this book in 6th grade, and I saw it on my book shelf and wanted to re-read it. I was very satisfied with the new outlook i had on this book. it is a story about a man named Adam who is in a battle to understand his identity and his life as a whole. it is such a moving story because you see the progression of what seems to be a normal story but has many little twist in it. The book starts with Adam on his bike riding towards Vermont to see his father. The book ends revealing th
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(2 people liked it)
Oct 21, 2011
I am the Cheese is physiological thriller that revolves around a peculiar teenager named Adam. Adam is trying to tug at his memory for clues from the past so that his present makes sense. His life takes him on journies from riding his bike to Rutterburg to see his father, to running into vicious dogs in the woods. This book is recommended for any teenager looking for a good mysterious story about a young boy. The story is a little hard to follow but in the end it starts to all make sense.
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Sep 22, 2008
Jorgina
rated it: 
Wish I had NEVER read this book. Required reading for my 10th grader so I read it first. Starts out good, keeps you reading even if it does bounce back and forth in time. Then it ends horribly, suddenly without resolving anything and with no hope no finality. It just ends where it begins. It does give you the endless circle that a mentally disturbed person must feel but GOSH! Why, during a youth's most unsettling years of self doubt, low self esteem, bouts of depression, hopelessness; the t
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11 comments
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(5 people liked it)
Feb 28, 2008
Jay
rated it:
While I enjoyed this book, I didn't think it was as good as the (only) other Cormier book I've read, We All Fall Down. The ending not only surprised me, but confused me as well. I remember re-reading it a couple of times before I felt as though I understood it, and even then, my wife and I were in disagreement as to what we believed actually happened.
That's the only drawback in my opinion: Cormier holds his hand so close to his chest during the entire book, that once he decides to More...
That's the only drawback in my opinion: Cormier holds his hand so close to his chest during the entire book, that once he decides to More...
Jan 26, 2009
Jackiejukie
rated it:
Searching desperately for a book, i find myself in my brother's library to discover not only a mysterious past, but how loneliness drives one to shut down to have no recollect of their past.I Am The Cheese is a story of mystery which is not unraveled until the very end of the story. The main character Adam seems to be traveling from therapist sessions back to encounter a journey to visit his father. Eventually the ending answers all the questions we have about Adam. Who is he? Why is he being in
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Jan 24, 2012
Beau
rated it:
Have you ever watched the movie "Abduction" staring Taylor Lautner? Well this book is just like that movie but it actually puts a modern twist to it. Although this book is a fictional book, the way the author tells it makes it so much more realistic. This book is full of deception and lies that it makes this book interesting.
This book is about a kid named Adam Farmer who has been drugged into finding out more information about his family, mainly his father. As Adam is induced More...
This book is about a kid named Adam Farmer who has been drugged into finding out more information about his family, mainly his father. As Adam is induced More...
Oct 20, 2011
Who is Adam Farmer? Who is Paul Delmonte? Who is Brint? Where is Adam? What are these “tapes”, and why are they deleted? Who is Mr. Grey? And what pills? Are just some of the many questions you are going to ask yourself when you read this novel.
The focus of the novel being around an innocent teenager named Adam Farmer who just wants to know the truth, makes for an interesting story. The novel not only alternates between two time periods leaving the reader confused, yet craving more, but i More...
The focus of the novel being around an innocent teenager named Adam Farmer who just wants to know the truth, makes for an interesting story. The novel not only alternates between two time periods leaving the reader confused, yet craving more, but i More...
Feb 02, 2011
Jason
rated it: 
I am the cheese was not one of my favorite books. It was some what difficult to understand who Adam Farmer really is. There were about three narrators, Adam being the first peron narrative, and an anonymous third person narrator as well as someone who narrates the tape sessions he has. The sessions he has are with his psychiatrist Brint. Brint plays mind games with Adam, because he's trying to find out information about Adam's past life, which he has very little memory of. Sometimes it seems as
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Jan 10, 2011
John
rated it:
Robert Cormier is my favorite author.
Adam Farmer pedals on his bicycle to find his father and solve the mysteries of his past. Why does he have two birth certificates? What is the meaning of his mothers' mysterious phone calls? Who is the Gray Man? And why is someone so desperate to know these secrets? These questions spiral Adam down towards the truth, which may be better left uncovered...
This is one of Cormier's lighter novels; some of the mature tones that flood through Th More...
