"Not Banned in Boston"
In this magazine feature for <em>The Sign</em>, a Catholic periodical, Cormier praises the efforts of priest Monsignor Russell Novello to bolster sex education in the Boston archdiocese. The sex education program he has developed with regional gynecologists focuses on educating parents and teens so that sex education can continue in the home and encompass more than anatomical and medical concerns. Dr. Lynch, one of the gynecologists, laments the ubiquity of sexual messaging in popular culture and mentions the rising attention to homosexuality in comics. Cormier reports on how teens of the 1960s are not shy about frank conversations about sex while their parents are less comfortable with the topic. The article closes with a discussion of the need for moral education as part of sex education and the controversy around public school sex education programs which might overlook moral concerns.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Robert+Cormier">Robert Cormier</a>
<em>The Sign</em>
Robert E. Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
April 1967
Annamary L. Consalvo
Katharine Covino
Elise Takehana
JPG, magazine
English
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Magazine+article">Magazine article</a>
Robert Cormier's letter to Dana 15 March 1989
In this letter to Dana, presumably a young reader, Cormier writes about finding inspiration for his novels in the lives of his children. He also speaks to the timeless nature of emotions, especially those of adolescence.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Robert+Cormier">Robert Cormier</a>
Robert E. Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
15 March 1989
AnnaMary L. Consalvo
Katharine Covino
Elise Takehana
JPG, onion skin
English
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Letter">Letter</a>
"Children's Writers Plumb the Depths of Fear" <em>Publisher's Weekly</em>
This 1995 <em>Publisher's Weekly</em> article examines the rise in popularity of suspense and horror books among middle-grade readers. "But it's all fear, isn't it?" Cormier says succinctly at a panel dedicated to the subject, referring to the everyday fears and anxieties that plague adolescents. The panel included John Peel, Erika Tamar, David Wiesner, and Ellen LiBretto and their conversion built on the theories of psychologist Bruno Bettelheim.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=M.P.+Dunleavey">M.P. Dunleavey</a>
<em>Publisher's Weekly</em>
Robert E. Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
27 March 1995
AnnaMary L. Consalvo
Katharine Covino
Elise Takehana
JPG, 8.5x11
English
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Magazine+article">Magazine article</a>
Paul Swaddle's email to Robert Cormier 3 February 1999
This e-mail presents a series of interview questions to Cormier from the Waterstones "In Brief" team out of Newcastle. Questions cover several topics including Cormier's journalism experience, Frenchtown, adolescence, large institutions, controversy, childhood, irony, emotions, and horror.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Paul+Swaddle">Paul Swaddle</a>
Robert E. Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
3 February 1999
AnnaMary L. Consalvo
Katharine Covino
Elise Takehana
<a href="https://robertcormiertwistedintimacy.omeka.net/items/show/98" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Robert Cormier's email to Paul Swaddle 12 February 1999</a><br /><a href="https://robertcormiertwistedintimacy.omeka.net/items/show/97" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Paul Swaddle's email to Robert Cormier 11 February 1999</a><br /><a href="https://robertcormiertwistedintimacy.omeka.net/items/show/96" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Robert Cormier's email to Fiona, Gudrun, Lucy, and Paul 4 February 1999</a><br /><a href="https://robertcormiertwistedintimacy.omeka.net/items/show/39">Robert Cormier's email to Fiona, Gudrun, Lucy, and Paul 3 February 1999</a>
JPG, 8.5x11
English
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Email">Email</a>
Paul Swaddle's email to Robert Cormier 11 February 1999
In this e-mail, the "In Brief" team asks Cormier some follow-up interview questions after making their initial inquiries eight days earlier. They ask about modern challenges, Cormier's own adolescent baggage, and request further elaboration on his connection to Frenchtown/Leominster.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Paul+Swaddle">Paul Swaddle</a>
Robert E. Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
11 February 1999
AnnaMary L. Consalvo
Katharine Covino
Elise Takehana
<a href="https://robertcormiertwistedintimacy.omeka.net/items/show/98" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Robert Cormier's email to Paul Swaddle 12 February 1999</a><br /><a href="https://robertcormiertwistedintimacy.omeka.net/items/show/96" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Robert Cormier's email to Fiona, Gudrun, Lucy, and Paul 4 February 1999</a><br /><a href="https://robertcormiertwistedintimacy.omeka.net/items/show/95" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Paul Swaddle's email to Robert Cormier 3 February 1999</a><br /><a href="https://robertcormiertwistedintimacy.omeka.net/items/show/39">Robert Cormier's email to Fiona, Gudrun, Lucy, and Paul 3 February 1999</a>
JPG, 8.5x11
English
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Email">Email</a>
Robert Cormier's email to Paul Swaddle 12 February 1999
Cormier responds to the "In Brief" team's follow-up questions, He sees the challenges of honest storytelling as timeless; he describes his adolescence as normal with "pits and peaks"; and he finds it difficult to put into words his affinity for Frenchtown.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Robert+Cormier">Robert Cormier</a>
Robert E. Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
12 February 1999
AnnaMary L. Consalvo
Katharine Covino
Elise Takehana
<a href="https://robertcormiertwistedintimacy.omeka.net/items/show/97" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Paul Swaddle's email to Robert Cormier 11 February 1999</a><br /><a href="https://robertcormiertwistedintimacy.omeka.net/items/show/96" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Robert Cormier's email to Fiona, Gudrun, Lucy, and Paul 4 February 1999</a><br /><a href="https://robertcormiertwistedintimacy.omeka.net/items/show/95" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Paul Swaddle's email to Robert Cormier 3 February 1999</a><br /><a href="https://robertcormiertwistedintimacy.omeka.net/items/show/39">Robert Cormier's email to Fiona, Gudrun, Lucy, and Paul 3 February 1999</a>
JPG, 8.5x11
English
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Email">Email</a>
<em>Tenderness</em> Grade Level Defense
This piece presents a detailed rationale for teaching Cormier's <em>Tenderness</em> at or above the sixth-grade level. The defense includes a summary of the novel, a biography of Cormier, teaching objectives, suggested teaching methods, potential essay questions, and suitable alternative books. The rationale for the book's value cites its potential to teach students about antisocial behavior and life's perils, of thinking critically about their own identity formation, and of the adolescent experience given "inadequate parenting".
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Nancy+Phol">Nancy Phol</a>
Robert E. Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
AnnaMary L. Consalvo
Katharine Covino
Elise Takehana
JPG, 8.5x11
English
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Grade+level+defense+and+analysis+for+the+book%27s+use+in+schools">Grade level defense and analysis for the book's use in schools</a>