I Am the Cheese is a novel written by American author Robert Cormier and first published in 1977. It is categorized as young adult literature.

Protagonist Adam Farmer is biking from his home in the fictional town of Monument, Massachusetts (based on Cormier's home town of Leominster, Massachusetts^{[citation needed]}). Interspersed with the story of his journey are memories of Adam's previous life with his parents, his love for prankster Amy Hertz, and the discovery that he is not who he seems to be.

This quote is a verse from "The Farmer In The Dell", a song that Adam sings during the book:

The cheese stands alone
The cheese stands alone
Hi-ho, the derry-o
The cheese stands alone

He sings many of these songs throughout the novel. The song contains several characters, each taking someone with them when the farmer leaves, yet the cheese has nobody.

Adam believes that he is the cheese. He is alone in the world, his mother dead and his father is missing, and he lives in a hospital. He thinks that he is not wanted anymore. Also, as in other works by Cormier, there is a dual meaning to the title. The words "I am the cheese" may also represent Adam's feelings of entrapment: himself being the bait used to lure his parents into their murders.^{[original research?]}