Heroes

Heroes

Robert Cormier

Literature & Fiction / Young Adult / Thriller

Francis Joseph Cassavant is 18. He has just returned home from the Second World War, and he has no face. He does have a gun and a mission: to murder his childhood hero.  Francis lost most of his face when he fell on a grenade in France. He received the Silver Star for bravery, but was it really an act of heroism? Now, having survived, he is looking for a man he once admired and respected, a man adored my many people, a man who also received a Silver Star for bravery. A man who destroyed Francis’s life.
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Frenchtown Summer Frenchtown Summer

Frenchtown Summer Frenchtown Summer

Robert Cormier

Literature & Fiction / Young Adult / Thriller

Eugene is remembering the summer of 1938 in Frenchtown, a time when he began to wonder "what I was doing here on the planet Earth." Here in vibrant, exquisite detail are his lovely mother, his aunts and uncles, cousins and friends, and especially his beloved, enigmatic father. Here, too, is the world of a mill town: the boys swimming in a brook that is red or purple or green, depending on the dyes dumped that day by the comb shop; the visit of the ice man; and the boys' trips to the cemetery or the forbidden railroad tracks. And here also is a darker world-the mystery of a girl murdered years before. Robert Cormier's touching, funny, melancholy chronicle of a vanished world celebrates a son’s connection to his father and human relationships that are timeless. "From the Paperback edition."
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The Chocolate War

The Chocolate War

Robert Cormier

Literature & Fiction / Young Adult / Thriller

One of the most controversial YA novels of all time, *The Chocolate War *is a modern masterpiece that speaks to fans of S. E. Hinton’s The Outsiders and John Knowles’s A Separate Peace. After suffering rejection from seven major publishers, The Chocolate War made its debut in 1974, and quickly became a bestselling—and provocative—classic for young adults. This chilling portrait of an all-boys prep school casts an unflinching eye on the pitfalls of conformity and corruption in our most elite cultural institutions. “Masterfully structured and rich in theme; the action is well crafted, well timed, suspenseful.”—The New York Times Book Review “The characterizations of all the boys are superb.”—School Library Journal, starred review “Compellingly immediate. . . . Readers will respect the uncompromising ending.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review An ALA Best Book for Young Adults A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year A Kirkus Reviews Editor’s Choice A New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year From the Trade Paperback edition.
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Tunes for Bears to Dance To

Tunes for Bears to Dance To

Robert Cormier

Literature & Fiction / Young Adult / Thriller

Money’s tight and Henry is lucky to have the job at Mr. Hairston’s grocery store. His parents are both lost in despair following the death of Henry’s older brother, and Henry is glad for the opportunity to feel like he’s helping. Saving to buy a marker for Eddie’s grave, Henry tries to ignore Mr. Hairston’s commentary about the customers. But Henry is shocked when he is told he’s being laid off. That is, unless he agrees to do one thing, one terrible thing.
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Beyond the Chocolate War

Beyond the Chocolate War

Robert Cormier

Literature & Fiction / Young Adult / Thriller

The school year is almost at an end, and the chocolate sale is ancient history. But no one at Trinity School can forget the Chocolate War. Devious Archie Costello, commander of the secret school organization called the Vigils, still has some torturous assignments to hand out before he graduates. In spite of this pleasure, Archie is troubled that his right-hand man, Obie, has started to move away from the Vigils. Luckily Archie knows his stooges will fix that. But Obie has some plans of his own.
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The Bumblebee Flies Anyway

The Bumblebee Flies Anyway

Robert Cormier

Literature & Fiction / Young Adult / Thriller

They are all going to die. All of the patients at the Complex are terminal, with no hope of reprieve. But they’ve volunteered to come here, to this experimental clinic to allow themselves to be test subjects. Still, they’re all going to die. All except Barney. Barney cannot remember much about his life before the Complex, but he knows that he’s there as a control. To see how the drugs being tested will affect a nonterminal patient. And then they start testing a new drug on him . . . one that will affect his memory. And Barney starts to remember things he doesn’t want to remember. 
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We All Fall Down

We All Fall Down

Robert Cormier

Literature & Fiction / Young Adult / Thriller

Buddy Walker is troubled by his parent’s recent divorce, and when Harry Flowers suggests a prank, he goes along, just for opportunity to do something different. He doesn’t realize that someone is watching.  When Jane Jerome’s house is trashed, and sister brutally injured in a home invasion, she struggles to continue with her life as her family falls apart.  The Avenger has witnessed reckless evil. He has killed before and knows that he just needs to wait until the time is right before he can take his revenge.  Robert Cormier once again sheds light on the conflict between good and evil and the dark side of human nature. In his classic style, each character’s point of view is revealed invoking both sympathy and horror while showing the complexities of the psyche.
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I Am the Cheese

I Am the Cheese

Robert Cormier

Literature & Fiction / Young Adult / Thriller

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 fashion: 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 Book A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year A Horn Book Fanfare A Library of Congress Children’s Book of the Year A Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award Nominee From the Trade Paperback edition.
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8 Plus 1

8 Plus 1

Robert Cormier

Literature & Fiction / Young Adult / Thriller

Seventeen-year-old Mike visits his grandmother’s bedside and learns a family secret.  A divorced father discovers that only love, not bribes, can keep his daughter “his” on Thursdays. A young white boy finds that friendship—and betrayal—can cross racial boundaries. Robert Cormier is one of America’s most acclaimed writers for young adults. Here are nine touching and intensely personal stories, that confirm that these accolades are deserved. Each story features a brief introduction that explains how the story came to be, or something about the writing. Perhaps not as dark as some of Cormier’s novels, these tales still have his classically haunting themes, which will be savored by readers of all ages. 
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After the First Death

After the First Death

Robert Cormier

Literature & Fiction / Young Adult / Thriller

Sixteen-year-old Miro had instructions to kill the bus driver immediately. They would then take the busload of children to the bridge and begin the standoff. Artkin was Miro’s mentor; the mastermind behind this act of terrorism that would get the world’s attention.  But Artkin had told Miro that the bus driver would be an old man. Sixteen-year old Kate sometimes substituted for her uncle and drove his bus when he was ill. She even got a special license to do so, and she’d always liked kids. She wondered what was going on when the van in front of her stopped, but when the man and the boy with guns forced their way onto the bus, she knew her worst nightmare was beginning.
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Tenderness

Tenderness

Robert Cormier

Literature & Fiction / Young Adult / Thriller

Eighteen-year-old Eric has just been released from juvenile detention for murdering his mother and stepfather. Now he's looking for some tenderness--tenderness he finds in caressing and killing beautiful girls. Fifteen-year-old Lori has run away from home again. Emotionally naive but sexually precocious, she is also looking for tenderness--tenderness she finds in Eric. Will Lori and Eric be each other's salvation or destruction? Told from their alternating points of view, this harrowing thriller speeds to its fateful conclusion with an irresistible force, and a final twist that will not be easily forgotten.
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Fade

Fade

Robert Cormier

Literature & Fiction / Young Adult / Thriller

IT IS THE summer of 1938 when young Paul Moreaux discovers he can “fade.” First bewildered, then thrilled with the power of invisibility, Paul experiments. But his “gift” soon shows him shocking secrets and drives him toward a chilling act. “Imagine what might happen if Holden Caufield stepped into H. G. Wells’ The Invisible Man, and you’ll have an idea how good Fade is. . . . I was absolutely riveted.”—Stephen King
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