"Sex, Serial Killers, And Suicide" <em>Brill's Content</em>
Kimberly Conniff's article situates Cormier's novel <em>Tenderness</em> in the changing landscape of teen fiction. She uses the adjectives "gritty, immediate, and brazenly hardcore" to describe Melvin Burgess's <em>Smack</em>, but they could just as easily pertain to Cormier's work. Conniff also points to works like <em>Tenderness</em> exceeding publishers' sales expectations. She calls the move towards the hardcore subject matter a ploy to bring in older teens to the young adult market and marks the prevalence of YA specific imprints at large publishing houses, YA reading lists on bookstore websites, and YA specific book prizes. Conniff makes a passing mention of the Columbine shooting as a point to reference to remind readers of how teenagers do face real problems that literature written for and about them should reflect if we are to be honest about our reality.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Kimberly+Connie">Kimberly Connie</a>
<em>Brill's Content</em>
Robert E. Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
September 1999
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>
Tenderness Reader's Companion Packet
This Reader's Companion includes a biography of Cormier, an interview with him, a summary of <em>Tenderness</em>, and suggested discussion questions. Included with the companion is a promotional letter from the editor, Craig Virden, who talks about the monstrous protagonist that still garner compassion and the gritty, mature content and accompanying "sophisticated" design of the book. In his interview, Cormier talks about the importance of characters for achieving realism in his writing and mentions a writer's need to be able to write from all perspectives regardless of gender or ethnicity. He also reveals a fear of indifference. Discussion questions focus on character motives, reader response, social and cultural phenomena, and written craft (plot structure, point-of-view, setting, irony).
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Craig+Varden+and+Patty+Campbell">Craig Varden and Patty Campbell</a>
Robert E. Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
AnnaMary L. Consalvo
Katharine Covino
Elise Takehana
<a href="https://robertcormiertwistedintimacy.omeka.net/items/show/102" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span>Delacorte Books for Young Readers Reading Group Guide</span></a>
Cover letter: JPG, 8.5x11 resumé paper
Folder: JPG, 9.5x11.5 glossy
Reader's Companion (unfolded) 21 3/4 x 8 1/4
Reader's Companion (folded) 5.5 x 8 1/4
English
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Cover+letter%2C+reader%27s+companion">Cover letter, reader's companion</a>
"Try a Little Tenderness" <em>Boston Magazine</em>
This profile of Cormier investigates his life and work, with a specific focus on his recent visit to Judge John J. Connelly Youth Service Center, a Roslindale youth lockdown for boys. Keeping his interactions with troubled youth to the fore, the piece also brings in the characters of Cormier's recent novel, <em>Tenderness</em>, which students at the facility recently read. Cormier shares his concerns about how realistic his depictions of the juvenile detention center will appear to this audience and the students struggle to feel sympathy for Eric or accept Lori's sad fate. Also included is a background of Cormier's early writing career.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Lisa+Gerson">Lisa Gerson</a>
<em>Boston Magazine</em>
Robert E. Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
December 1997
AnnaMary L. Consalvo
Katharine Covino
Elise Takehana
JPG, 8x11 glossy 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>
"Author tranforms 'youth' genre" <em>Telegram</em>
This profile of Robert Cormier describes how his unflinching look at culture is drawing in new young adult readers. The article also addresses the controversy surrounding his books, especially <em>The Chocolate War</em>. Much of the profile discusses Cormier's place in literary history and what role the label of "YA author" might have in how future generations consider his work.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=%3Cem%3ETelegram+%26amp%3B+Gazette%3C%2Fem%3E+Staff"><em>Telegram & Gazette</em> Staff</a>
<em>Telegram & Gazette</em>
Robert E. Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
9 March 1997
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=Xeroxed+newspaper+article">Xeroxed newspaper article</a>
"Writer's work travels far" <em>Telegram</em>
This 1997 article in the <em>Telegram</em> chronicles Cormier's early life growing up in Leominster, from his father's work in the plastic factory and his untimely death, to his beginnings as a writer, through his ultimate success of <em>The Chocolate War</em> and<em> I Am the Cheese</em>. The article also discusses how integral Leominster is to Cormier's work and life.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=George+Snell">George Snell</a>
<em>Telegram & Gazette</em>
Robert E. Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
9 March 1997
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=Newspaper+article">Newspaper article</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>
Robert Cormier's letter to Miss Marilyn Marlow 4 October 1960
In this four-page letter (page 2 missing) to agent Marilyn Marlow, Cormier discusses at length his difficulties writing a new novel, as well as publication challenges for his finished novel <em>The Rumple Country</em>. He solicits her advice on a short story "The Three Hundred Loan" and shares an encouraging conversation he had with a Random House salesman who showed interested in Cormier's plots for <em>The Rumple Country</em> and an unnamed novel about seduction. He also inquires upon the potentially improved conditions at Macmillan. He also laments that free-lancing has not offered him more time to write what pleases him.
