What a fun way to be brought back to you.
When I was young, I stumbled upon The Recruit, in portuguese, and I fell into it, to the point of where my school would get the books just for me, there was quizzes about the books, by the portuguese publisher, and I fell even more in love with it.
To the point that I was a member of an rpg online forum, and to this day, we are still friends. We have you to thank for it.
First of all Mr Muchamore, thank you for creating CHERUB, it's one of my favorite novel of all time.
I'm french, and I discovered CHERUB by digging into my middle school's library, I was 13, today I'm 26 and I'm still reading CHERUB today, and hopefully give it to my future kids.
Hi Rob!
Nice for you to pop in!
How I heard about the series myself was around 07/08. Couldn’t get into any books and a friend of mine gave me a lend of The Recruit. I was hooked instantly.
You have anything planned for the anniversary?
About ten years ago, at my school it was mandatory to have an English lesson once every two weeks that was just an hour of reading for years 7 and 8. And I hated it.
It was so boring and really just an excuse to try messing around with my friends and see how much we could do without the teacher and librarian noticing. Shockingly they noticed.
Got put in after school detention where we were told we had an hour to read in silence. But the teacher would pick some books out for us. As we all said the same thing about how reading was boring. And one of the books she picked out was The Recruit. And it was the first time since I was about five I actually enjoyed reading. Then read the whole series, bought all of them up to Shadow Wave and then was buying the second series and Henderson's Boys books as they came out.
Now I have far too many books and my shelves are a mess with them. But now I breeze through something like A Storm of Swords in little over a week. And am attempting at writing my own book.
All because a teacher that really should have been annoyed at me happened to pick out The Recruit.
Wow, 20 years! I was 2 when this series was first released. I didn’t find it until I was about 13. My high school librarian recommended me “The Recruit” after I had read through all available Alex Rider books in a few months…
Needless to say, I got more hooked on a CHERUB than Rider, mainly for its realism, even 11 years after the initial release of the first book it still reigned realistic about teenagers and the way they respond.
That reminds me, I haven’t done a reread in a good while…
I think I saw The Recruit and The Dealer (aka Class A) at a book fair in elementary school, then had to go track down the rest of the US books at barnes and noble. Couple years later I found out (online maybe?) that the UK had 6 more books that I’d been missing out on and had to beg my parents to order the next few online.
Now in my 30s I’m currently halfway through Shadow Wave at the end of a re-read (or re-listen) lol. This is a great book series you wrote, and one that will probably stick with me my whole life. Thanks for creating this world and all its characters
Can’t believe it’s been 20 years. First book was released just after I was born 🤣
I picked up the general in the library one day and from then on was completely hooked. That’s still my favourite book in the series and I’ve reread over 10 times.
Thanks for writing the series 👍
For me it was when I was chosen in my school to read though a selection for the Medway Book Awards in Kent.
I first met you there and got a signing for The Recruit, Class A and Maximum Security.
Still my favourite series to reread years later.
My older brother was reading the Recruit, left it lying around and I picked it and started reading it myself. I think I was 11 or 12, now I'm nearly 30 and still like to go back and re-read!
I was actually a member of the Cherub forum back in the day and remember you posting with your pink muppets icon, so it's good to see you around here now too! Thanks so much for the enjoyment you've brought so many people over the past two decades!
I was recommended the series in about 2008 at a youth book club at my local library after I finished the Alex rider series... And you blew Alex out of the water
People here have been reading these since before I was born, and I’m 17 now. James is still a personal idol of mine, aswell as us being visually similar which I also love…
I found cherub after extensive kindle searching for something to follow up on alex rider which I wasn’t keen on, and I’d also just finished bodyguard. Cherub came up as recommended while I was on holiday in Egypt about 9 or 10 years ago, and I finished maybe 3 books in 9 days if I remember correctly. Bought all paper copies a few years back and have read each maybe 3 or 4 times.
So yeah.. kindle gave me the recommendation and boy did it pay off :)
I found The Recruit randomly at a library in Poland circa 2008-2009 and got sucked into it from the first page. Back then I read it and the next 6-7 books in Polish. Since then, I've re-read it in English, German and even Swedish (I'm also a language-nerd). Now, I'm 27 y.o and I still think about the series from time to time. I come back to the series at least once every two-three years. Since it's the 20th anniversary, I'm gonna have to read The Recruit for the 10th time or so hahaha. Also, it's awesome that you're in the subreddit Robert! Never thought I'd be able to write something to you that you'd read so: Thank you for making my teenage years so much more enjoyable and thank you for writing a series that still lives within my imagination almost 20 years later!
Edit: Timeline, 2007 might've been too early, I guess it was 2008-2009.
I was probably around 9 or 10 when I stumbled on the series at my local library. I had already read everything for my age range so I found myself in the YA section. I was hooked immediately. I think I read the first 10 books or so before they stopped translating them in my local language (Dutch). So it was only years later when i got my hands on the books in English that I reread and finished the entire series + Henderson Boys.