Adam Farmer pedals on his bicycle to find his father and solve the mysteries of his past. Why does he have two birth certificates? What is the meaning of his mothers' mysterious phone calls? Who is the Gray Man? And why is someone so desperate to know these secrets? These questions spiral Adam down towards the truth, which may be better left uncovered...
This is one of Cormier's lighter novels; some of the mature tones that flood through Th More...
Jan 09, 2011
Laina
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Dec 09, 2010
Sydney
rated it: 
When I was four years old I went through a terrible night terrors phase. My parents said that I would wake up in the middle of the night for weeks on end after having recurring nightmares. Fortunately I don't remember any of them today, but I do recall how nice it was to crawl into bed with them and feel safe enough to continue the rest of the night's sleeping hours. When I finished Cormier's I am Cheese it was 11:00 pm, my house was dark, and the trees outside the bedroom were looming through
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Sep 16, 2010
Tahleen
rated it:
This book is a very difficult one to summarize. We have Adam Farmer, a 14-year-old boy who is biking his way to Vermont from a small town in Massachusetts with the goal of visiting his father. Yet these first-person, present-tense accounts are alternated with taped conversations Adam has with a man named Brint, supposedly a psychiatrist of some sort—these conversations are an attempt to get Adam to remember his past which is so horrible that he has been repressing the memories. What does this al
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(1 person liked it)
Apr 30, 2010
Roxanne
rated it:
This is on a list of short books that were somehow life changing for me.
My original read was years and years ago - I was maybe around 12 or 13. I have this distinct memory of finishing the book very late at night - when everything is dark and the house and the world are asleep. I was completely overwhelmed by two things, (1) all encompassing loneliness - not in a boo-hoo sort of way, but more in a born alone, die alone Ultimate Truth epiphany moment, and (2) being absolutely unsure More...
My original read was years and years ago - I was maybe around 12 or 13. I have this distinct memory of finishing the book very late at night - when everything is dark and the house and the world are asleep. I was completely overwhelmed by two things, (1) all encompassing loneliness - not in a boo-hoo sort of way, but more in a born alone, die alone Ultimate Truth epiphany moment, and (2) being absolutely unsure More...
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Feb 11, 2010
Josh
rated it:
This book was something else, particularly for a young adult book-- its writing was messy, run on, and dense during the first person narrated segments, and clean and precise during the transcript segments. It touches on many topics important to young adults, and isn't afraid to address adult themes-- death, violence, sexuality. I loved the first person voice in this book, so neurotic and afraid, but poetic.
Summary: It'll be tough to summarize the plot without taking away the interest o More...
Summary: It'll be tough to summarize the plot without taking away the interest o More...
Sep 28, 2009
Lauren
rated it:
I Am the Cheese by Robert Cormier
Mystery/Identity/Grief/Corruption
Adam Farmer has forgotten who he is and where he is. He is aided by an elusive "guide" named Brint who steers him in the direction of his memories. Slowly, Adam remembers his horrifying past and the reader discovers the answers just as slowly as Adam. The novel is formatted in an interesting way. Beginning with a first person narrative of Adam riding his bicycle miles and miles to reach his father in Ru More...
Mystery/Identity/Grief/Corruption
Adam Farmer has forgotten who he is and where he is. He is aided by an elusive "guide" named Brint who steers him in the direction of his memories. Slowly, Adam remembers his horrifying past and the reader discovers the answers just as slowly as Adam. The novel is formatted in an interesting way. Beginning with a first person narrative of Adam riding his bicycle miles and miles to reach his father in Ru More...
Aug 26, 2009
Melissa
rated it:
I Am the Cheese
Robert Cormier
214p.
Dell Laurel-Leaf
ISBN: 0440940605
I Am the Cheese
Adam Farmer is 14 years old his parents died and now he is in a mental hospital. A guy named Brint is trying to help Adam remember his past. Brint keeps asking about his father. While he has his sessions with Brint, he starts remembering more and more about his past.
In the beginning of the story Adam is riding a bike to Vermont to give his father a prese More...
Robert Cormier
214p.
Dell Laurel-Leaf
ISBN: 0440940605
I Am the Cheese
Adam Farmer is 14 years old his parents died and now he is in a mental hospital. A guy named Brint is trying to help Adam remember his past. Brint keeps asking about his father. While he has his sessions with Brint, he starts remembering more and more about his past.