<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
4 October 1960
AnnaMary L. Consalvo
Katharine Covino
Elise Takehana
<a href="https://robertcormiertwistedintimacy.omeka.net/items/show/138" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Robert Cormier's letter to Miss Marilyn Marlow undated</a><br /><a href="https://robertcormiertwistedintimacy.omeka.net/items/show/120" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">"My Father's Gamble" The Sign</a><br /><a href="https://robertcormiertwistedintimacy.omeka.net/items/show/42" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Robert Cormier's letter to Miss Marilyn Marlow 29 March 1968</a>
JPG, 8.5x11 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>
"Marilyn Marlow Remembered" <em>Publishers Weekly</em> 13 October 2003
This "in memoriam" for literary agent Marilyn Marlow features a brief account from Cormier's widow Connie. She describes her husband's close relationship with Miss Marlow, and how Marlow defended Cormier when publishers wanted to make changes to <em>The Chocolate War</em>. Further, Marlow was Cormier's only agent and a family friend. S.E. Hinton, Susan Hirschman, Thacher Hurd, Craig Virden, and Dave Barbor also included their laudatory thoughts and shared positive experiences with Marlow.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=S.E.+Hinton">S.E. Hinton</a>
Robert E. Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
13 October 2003
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>
Karen Wojtyla's letter to Robert Cormier 9 April 1996
In this one page typed, Cormier's Bantam editor Karen Wojtyla confirms receipt of his revisions to <em>Tenderness.</em> She encourages Cormier on his progress with the novel and informs him of the timeline for bound and unbound galleys.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Karen+Wojtyla">Karen Wojtyla</a>
Robert E. Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
9 April 1996
Annamary L. Consalvo
Katharine Covino
Elise Takehana
<a href="https://robertcormiertwistedintimacy.omeka.net/items/show/20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Robert Cormier's letter to Karen 20 May 1996</a><br /><a href="https://robertcormiertwistedintimacy.omeka.net/items/show/19" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Robert Cormier's letter to Karen 9 April 1996</a><br /><a href="https://robertcormiertwistedintimacy.omeka.net/items/show/18" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Karen Wojtyla's letter to Robert Cormier 12 March 1996</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=Letter">Letter</a>
<em>Heroes</em> book cover proofs
Four cover designs, two of which include front and back pages, for Cormier's novel, <em>Heroes</em>. One cover includes a biography of Cormier and book review snippets for <em>Tenderness</em> and <em>In the Middle of the Night</em>. The third and fourth designs were used: the third for the 1998 Delacorte Press hardback and 2000 Laurel-Leaf Books paperback and the fourth for the 1998 Hamish Hamilton hardback and 1999 Puffin Books paperback.
Robert E. Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
Annamary L. Consalvo
Katharine Covino
Elise Takehana
JPG
English
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Book+covers">Book covers</a>