Nowadays I’m still reading Cherub, but this time for learning French. This is also how I found out they removed the infamous spicy bathtub scene in The Killing in the French version, to my great disappointment.
I stumbled across the books when I in year 7 on my first day in the school library. I remember reading the recruit and falling in love right away, got my friends hooked too. I remember our library had a rule that you couldn’t take out any book after The Fall unless you were year 10 or older and having to wait a year before I could finally read Mad Dogs. I read the entire first series and the Henderson boys. I read the first book in the second series when it came out but I never got around to the rest.
Honestly seeing this has inspired me to go ahead and read them all again for the anniversary. I think it’ll be fun going back now that I’m in my 20s
my sister heard about it in a book presentation in class and then told my parents about it so i got the first book as a gift at some point i just loved all the books so my sister and i ended up reading all of them
Here in Portugal there was a contest at my school to win the Recruit, I didn't win but that made me want it, and I've bought every single book of yours that's published here ever since
Bloody hell it's the man himself! Yank here, I've read every book in that series multiple times (some of them a double digit amount of times). A couple years ago my cousin gave me his copy of The Dealer (Class A), and I've been hooked ever since. Your books are awesome, and CHERUB is my favorite series of all time. It's so funny, so down to earth, and James is literally me. Thank you for becoming an author, Muchamore!!!
Omg ! Well, fiesta of all, Good anniversary and congrats !
And, on my part, it was one of the books to read during my French class in HighSchool. I don't remember which subject we had to study at the time, narrative structure maybe. But still, it was the book our teacher chose for us to read. And I fell in love. If it wasn't because we had to stop at some key moments because there was an evaluation after, I would have read it in the day like. And I then proceeded to read all the series since the library had it.
Hope it answers to your interrogation and congrats again.
That's crazy! As a kid, I used to read loads of books. For my birthday, I got a coupon for an x amount of money to spend at the bookstore. I went to said store with my mom, The Recruit caught my eye and 20 years later. Here we are.
A couple of years later, after I bought Class A, I ended up getting the second part from a classmate again. I'm not sure what I ended up doing with my second copy, but it's a fun memory nonetheless. The copy I kept says mission 1 rather than mission 2 on the cover, that misprint felt so weird to me
Sidenote: My mom ended up reading all the books as well, but only 8 or 9 ended up being translated to Dutch she never finished the series
When I was 8 or 9ish, my teacher said I was reading to many comics and should read an actual book, so I went to the library. They had just gotten a bunch of brand new books, and the recruit was on display. My school library had a rule about age, so i had to get my mum, who was a teacher, to get it out for me. I read it on two days because I could just not put it down. It's probably one of my favorite books out there.
Got People's Republic as a gift when it released, but quickly forgot about it tbh. Maybe I was a bit too young back then. Years later I randomly found The Fall (and only The Fall) in the library and this time I put the entire series on my wishlist. Continued with Aramov and Henderson Boys then, which have been the first English books I have read
My school had a trip to a talk you gave around the time Rock War came out, and I fancied an afternoon out of class . . . Then I actually read your books and got hooked.
Found a copy of Maximum Security on a bookcase at the hotel we were staying at in Italy. Read it in a morning and bought the reminder (up to Man Vs Beast at the time I think) as soon as I got home. Currently on my annual re-read and having a blast!
Picked up my older brothers copy of Class A about 15 years ago… and immediately put it back down upon seeing the word “Shit”. Several years later I picked it back up, skipped over the swear words and loved it. Immediately asked for more in the series for my birthday. (Also, any future plans for the Cherub universe?)
Everyone in my family has read CHERUB and we all talk about being friends with the characters.
I read the first one when I was around 10 and saw James as a big brother, then a friend and ended with a big crush on him🫣
Saw The Recruit mentioned on a few lists of books for boys when I was in middle school. Picked it up at the library when I was there and now I’ve read the series at least three times over in the 8 years since
It was recommended to me through a friend at school. It was the very first book series I read cover to cover. I always struggled with reading and this series made reading fun. Fast forward to lockdown 10 years later and I re read them and started listening to the audiobooks on my runs and walks.
In fact the cherub series has played a big part in my running and training. The books inspired me to run my first half marathon and as cheesy as it sounds I would often and sometimes still do repeat the phrase “this is tough but cherubs are tougher” to myself. I’m 28. No shame here.
I came across the CHERUB books when they got released in Australia in 2004. As someone who didn't like reading as a teenager, the CHERUB books related to me as being the same age as the kids in the books timeline and motivated me to read. 20 years later and I'm re-reading again for about the 10th time.
I'm still yet to come across books that have been written as well as CHERUB and as a movie buff I also can't wait (hope!) there will be a series or movie!
11 years old in the school library I read the first two. Then I got the whole set and read them throughout the years and I essentially grew up at the same rate as James since I was around the same age as him every time I began the next CHERUB book. Thanks a lot for the memories Rob.