In the beginning of the story Adam is riding a bike to Vermont to give his father a prese More...
May 13, 2009
Asenath
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
May 05, 2011
Janessa
rated it:
Um. . . I finished this book just minutes ago, and the more I try to wrap my head around what just happened, the more my head becomes a stretched-out mess!! This incredibly thought provoking novel is absolutely insane! I feel like anything I say will give away pieces of it, so I'm going to keep it to a minimum.
This story is told through a 3-way fork that merges into a suspenseful, climatic ending. These forks being Adam's memories, his conversation with Brint about these memories, and More...
This story is told through a 3-way fork that merges into a suspenseful, climatic ending. These forks being Adam's memories, his conversation with Brint about these memories, and More...
Oct 21, 2010
Stephanie
rated it:
This review originally appeared on www.readinasinglesitting.com
In his seminal young adult novel The Chocolate War, Robert Cormier examines issues of power and governance, highlighting that ruling entities traditionally perceived as benign are not necessarily so; moreover, these entities will use others’ perception of them to oppress, manipulate, and wage wars of ideology. The book is a powerful, chilling read, and one examines the gradual breakdown of trust and the severing of support More...
In his seminal young adult novel The Chocolate War, Robert Cormier examines issues of power and governance, highlighting that ruling entities traditionally perceived as benign are not necessarily so; moreover, these entities will use others’ perception of them to oppress, manipulate, and wage wars of ideology. The book is a powerful, chilling read, and one examines the gradual breakdown of trust and the severing of support More...
Apr 19, 2010
Josiah
rated it:
It's difficult to find the words to describe an experience in literature like this one. I Am the Cheese is so deeply wrapped in the profundity of its own enigma that it stands alone from nearly anything else that has ever been written. The feeling that one gets from reading Robert Cormier books is vastly different from the aura of any other author's material because one senses the fact that a content, pleasing ending is not at all a foregone conclusion, that things just as likely (if not more s
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Sep 08, 2011
Jenny
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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0 comments
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Dec 11, 2010
chris
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Jul 31, 2011
Kimberli
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This is an amazing book! I wasn't sure if I was going to like it because I really didn't like "The Chocolate War" by Cormier. However, this book has so much mystery around every turn in the story and its just the kind of psychological thriller that you can really get into. The main character Adam Farmer seems so innocent and true as he recollects his journey of riding his bike for several miles throughout several states in order to deliver a very important package to his father who
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Jan 07, 2009
I'm rereading this for the first time since I read and hated it when I was 11 years old. Now I'm 42 and have an MFA in writing. Will it help?
I was completely bewildered the first time around by my first non-linear narrative. So reading the first chapter I already remember the fear I felt for the protagonist. Where are his parents? He's riding his bike all alone and no one knows where he is. And why does he have to visit his father? And why is his father gone? One thing that occ More...
I was completely bewildered the first time around by my first non-linear narrative. So reading the first chapter I already remember the fear I felt for the protagonist. Where are his parents? He's riding his bike all alone and no one knows where he is. And why does he have to visit his father? And why is his father gone? One thing that occ More...
Oct 20, 2011
Kendal Kristiansen
Mrs. Barthelmes
H English
21 October 2011
Book Review
In this vigorous novel by Robert Cormier, Adam is in Massachusetts on his way to see his father. This is the first plot strand that the book follows. On his odyssey Adam encounters a viscous dog and some other boys who trifle with him. The second strand tapes portray Adam as a deranged adolescent speaking to his physiatrist about his lugubrious life full of lies and learning his identity. He st More...
Mrs. Barthelmes
H English
21 October 2011
Book Review
In this vigorous novel by Robert Cormier, Adam is in Massachusetts on his way to see his father. This is the first plot strand that the book follows. On his odyssey Adam encounters a viscous dog and some other boys who trifle with him. The second strand tapes portray Adam as a deranged adolescent speaking to his physiatrist about his lugubrious life full of lies and learning his identity. He st More...
Mar 29, 2011
Laura
rated it:
Robert Cromier writes amazing, bleak books for teens and I Am the Cheese is no exception. I Am the Cheese is a psychological mystery about Adam Farmer, teenage boy on a mysterious bicycle journey to meet his father. The story unfolds in two ways--chapters alternate between Adam's bike adventure and a strange, almost haunted conversation with a man who seems to be some sort of psychiatrist. The result is a strange read, a mystery that seems to grow more confusing with every unveiled clue.
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