I Love the Cheese.

We were asked to choose a “classic” YA novel to read, and I chose I Am the Cheese by Robert Cormier and fell in love with it. Cormier is proclaimed one of the best classic writers of YA literature. Not only is he praised for his novels, but also for the fact that he broke the mold of what YA literature was at the time. I Am the Cheese without a doubt influenced YA literature, and in a big way, like his first novel—The Chocolate War— this novel took the YA genre on a whirlwind. His dark and suspenseful plots dove deep into the human conditions faced by adolescents. In her article, “Trends in Young Adult Literature,” Patty Campbell (whose opinions I am quickly learning to value) writes, “Cormier had disturbed the universe of young adult literature with his dark vision and complex ambiguities and the stunned critical reception of the book led to the realization that fiction for teens could be great literature.” He opened a doorway into unmarched territory where authors now had free roam to write about whatever they felt, and do so with a hope that their young readers might actually get meaning from it. I believe that this book directly impacted the direction this genre went in. Cormier brought realism in the field, real life issues and characters into YA lit and from there on out, YA novels have contained relatable and controversial issues. Realism rocks!