Todd Strasser
# Todd Strasser

Todd Strasser (born May 5, 1950) is an American writer of more than 140 young-adult and middle grade novels and many short stories and works of non-fiction, some written under the pen names Morton Rhue and T.S. Rue.

## Biography

Strasser was born in New York City. He studied literature and creative writing at New York University and Beloit College, then worked as a reporter for the Middletown Times Herald-Record newspaper, and as a copywriter for Compton Advertising in New York City. His first novel was Angel Dust Blues (1978). He is the father of two children, and an avid tennis player and surfer. In Germany, under the pen name Morton Rhue, he is the best-selling author of such novels as Die Welle, Dschihad Online, Ich knall euch ab!, Boot Camp, No Place, No Home, Ghetto Kidz, Asphalt Tribe, and a number of other titles. In 2008, The Wave (the movie version of Die Welle) starring Jürgen Vogel, debuted at the Sundance Film Festival and went on to become a box office success in many European countries. In November 2019 Netflix released a world-wide series, We Are The Wave, inspired by Strasser's novel.

Strasser's newest novels are Price of Duty (In Germany, American Hero) and Summer of '69. Price of Duty shows how the military uses promises of heroics, teamwork, and excitement to entice young people to enlist despite the life and death risks. The book has received uniformly outstanding reviews and was named an Amazon Young Adult Book of the Month for July, 2018, as well as a 2018 New York Public Library Best Book for Teens.

Summer of '69 is Strasser's autobiographical novel/memoir about his life during the summer of Woodstock, the war in Vietnam, and the first man to set foot on the moon. It was written for adults and mature teens and explores the culture, drug use, sexual mores, and music of the 1960s, as well as his own problems with the military draft and the rupture to his family caused by a nearly forgotten tragedy many years before. Reviewing for Booklist, Ilene Cooper wrote:"Drugs, sex, and rock 'n' roll, those hallmarks of the summer of 1969, are all here, but there's so much more... The story captures the mood and spirit of the times …The best part transcends eras: Lucas' introspection as he contemplates his place in the world.”

## Themes

Strasser often writes about timely themes like nuclear war, Nazism, bullying at schools, homelessness, and school shootings. His novel The Wave, written under the pen name Morton Rhue, is a novelization of the teleplay by Johnny Dawkins for the 1981 television movie The Wave. Both the novel and the television movie are fictionalized accounts of the "Third Wave" teaching experiment by Ron Jones in a Cubberley High School history class in Palo Alto, California. The novel has been translated into more than a dozen languages and is read in many schools around the world.

His 2014 novel, Fallout, is part memoir and part speculative fiction featuring nuclear war that results from the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. A review in The New York Times called it "Exciting, harrowing ... Superb entertainment ... It thrums along with finely wrought atmosphere and gripping suspense."

Strasser's works have sometimes proved to be controversial. Recently, his novel American Terrorist was withdrawn from publication in the United States after an uproar about it caused by a brief description of the book which appeared on Goodreads. The novel has been published in Germany under the title Dschihad Online, and in France with the title Djihad Online.

Strasser is the author of the Time Zone High trilogy, How I Changed My Life, How I Created My Perfect Prom Date, and How I Spent My Last Night on Earth. How I Created My Perfect Prom Date was adapted for the feature film Drive Me Crazy, starring Adrian Grenier and Melissa Joan Hart.

Other novels for young adults include The Accident, which became the television movie Over the Limit, as well as Angel Dust Blues, Friends Till the End, and A Very Touchy Subject. The latter also became a television movie, entitled Can a Guy Say No? Another novel, Workin' For Peanuts, was adapted to a television movie with the same title.

A trilogy of mystery thrillers for older young adult readers includes Wish You Were Dead, Blood on My Hands, and Kill You Last.

Strasser has also written a number of young adult series, including Impact Zone (about surfing), Drift X (about drift car competitions), and Here Comes Heavenly (about a punk nanny with magical powers).

His books for middle-graders include CON-fidence, The Diving Bell, and Abe Lincoln for Class President. His series for middle graders include the 17-book Help! I'm Trapped... collection, as well as the Don't Get Caught, Against the Odds, and Camp Run-A-Muck books. He wrote Is That a Dead Dog in Your Locker?, Is That a Sick Cat in Your Backpack?, Is That a Glow-In-The-Dark Bunny in Your Pillow Case?, Is That an Angry Penguin in Your Gym Bag?, and Is That an Unlucky Leprechaun In Your Lunch?

His Kids' Books series of E-books includes The Kids' Book of Gross Facts and Feats (two volumes), The Kids' Book of Weird Science, The Kids' Book of Stupendously Stupid Stunts, The Kids' Book of Really Dumb American Criminals, The Kids' Book of Amazing Sports Facts and Feats, The Kids' Book of Funny Animal Jokes, and others.

Strasser has published articles and short stories in The New Yorker, Esquire, and The New York Times.

## Awards and honors

Fallout (2013)

    2014 American Library Association Best Fiction for Young Adults
    2014 American Library Association Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
    2014 National Council for the Social Studies Notable Tradebook for Young People
    2014 International Reading Association Young Adults' Choice
    2014 Bank Street Teacher's College Best Children's Books of the Year

No Place (2014)

    2015 National Council for the Social Studies Notable Tradebook for Young People

If I Grow Up (2009)

    2010 National Council for the Social Studies Notable Tradebook for Young People

Boot Camp (2007)

    2008 American Library Association Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
    2015 American Library Association Popular Paperback for Young Adults

Can't Get There From Here (2004)

    2005 American Library Association Best Fiction for Young Adults
    2005 American Library Association Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
    2006 International Reading Association Young Adults' Choice
    2010 American Library Association Popular Paperback for Young Adults

Give A Boy A Gun (2001)

    2002 International Reading Association Young Adults' Choice
    2006 American Library Association Popular Paperback for Young Adults

Wish You Were Dead (2009)

    2011 American Library Association Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
    2011 Tayshas (Texas Library Association): Summer Reading List
    2012 New York Public Library: Books for the Teen Age.
    2012 Illinois: Abraham Lincoln H.S. Book Award
    2012 Voice of Youth Advocates Summer Reading List
