Synopsis

      I Am The Cheese is a suspenseful and intriguing mystery about a teenage boy trying to uncover his past.  This book appeals to young adults everywhere, with its real life situations and edge-of-your-seat thrills. It tells the story of 14-year-old Adam Farmer, caught at a point in his life when he can trust no one, not even the people he once thought he could, his parents.   As Adam ventures out on a bike ride across New England in search of his father, he learns a lot about himself that he never knew was there.  The story jumps from three different viewpoints, and is surprisingly easy to comprehend.  Adam’s character conveys real emotions, and as the story builds up, bits and pieces of his and his family’s history are put together to reveal that everything he once thought to be true was nothong but a lie.  
      Known generally for his shy ways and tendency to stay away from his peers, Adam doesn’t have much of a social life in his small, Massachusetts town.  He feels at times like an outsider; but it is not until he notices bizarre things going on within his own home, that Adam feels like a stranger to himself. As Adam slowly uncovers his past, by digging up documents that had always been in his reach but never found, he begins to understand who he really is.  There are tape sessions in the book that help to provide answers to the mystery, and the book is full of exciting circumstances that will leave you hanging until another clue is discovered.
      The book is not a quick read, especially if you want to catch all the clues that are given throughout the story.  Robert Cormier weaves in amazing imagery as well as genuine situations that many teenagers find themselves in these days. For example, Adam battles the feelings of self confidence and the emotions he has toward his girlfriend. Because the story was written in three narratives, it adds a new and imaginative way to follow someone’s self discovery.  It is certainly a story with a twist at the end, that will sneak up on you. The reader will decide what will become of Adam when it’s all over.