Robert Cormier was the author of such important teen books as The Chocolate War, I Am The Cheese, The Bumblebee Flies Anyway and After The First Death. He was born in Leominster, Massachusetts, describing himself as "a skinny kid living in a ghetto-type neighborhood wanting the world to know that I existed." When his own children were small, he worked as a newspaper reporter and wrote at night. He used to write a story over and over until he was satisfied. He wanted to make his stories as true as possible, yet censors often disliked his books. Robert Cormier passed away on November 2, 2000.