i am the cheese

Reader Response to I am the Cheese by Robert Cormier

The back cover reads:
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 boy's search for his father becomes a desperate journey to unlock a secret past. But it is a past that must not be remembered--if the boy is to survive.

My Rxn:

Ok. I'm not a huge fan of mysteries, but I figured that since I liked Harry Potter and Woman in White, I'd give this one a shot. like most mysteries, you have to kind of wade through the first 100 pages or so to learn all the relevant background info. At times, these pages were dry and boring, but necessary to understand the rest of the novel. I really had a tough time staying with it at certain points, but once my suspicions were aroused by a few things, I had to keep going.

This is an excellent read, but I am afraid that some kids might lose interest because the first half of the book is so. blah. There is an awesome twist at the end, and i'm sure that if i take the time to re-read it, i'd totally see it coming. this was written in 1977, but it can take place now.

oh, and the catchy title? it has to do with something the main character keeps singing.... and i finally figured out the significance about 20 pages from the end.

I'm pretty impressed here. For YA lit, this one caught me completely off guard. I usually predict, assume, or know the end of the book about half way through the story because the foreshadowing is so obvious. Cormier was very subtle about his hints... and I like that. makes the reader think twice.

my only advice is this: remember what we learned when reading Woman in White, Slaughterhouse 5, and Alias Grace: NEVER TRUST THE NARRATOR.

Indubitably the winner of the Word Nerd Seal of Approval.