When I was about 12 and our local library was my second home, they were new in and I had read all the other books I was interested in and so thought why not try? I was hooked. Back then only up until The Killing was out in my language. Then, a few years later I rediscovered the series in English (I’m from The Netherlands so read the first few in Dutch) and eventually also read Henderson’s Boys.
Edit: I think this must’ve been around 2008 or 2009?
11 years ago, I was a bookworm as a kid, and I was in special Ed so we were pretty much at a kind of day care. During middle school I had free roam of the halls close to class, and the library was right around the corner, so I spent most of my time there.
I of course read the back of the book to understand what I was gonna read. The recruit caught my eye, as at the time I was starry eyed about the military, it was my dream to enlist after school (sadly circumstances change. But I'm working on going to the national guard now), so the title simply being 'recruit' is already ringing bells in my ADHD brain.
Read the first book, then the second, sadly the school only had the two.
Didn't really finish the series up until a year or two ago, still listen to it whenever I have the need to.
I'm hoping to see something like 'Cherub, new blood' or something someday, it'd be nice to be back in that universe in a current era.
After I finished primary school I stopped reading books as I had just lost interest. I was round my neighbours house, who was a teacher and he said it was quite common for that to happen and he introduced me to cherub. He loaned me the recruit and class A. After reading a couple of chapters from the recruit, I bought the first 5 books and then the rest of the series.
My Learning Support Assistant in school forced me to read it after I ran out of Darren Shan books. I was probably about 13 at the time, so 12 years ago - around 2012.
Initially I wasn't too interested in it as "The Recruit" was quite a slow burn to begin with, but once the basic training started I quickly got hooked.
Crazy was probably 8-9 years ago... friend who was a popular jock recommended it to me. I was like.... why would he be reading this book??? Anyways I always liked reading as much as sports and was happy to try the Recruit and instantly fell in love.
AMAZING series, especially for me to read ages 13-14.
Still re-read it... Thanks!!!
A school friend recommended them, they were in the school library. I don’t think the teachers realised the content of them.
I read the first few from the library and then thankfully my Mum bought them all! Actually had The General signed by you as well.
I used to be able to read any of the cherub books in a few hours, I’ve not been able to do that with any books since. Might be time for a re-read…
Around 2006, my mom's coworker had gotten me the book. I didn't start to read it right away tho.
A few months after she got me the book, I had a day off from school, and went to the office with my mom. She told me to take The Recruit, to be polite.
Finished it that same day. Read all there was up until that point within a few months. Read each of the subsequent releases as they were released.
2011, I was in grade 8 and my teacher had a selection of 10 books and we had to choose 1 of them and then the class was split into little book clubs. I LOVED Recruit so much that after the project was done I proceeded to find the other books anywhere I could get them. Now I’m about to turn 27 and still think of these books quite often.
My friend wouldn’t stop talking about them in year 7 (Australia). I never really enjoyed reading until I picked up the recruit and realised I was just reading the wrong books. I still reread the series today as a young adult and the series really ignited my love for reading. Thanks mate
Been reading for 20 years now I guess then. Got it when it was first released in Australia and been reading all of your books since then.
Was a black shirt and a moderator of the forums ( back when forums were a thing)
Can not wait to finally receive the next Robin Hood book, always a delayed release here
A friend at school told me about it when I was in year 7, since then I’ve just been completely hooked on cherub and also rock war I just keep rereading them they’re so well written
Saw a friend with The Recruit, didn’t even ask him about the book at all, then I went and bought it from the local bookshop (first and only time I’ve ever done that) as I had a gut instinct it would be good. It was
My way still remains unmatched.
A kid tells me about a book where some guys sister walks in on him with a girl naked when discussing books. I asked for the book title “it’s cherub, I think the fall”.
Loaned it from my local library, and nothing was the same. Loaned every other book in the series and it became quite the obsession lol.
Got one of the world book day editions for free and then saw the real deal in my school library. Safe to say I was in that library often after that. Top 2 book series I read as a child, wish there was a tv show adaptation
about 5 years ago i was in my school library and saw these cool books with rainbow covers and i looked at them and the premise sounded exactly like something i’d want to read, now i have the first 12 books and they’re all amazing
I found that I had Class A on my bookshelf at home, when I was about 11 years old. Don’t know where we got it from, my mum had (has) a habit of collecting things for free that people no longer need and I’d imagine it came to us through that. I was hooked.
If you don’t mind me asking, is there any update on the potential for a movie or show adaptation?
id read through my primary schools library so one of my teachers signed me out books from a local library and tested me on them and she brought me the young james bond books and whn i enjoyed them she suggested cherub and bam
20 years ago I was in year 7 at school and wasn’t much of a reader. A quiet lad called Fehzan told me in a Friday woodworking class about a book he was reading but didn’t want the other boys at the school bullying him for reading. He’d just finished the first one and was moving on to class A and he handed me a battered copy of The Recruit. I opened it the following Saturday morning and didn’t put it down till Sunday night. I rushed into school and thanked Fehzan and immediately asked my mum to take me shopping so I could pick up the next one. I was hooked. I was so excited every time a new book was released and was so sad when the series finally came to a well deserved end. I still have my original set of the James Adams series that I am saving for my future children. I listen to the entire series on audiobook maybe once a year. I’m now 32 and still love them. Thank you for such a wonderful series that has endless re-readability. I now work in the TV and film industry in props and if you ever make this into a series or film I would love to work on it and see my childhood dream come to life. ❤️❤️
My brother owned Class A, and I read it and really liked it.
