Robert Cormier is the Cheese in his field.

Robert Cormier is argued by some to be the preeminent YA author due to his prolific catalogue of successes and expansion of the genre as a whole. While many of his novels were considered edgy and groundbreaking for their day in terms of explicit content some deemed unsuitable for young adults, he continued to write successful books until his name became synonymous with YA literature. However, some adult skeptics may be hesitant at first.

I Am the Cheese is about Adam Farmer who becomes suspicious about his background and family's past history. Upon finding two different copies of his birth certificate he probes further. After his father explains about the family's past lives before the need for reidentification and relocation due to his father's job, the Farmers are forced to move due to being discovered. While this is the general plot of the novel, the entire story is told while Adam is in a psychiatric facility and giving an interview to an employee there. The novel delves into themes of alienation, death and confusion. 

While some, including Cormier himself, feared the book to be too complex or dark for the younger audience, it proved to be a success. One particular point of merit that adults can find when reading this novel is the complexity of voice. The story switches between first-person, present tense, third-person and past tense. This choice by Cormier was somewhat groundbreaking in its deviation from standard form and led to an experimentation commonly used by following authors. In this sense, this novel can be extremely valuable to young readers because it can be such a challenging read which will not only expand their concept of narrative voice by also broaden their sense of what a novel can achieve. It's novels like I Am the Cheese that pave the way for progressive literature which create new standards in their respective genres. If for only that reason, this novel can be extremely eye-opening. 

Recommendation: Equally rewarding for adolescents and adults.