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 The Chocolate War. Much of the profile discusses…
This article explores ways in which creative writers can craft better, more engaging Young Adult fiction. The author proposes the use of the YA short story collection Sixteen: Short Stories by Outstanding Writers for Young Adults, edited by Donald…
Kimberly Conniff's article situates Cormier's novel Tenderness in the changing landscape of teen fiction. She uses the adjectives "gritty, immediate, and brazenly hardcore" to describe Melvin Burgess's Smack, but they could just as easily pertain to…
This article explores the increased presence of ambivalence and ambiguity in young adult novels. While the article discusses Cormier's work heavily, Patty Campbell also references YA authors Walter Dean Myers, Lois Lowry, Terry Trueman, and David…
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,…
In this four-page letter to his editor, Craig Virden, Robert Cormier defends his decision to label Tenderness a YA novel even though it features some departures from the genre, including an older protagonist and a morally ambiguous main character in…
In this response to the interview questions from the "In Brief" team, Cormier discusses his love of words, the politically conservative climate, the horror of the commonplace, and his admiration of other writers, especially Graham Greene. The topics…
This review addresses the novel Tenderness as a book for older, young adult readers. Much of the piece focuses on Cormier's portrayals of Eric and Lori. The author contends that the two teens, though different in many ways, share a twisted search for…