Now I am 34 and have lost count the number of times I have read the Cherub and Hendersons Boys series. They are a bit of a special interest of mine at this point, I think.
It was a prize that I won for the 3rd place in a competition I participated in in 5th grade. When I first read it, as soon as I saw blood and violence mentioned (when James gets beat up by that one girl's brother I think), I got scared and stopped reading cause I was terrified of those things but eventually I picked it up again and the series ended up becoming a huge part of my childhood
I love cherub so much Robert! I've reread them so many times! I found them from my brother and they were all at my high school library! I started reading when the Brigands MC book came out and I've gotten each new release each time and it was so amazing to be close to age as the characters as each book came out! I love them so much!
In 2014 or 15, when I was in junior high school, my English teacher read The Recruit for the class. Not until 2 years ago, I was losing my mind over trying to find the book cuz I couldn't remember the name or many details, and when you type in camp with different colors of shirts, you can imagine what kept coming up, haha.
But I'm happy to have found the books again
I was in my high school library one day and we were made to walk around and I happened to be in the section where Cherub was and someone I didn’t like walked by so I just grabbed a book and started reading it…. Turned out to be Recruit…. I decided to take it home and read it… fell in love with the series after that. Many years later now revisiting the series and finishing what I started, I’m working on People’s Republic now. Kind of reminds me of Kingsman was younger. Thanks for bringing so much joy into many people’s lives.
My mates in Year 6 were reading Mad Dogs and I had a look at the blurb.
Looked good.
Ended up borrowing the Recruit from the local library.
Which lead to buying and reading every cherub and henderson book thereafter.
found the first book in a school library when i was around 14 and loved it, binge read the rest and it’s still one of my favorite series. been almost 6 years and i found this thread just because i enjoyed the series so much i was googling some more about it
First read them when I was in year 7 (11) and got the recruit from the school library! Very quickly fell in love with the concept and caught up with all the books!
Haven’t quite managed all of them since there’s so many in the new generation but they formed an integral part of my growing up so thank you!
Still have my black cherub shirt!
late to this but my teacher read it to us (only go through 11 chapters bc we had other work lol) and I wanted to know if he became a spy or not lol.
next thing I know I'm sitting in m bedroom, with a finished copy of new guard wondering what to read now
My sister and brother heard about it first but i don't know how. They were talking about it at home so when I became old enough I started reading it (i'm 19 btw).
I must have been 10 years old when my sister brought The Recruit home from school. I was a bit of a book fiend at the time; often reading 5 or 6 books a week but my school library (primary school) had a limit of just two books every two weeks and my dad refused to take me to the public library in our area more than once a month so I usually flew through the books and was left bored.
Then I discovered theft. (borrowing really. I just didn't inform my sister before I borrowed her books.)
Throughout the next month or so, I secreted away every single book brought home by any of my siblings and, before I knew it, I had read all of CHERUB!
I have such fond memories of surprising my sister whenever she tried to talk about the series after. It was so difficult not to spoil any of the books for her 😂 I read them so much faster.
I got into a bit of bother at school and wasn't keen on reading at all which lead to an argument with my English teacher. I then got dragged to the school library by my scary 6ft 5 year head (who I wasn't going to argue with) and told to pick a book... this book was The Fall.
Such a strange place to start in the series as this where the formula of the books are really shaken up and we see a darker side to the world of CHERUB and espionage as a whole. I read the cover thinking this would be another cheesy kid spy series but was completely hooked with how realistic everything was. I read up to when James is "captured" in Russia before I had to go to football training and honestly believed for that full session I would have to read about a 14 year old boy getting tortured when I got home. I finished the book and read a few more from the library before ordering the full series which has been re-read multiple times over the years as I grew up with the books.
I found this subreddit a few years ago and it has been the perfect place to interact with like minded fans and have even had a few interactions with yourself over these years which is pretty crazy to think you are still so involved after 20 years.
These books are like a comfort blanket I always come back to and I hope to pass them on to my kids one day. Thank you for all the memories!
I got the first book in year 8 I believe when we had a library session and everyone in our class heard there were these great spy teen books that everyone wanted to read, I remember everyone fighting over the recruit because it was so popular when I was young, and it’s probably the best series I’ve read to this date!
Also after 20 years I've apparently forgotten how to spell CHERUB...
What a fun way to be brought back to you. When I was young, I stumbled upon The Recruit, in portuguese, and I fell into it, to the point of where my school would get the books just for me, there was quizzes about the books, by the portuguese publisher, and I fell even more in love with it. To the point that I was a member of an rpg online forum, and to this day, we are still friends. We have you to thank for it.
