I Am the Cheese he was confused and depressed, convinced that he was alienating his new young adult audience because of the complex and ambiguous story. However, "I Am the Cheese" proved to be a success. "I Am the Cheese" was named to five annual book lists according to the publisher description of the 20th anniversary edition. It won the 1997 Phoenix Award from the Children's Literature Association as the best English-language children's book that did not win a major award when it was originally published twenty years earlier. It is named for the mythical bird phoenix, which is reborn from its ashes, to
Amala (mythology) myths about Amala and similar heroes of Native American mythology were influenced by the tales of Cinderella and Atlas - the titan who carries the world on his shoulder in Greek mythology, introduced into Native American culture from Europe. There is a similarity between Cinderella and Amala in that both sleep in ashes and both are abused by their tribe or family. The storyline of Amala - the despised member of the tribe who overcomes adversity and rises to be a hero among his people, may be a combination of elements of the downtrodden and derided hero or heroine, such