Imagine finding out that you had a different name, that your parents have been lying to you since you were born, and that a total stranger has been orchestrating your whole life like a puppet. That was exactly what happened to Adam Farmer, a teenager who has decided to embark on a journey to visit his dad in the hospital. Biking from Massachusetts to Vermont was no easy task, especially with the bonus that Adam was pretty much afraid of everything.

“I am afraid of a thousand things, a million. Like, is it possible to be claustrophobic and yet fear open spaces, too?” (Cormier 12)

Alternating with Adam’s bike trip, the story switched into a tape recording of an interview. Brint, a therapist, started asking Adam questions to get him to remember his past. A lot of questions. At first, Adam couldn’t remember anything and quickly became suspicious of Brint’s intentions. Slowly though, he started to regain his memories: running away from someone in the woods; pulling pranks with his girlfriend, Amy Hertz; uncovering a fake birth certificate; overhearing news from an aunt he knew nothing about; finding out that someone from his hometown has never heard of the Farmers…

“He had two birth certificates, two birthdays. Crazily, he thought, Was I born twice?” (Cormier 73)

Though Adam never fully trusted Brint, the boy couldn’t contain his memories. He had to spill. He told Brint about everything, including the memory in which he confronted his dad about all the mysteries.

It turns out his dad was a reporter who had been a witness to government corruption. His dad had told the government, doing what he thought was best. However, this placed him and his family in grave danger. Even under the protection of the Witness Re-Establishment program, Adam’s dad almost died of a bomb that was planted in his car.

So Adam’s family went into hiding. They changed their identity and almost who they were as a person. They became easily scared and dependent on Mr. Grey, an official from the Witness Re-Establishment program. One summer though, Adam’s family decided to risk it and go on a vacation.

Did “they” find Adam and his family? Why is Adam biking to visit his dad who is in the hospital? What happened on their vacation?

To not spoil this for you, let me just say that the ending is something you would never have expected.

I rate this book a ten out of ten because there are literally no flaws I can nitpick from the top of my head. It displays a theme of how lies can be used as a weapon and as a shield. His parents deceived him, society turned its back on him, men he trusted betrayed him. It became impossible to go back to the days when he blasted music in strangers’ cars with his girlfriend. With the eternal question: Is it better to live blissfully ignorant under a lie or suffer knowing the scorching, terrifying truth? This novel is filled with so much plot twists and suspense that it will make you toss and turn your head trying to piece the clues together. Every time you read it, you’ll discover different sets of clues that’ll clear up or increase the mystery a little more. In this book, people are not who you think they are, with everything leading into that last “Aha” moment. If you are a fan of mystery, this is the book for you. Overall, this has been a ride of my life and I urge you to give I am the Cheese a go.

Check out I am the Cheese at the Newport Beach Public Library.