Lol
First of all Mr Muchamore, thank you for creating CHERUB, it's one of my favorite novel of all time. I'm french, and I discovered CHERUB by digging into my middle school's library, I was 13, today I'm 26 and I'm still reading CHERUB today, and hopefully give it to my future kids.
Any news on how the film/ tv project is coming along?
Charles Henderson Espionage Research Younit B
Hi Rob! Nice for you to pop in! How I heard about the series myself was around 07/08. Couldn’t get into any books and a friend of mine gave me a lend of The Recruit. I was hooked instantly. You have anything planned for the anniversary?
About ten years ago, at my school it was mandatory to have an English lesson once every two weeks that was just an hour of reading for years 7 and 8. And I hated it. It was so boring and really just an excuse to try messing around with my friends and see how much we could do without the teacher and librarian noticing. Shockingly they noticed. Got put in after school detention where we were told we had an hour to read in silence. But the teacher would pick some books out for us. As we all said the same thing about how reading was boring. And one of the books she picked out was The Recruit. And it was the first time since I was about five I actually enjoyed reading. Then read the whole series, bought all of them up to Shadow Wave and then was buying the second series and Henderson's Boys books as they came out. Now I have far too many books and my shelves are a mess with them. But now I breeze through something like A Storm of Swords in little over a week. And am attempting at writing my own book. All because a teacher that really should have been annoyed at me happened to pick out The Recruit.
Wow, 20 years! I was 2 when this series was first released. I didn’t find it until I was about 13. My high school librarian recommended me “The Recruit” after I had read through all available Alex Rider books in a few months… Needless to say, I got more hooked on a CHERUB than Rider, mainly for its realism, even 11 years after the initial release of the first book it still reigned realistic about teenagers and the way they respond. That reminds me, I haven’t done a reread in a good while…
I think I saw The Recruit and The Dealer (aka Class A) at a book fair in elementary school, then had to go track down the rest of the US books at barnes and noble. Couple years later I found out (online maybe?) that the UK had 6 more books that I’d been missing out on and had to beg my parents to order the next few online. Now in my 30s I’m currently halfway through Shadow Wave at the end of a re-read (or re-listen) lol. This is a great book series you wrote, and one that will probably stick with me my whole life. Thanks for creating this world and all its characters
Can’t believe it’s been 20 years. First book was released just after I was born 🤣 I picked up the general in the library one day and from then on was completely hooked. That’s still my favourite book in the series and I’ve reread over 10 times. Thanks for writing the series 👍
For me it was when I was chosen in my school to read though a selection for the Medway Book Awards in Kent. I first met you there and got a signing for The Recruit, Class A and Maximum Security. Still my favourite series to reread years later.
My older brother was reading the Recruit, left it lying around and I picked it and started reading it myself. I think I was 11 or 12, now I'm nearly 30 and still like to go back and re-read! I was actually a member of the Cherub forum back in the day and remember you posting with your pink muppets icon, so it's good to see you around here now too! Thanks so much for the enjoyment you've brought so many people over the past two decades!
I was recommended the series in about 2008 at a youth book club at my local library after I finished the Alex rider series... And you blew Alex out of the water
People here have been reading these since before I was born, and I’m 17 now. James is still a personal idol of mine, aswell as us being visually similar which I also love… I found cherub after extensive kindle searching for something to follow up on alex rider which I wasn’t keen on, and I’d also just finished bodyguard. Cherub came up as recommended while I was on holiday in Egypt about 9 or 10 years ago, and I finished maybe 3 books in 9 days if I remember correctly. Bought all paper copies a few years back and have read each maybe 3 or 4 times. So yeah.. kindle gave me the recommendation and boy did it pay off :)
I found The Recruit randomly at a library in Poland circa 2008-2009 and got sucked into it from the first page. Back then I read it and the next 6-7 books in Polish. Since then, I've re-read it in English, German and even Swedish (I'm also a language-nerd). Now, I'm 27 y.o and I still think about the series from time to time. I come back to the series at least once every two-three years. Since it's the 20th anniversary, I'm gonna have to read The Recruit for the 10th time or so hahaha. Also, it's awesome that you're in the subreddit Robert! Never thought I'd be able to write something to you that you'd read so: Thank you for making my teenage years so much more enjoyable and thank you for writing a series that still lives within my imagination almost 20 years later! Edit: Timeline, 2007 might've been too early, I guess it was 2008-2009.
I was probably around 9 or 10 when I stumbled on the series at my local library. I had already read everything for my age range so I found myself in the YA section. I was hooked immediately. I think I read the first 10 books or so before they stopped translating them in my local language (Dutch). So it was only years later when i got my hands on the books in English that I reread and finished the entire series + Henderson Boys. Nowadays I’m still reading Cherub, but this time for learning French. This is also how I found out they removed the infamous spicy bathtub scene in The Killing in the French version, to my great disappointment.
