An outsider who read and wrote to escape, he attended Catholic school, where a nun encouraged him to become a writer. At nearby Fitchburg State College, a teacher submitted one of Cormier's stories to a magazine, and it became his published debut. Soon after college he became a reporter for local newspapers, and garnered several prestigious awards. He worked as a journalist for 30 years, publishing short stories in national magazines, until his profits from novels allowed him to focus full-time on novels. He became a highly renowned and award winning journalist. As soon as he was financially able he made the shift to writing full time. He then began to sell short stories to magazines, and then advanced to publishing novels.
Influenced in large part by other coming of age books such as Tom Sawyer, How Green Was My Valley, and Look Homeward Angel, Cormier began to write about the complexities of growing up. The fact that he lived in the same city for all of his life gave him a window into his own adolescence, …show more content…
His first couple novels were for adults, and while they garnered positive reviews he did not become famous until the publication of his first young adult book in 1974, The Chocolate War. Since its publication, the book has been near the top of the most frequently censored books. The novel incited much protest from parents and teachers, who disapproved of the mature language and themes of a book that was supposed to be for teenagers. The book was considered inappropriate because of swearing, masturbation, violence and a depressing, dismal ending. Cormier spent much of his life after 1974 defending the book, and writing others along similar themes. According to Banned in the U.S.A. by Herbert N. Foerstel, a book that documented the most frequently censored books according to public schools and libraries in the US between 1990–1992, The Chocolate War is number five, just under Huckleberry
Influenced in large part by other coming of age books such as Tom Sawyer, How Green Was My Valley, and Look Homeward Angel, Cormier began to write about the complexities of growing up. The fact that he lived in the same city for all of his life gave him a window into his own adolescence, …show more content…
His first couple novels were for adults, and while they garnered positive reviews he did not become famous until the publication of his first young adult book in 1974, The Chocolate War. Since its publication, the book has been near the top of the most frequently censored books. The novel incited much protest from parents and teachers, who disapproved of the mature language and themes of a book that was supposed to be for teenagers. The book was considered inappropriate because of swearing, masturbation, violence and a depressing, dismal ending. Cormier spent much of his life after 1974 defending the book, and writing others along similar themes. According to Banned in the U.S.A. by Herbert N. Foerstel, a book that documented the most frequently censored books according to public schools and libraries in the US between 1990–1992, The Chocolate War is number five, just under Huckleberry