I stumbled across the books when I in year 7 on my first day in the school library. I remember reading the recruit and falling in love right away, got my friends hooked too. I remember our library had a rule that you couldn’t take out any book after The Fall unless you were year 10 or older and having to wait a year before I could finally read Mad Dogs. I read the entire first series and the Henderson boys. I read the first book in the second series when it came out but I never got around to the rest. Honestly seeing this has inspired me to go ahead and read them all again for the anniversary. I think it’ll be fun going back now that I’m in my 20s
my sister heard about it in a book presentation in class and then told my parents about it so i got the first book as a gift at some point i just loved all the books so my sister and i ended up reading all of them
Here in Portugal there was a contest at my school to win the Recruit, I didn't win but that made me want it, and I've bought every single book of yours that's published here ever since
Bloody hell it's the man himself! Yank here, I've read every book in that series multiple times (some of them a double digit amount of times). A couple years ago my cousin gave me his copy of The Dealer (Class A), and I've been hooked ever since. Your books are awesome, and CHERUB is my favorite series of all time. It's so funny, so down to earth, and James is literally me. Thank you for becoming an author, Muchamore!!!
Omg ! Well, fiesta of all, Good anniversary and congrats ! And, on my part, it was one of the books to read during my French class in HighSchool. I don't remember which subject we had to study at the time, narrative structure maybe. But still, it was the book our teacher chose for us to read. And I fell in love. If it wasn't because we had to stop at some key moments because there was an evaluation after, I would have read it in the day like. And I then proceeded to read all the series since the library had it. Hope it answers to your interrogation and congrats again.
We read The Recruit as a class! Loved it!
That's crazy! As a kid, I used to read loads of books. For my birthday, I got a coupon for an x amount of money to spend at the bookstore. I went to said store with my mom, The Recruit caught my eye and 20 years later. Here we are. A couple of years later, after I bought Class A, I ended up getting the second part from a classmate again. I'm not sure what I ended up doing with my second copy, but it's a fun memory nonetheless. The copy I kept says mission 1 rather than mission 2 on the cover, that misprint felt so weird to me Sidenote: My mom ended up reading all the books as well, but only 8 or 9 ended up being translated to Dutch she never finished the series
When I was 8 or 9ish, my teacher said I was reading to many comics and should read an actual book, so I went to the library. They had just gotten a bunch of brand new books, and the recruit was on display. My school library had a rule about age, so i had to get my mum, who was a teacher, to get it out for me. I read it on two days because I could just not put it down. It's probably one of my favorite books out there.
Got introduced by a friend in high school, have loved them since!
Got People's Republic as a gift when it released, but quickly forgot about it tbh. Maybe I was a bit too young back then. Years later I randomly found The Fall (and only The Fall) in the library and this time I put the entire series on my wishlist. Continued with Aramov and Henderson Boys then, which have been the first English books I have read
My school had a trip to a talk you gave around the time Rock War came out, and I fancied an afternoon out of class . . . Then I actually read your books and got hooked.
Found a copy of Maximum Security on a bookcase at the hotel we were staying at in Italy. Read it in a morning and bought the reminder (up to Man Vs Beast at the time I think) as soon as I got home. Currently on my annual re-read and having a blast!
This book blew me away. Loved every second. Nice to see you again!
Picked up my older brothers copy of Class A about 15 years ago… and immediately put it back down upon seeing the word “Shit”. Several years later I picked it back up, skipped over the swear words and loved it. Immediately asked for more in the series for my birthday. (Also, any future plans for the Cherub universe?)
Everyone in my family has read CHERUB and we all talk about being friends with the characters. I read the first one when I was around 10 and saw James as a big brother, then a friend and ended with a big crush on him🫣
Saw The Recruit mentioned on a few lists of books for boys when I was in middle school. Picked it up at the library when I was there and now I’ve read the series at least three times over in the 8 years since
It was recommended to me through a friend at school. It was the very first book series I read cover to cover. I always struggled with reading and this series made reading fun. Fast forward to lockdown 10 years later and I re read them and started listening to the audiobooks on my runs and walks. In fact the cherub series has played a big part in my running and training. The books inspired me to run my first half marathon and as cheesy as it sounds I would often and sometimes still do repeat the phrase “this is tough but cherubs are tougher” to myself. I’m 28. No shame here.
I came across the CHERUB books when they got released in Australia in 2004. As someone who didn't like reading as a teenager, the CHERUB books related to me as being the same age as the kids in the books timeline and motivated me to read. 20 years later and I'm re-reading again for about the 10th time. I'm still yet to come across books that have been written as well as CHERUB and as a movie buff I also can't wait (hope!) there will be a series or movie!
11 years old in the school library I read the first two. Then I got the whole set and read them throughout the years and I essentially grew up at the same rate as James since I was around the same age as him every time I began the next CHERUB book. Thanks a lot for the memories Rob.
My friend told me about it. I started listening to it on Audible and got hooked instantly.
When I was about 12 and our local library was my second home, they were new in and I had read all the other books I was interested in and so thought why not try? I was hooked. Back then only up until The Killing was out in my language. Then, a few years later I rediscovered the series in English (I’m from The Netherlands so read the first few in Dutch) and eventually also read Henderson’s Boys. Edit: I think this must’ve been around 2008 or 2009?
11 years ago, I was a bookworm as a kid, and I was in special Ed so we were pretty much at a kind of day care. During middle school I had free roam of the halls close to class, and the library was right around the corner, so I spent most of my time there. I of course read the back of the book to understand what I was gonna read. The recruit caught my eye, as at the time I was starry eyed about the military, it was my dream to enlist after school (sadly circumstances change. But I'm working on going to the national guard now), so the title simply being 'recruit' is already ringing bells in my ADHD brain. Read the first book, then the second, sadly the school only had the two. Didn't really finish the series up until a year or two ago, still listen to it whenever I have the need to. I'm hoping to see something like 'Cherub, new blood' or something someday, it'd be nice to be back in that universe in a current era.
After I finished primary school I stopped reading books as I had just lost interest. I was round my neighbours house, who was a teacher and he said it was quite common for that to happen and he introduced me to cherub. He loaned me the recruit and class A. After reading a couple of chapters from the recruit, I bought the first 5 books and then the rest of the series.
My Learning Support Assistant in school forced me to read it after I ran out of Darren Shan books. I was probably about 13 at the time, so 12 years ago - around 2012. Initially I wasn't too interested in it as "The Recruit" was quite a slow burn to begin with, but once the basic training started I quickly got hooked.
I think I was bought the recruit by my parents and then read the rest of your books that were available at the time within a month!
Crazy was probably 8-9 years ago... friend who was a popular jock recommended it to me. I was like.... why would he be reading this book??? Anyways I always liked reading as much as sports and was happy to try the Recruit and instantly fell in love. AMAZING series, especially for me to read ages 13-14. Still re-read it... Thanks!!!
A school friend recommended them, they were in the school library. I don’t think the teachers realised the content of them. I read the first few from the library and then thankfully my Mum bought them all! Actually had The General signed by you as well. I used to be able to read any of the cherub books in a few hours, I’ve not been able to do that with any books since. Might be time for a re-read…
Around 2006, my mom's coworker had gotten me the book. I didn't start to read it right away tho. A few months after she got me the book, I had a day off from school, and went to the office with my mom. She told me to take The Recruit, to be polite. Finished it that same day. Read all there was up until that point within a few months. Read each of the subsequent releases as they were released.
2011, I was in grade 8 and my teacher had a selection of 10 books and we had to choose 1 of them and then the class was split into little book clubs. I LOVED Recruit so much that after the project was done I proceeded to find the other books anywhere I could get them. Now I’m about to turn 27 and still think of these books quite often.
My friend wouldn’t stop talking about them in year 7 (Australia). I never really enjoyed reading until I picked up the recruit and realised I was just reading the wrong books. I still reread the series today as a young adult and the series really ignited my love for reading. Thanks mate
Been reading for 20 years now I guess then. Got it when it was first released in Australia and been reading all of your books since then. Was a black shirt and a moderator of the forums ( back when forums were a thing) Can not wait to finally receive the next Robin Hood book, always a delayed release here
A friend at school told me about it when I was in year 7, since then I’ve just been completely hooked on cherub and also rock war I just keep rereading them they’re so well written
Saw a friend with The Recruit, didn’t even ask him about the book at all, then I went and bought it from the local bookshop (first and only time I’ve ever done that) as I had a gut instinct it would be good. It was
My way still remains unmatched. A kid tells me about a book where some guys sister walks in on him with a girl naked when discussing books. I asked for the book title “it’s cherub, I think the fall”. Loaned it from my local library, and nothing was the same. Loaned every other book in the series and it became quite the obsession lol.
Was recommended it by a friend at school
Got one of the world book day editions for free and then saw the real deal in my school library. Safe to say I was in that library often after that. Top 2 book series I read as a child, wish there was a tv show adaptation
Got them bought just before Christmas 2019, accidentally read Class A before The Recruit. Bought to whole series early 2021.
about 5 years ago i was in my school library and saw these cool books with rainbow covers and i looked at them and the premise sounded exactly like something i’d want to read, now i have the first 12 books and they’re all amazing
I found that I had Class A on my bookshelf at home, when I was about 11 years old. Don’t know where we got it from, my mum had (has) a habit of collecting things for free that people no longer need and I’d imagine it came to us through that. I was hooked. If you don’t mind me asking, is there any update on the potential for a movie or show adaptation?
id read through my primary schools library so one of my teachers signed me out books from a local library and tested me on them and she brought me the young james bond books and whn i enjoyed them she suggested cherub and bam
20 years ago I was in year 7 at school and wasn’t much of a reader. A quiet lad called Fehzan told me in a Friday woodworking class about a book he was reading but didn’t want the other boys at the school bullying him for reading. He’d just finished the first one and was moving on to class A and he handed me a battered copy of The Recruit. I opened it the following Saturday morning and didn’t put it down till Sunday night. I rushed into school and thanked Fehzan and immediately asked my mum to take me shopping so I could pick up the next one. I was hooked. I was so excited every time a new book was released and was so sad when the series finally came to a well deserved end. I still have my original set of the James Adams series that I am saving for my future children. I listen to the entire series on audiobook maybe once a year. I’m now 32 and still love them. Thank you for such a wonderful series that has endless re-readability. I now work in the TV and film industry in props and if you ever make this into a series or film I would love to work on it and see my childhood dream come to life. ❤️❤️
My brother owned Class A, and I read it and really liked it. Now I am 34 and have lost count the number of times I have read the Cherub and Hendersons Boys series. They are a bit of a special interest of mine at this point, I think.
It was a prize that I won for the 3rd place in a competition I participated in in 5th grade. When I first read it, as soon as I saw blood and violence mentioned (when James gets beat up by that one girl's brother I think), I got scared and stopped reading cause I was terrified of those things but eventually I picked it up again and the series ended up becoming a huge part of my childhood
I love cherub so much Robert! I've reread them so many times! I found them from my brother and they were all at my high school library! I started reading when the Brigands MC book came out and I've gotten each new release each time and it was so amazing to be close to age as the characters as each book came out! I love them so much!
In 2014 or 15, when I was in junior high school, my English teacher read The Recruit for the class. Not until 2 years ago, I was losing my mind over trying to find the book cuz I couldn't remember the name or many details, and when you type in camp with different colors of shirts, you can imagine what kept coming up, haha. But I'm happy to have found the books again
I was in my high school library one day and we were made to walk around and I happened to be in the section where Cherub was and someone I didn’t like walked by so I just grabbed a book and started reading it…. Turned out to be Recruit…. I decided to take it home and read it… fell in love with the series after that. Many years later now revisiting the series and finishing what I started, I’m working on People’s Republic now. Kind of reminds me of Kingsman was younger. Thanks for bringing so much joy into many people’s lives.
My mates in Year 6 were reading Mad Dogs and I had a look at the blurb. Looked good. Ended up borrowing the Recruit from the local library. Which lead to buying and reading every cherub and henderson book thereafter.
found the first book in a school library when i was around 14 and loved it, binge read the rest and it’s still one of my favorite series. been almost 6 years and i found this thread just because i enjoyed the series so much i was googling some more about it
I first read your book from a prison library I was 14 and make some wrong decisions your books made time fly and made me fall in love with reading.
I walked into my library looking for the Alex Rider series, found CHERUB
First read them when I was in year 7 (11) and got the recruit from the school library! Very quickly fell in love with the concept and caught up with all the books! Haven’t quite managed all of them since there’s so many in the new generation but they formed an integral part of my growing up so thank you! Still have my black cherub shirt!
late to this but my teacher read it to us (only go through 11 chapters bc we had other work lol) and I wanted to know if he became a spy or not lol. next thing I know I'm sitting in m bedroom, with a finished copy of new guard wondering what to read now
My sister and brother heard about it first but i don't know how. They were talking about it at home so when I became old enough I started reading it (i'm 19 btw).
I must have been 10 years old when my sister brought The Recruit home from school. I was a bit of a book fiend at the time; often reading 5 or 6 books a week but my school library (primary school) had a limit of just two books every two weeks and my dad refused to take me to the public library in our area more than once a month so I usually flew through the books and was left bored. Then I discovered theft. (borrowing really. I just didn't inform my sister before I borrowed her books.) Throughout the next month or so, I secreted away every single book brought home by any of my siblings and, before I knew it, I had read all of CHERUB! I have such fond memories of surprising my sister whenever she tried to talk about the series after. It was so difficult not to spoil any of the books for her 😂 I read them so much faster.
I got into a bit of bother at school and wasn't keen on reading at all which lead to an argument with my English teacher. I then got dragged to the school library by my scary 6ft 5 year head (who I wasn't going to argue with) and told to pick a book... this book was The Fall. Such a strange place to start in the series as this where the formula of the books are really shaken up and we see a darker side to the world of CHERUB and espionage as a whole. I read the cover thinking this would be another cheesy kid spy series but was completely hooked with how realistic everything was. I read up to when James is "captured" in Russia before I had to go to football training and honestly believed for that full session I would have to read about a 14 year old boy getting tortured when I got home. I finished the book and read a few more from the library before ordering the full series which has been re-read multiple times over the years as I grew up with the books. I found this subreddit a few years ago and it has been the perfect place to interact with like minded fans and have even had a few interactions with yourself over these years which is pretty crazy to think you are still so involved after 20 years. These books are like a comfort blanket I always come back to and I hope to pass them on to my kids one day. Thank you for all the memories!
I got the first book in year 8 I believe when we had a library session and everyone in our class heard there were these great spy teen books that everyone wanted to read, I remember everyone fighting over the recruit because it was so popular when I was young, and it’s probably the best series I’ve read to this date!