Todd Strasser

Todd Strasser (born May, 5th, 1950^[1] in New York City, New York)^[2] is an American author^[3] of more than 130 young-adult and middle grade novels and novelizations, some written under the pen names Morton Rhue^[4] and T.S. Rue.

Todd Strasser writes his books largely out of his own experience or feeling. Taken in Langenau, Germany on March 9, 2006

After studying literature in college, Strasser earned his living working as a journalist, also operated his own fortune cookie company, producing cookies under the "Dr. Wing Tip Shoo" brand name. He is the father of two children, and an avid tennis player, skier, and surfer.^[5]

Strasser has written many award-winning novels for young adults and teens, picking controversial themes like Nazism, bullying at schools, homelessness, school shootings, and sexuality. His works include Give a Boy a Gun, Boot Camp, Asphalt Tribe and most recently, If I Grow Up. His most famous work The Wave, is a novelization of a social experiment that happened in Cubberley High School in Palo Alto, California in 1969, and was made into a television movie in 1981 and a popular feature film in 2008. This book has been translated into more than a dozen languages and is read in schools around the world.

Strasser is also 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.

He is currently at work on a "thrillogy," three mystery thrillers for older YA readers. The first two of these novels, Wish You Were Dead, and Blood on My Hands, have been published. The third book in the thrillogy will appear in 2011.They bring a thrilling mystery to the table while still holding lots of info.

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 very popular 16-book Help! I'm Trapped... collection, as well as the Don't Get Caught, Against the Odds, and Camp Run-A-Muck books. Most recently 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 Lephrecaun In Your Lunch?"

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

Can't Get There from Here

Can't Get There from Here is about a group of homeless JDteenagers in Manhattan who struggle to survive a harsh winter. Maybe (the main character) has to deal with the death of many of her friends during the winter. She lives with a tribe of homeless teens-runaways and thrownaways, kids who have no place to go other than the cold city streets, and no family except for one another. Abused, abandoned, and forgotten, they struggle against the cold, hunger, and constant danger. With the frigid winds of January come a new girl: Tears, (real name: Nikki Frimer) a twelve-year-old whose mother loves her but does not believe Tears when Tears tells her that her stepfather has been sexually abusing her. As the other kids start to disappear-victims of violence, addiction, and exposure-Maybe tries to help Tears get off the streets... and she hopes that it is not too late to do so. Maybe then seeks the help of Anthony, the city's librarian and together, they send Tears back to Hundred, West Virginia, which was her hometown to live with her grandparents. And Maybe realizes that if you try you can get to a better life and that living on the streets doesn't have to be the only lifetime example for life including todd dad.

Boot Camp

Main article: Boot Camp (novel)

This novel is about a young man who is sent to a physically abusive boot camp by his parents.

Give a Boy a Gun

Main article: Give a Boy a Gun

The book Give a Boy a Gun was written as a series of interviews from Middletown High School, which was a recent location of a school shooting. Teachers, friends, and students give their versions of their time with Brendan and Gary, the two perpetrators of the shooting, from the beginning of ninth and tenth grades, and the day of the attack, which eventually led to the suicide of Gary (Brendan was severely beaten by students but it is unknown if he survived. Eventually the courts had to decide whether to disconnect his life support or not).

Nightmare Inn

The Nightmare Inn series consists of four horror novels set at a luxurious mountain hotel. The inn is the site of many horrific acts of murder and ghostly revenge. All four installments were published in 1993.

Help! I'm Trapped...

He is also popular for the Help! I'm Trapped... series of seventeen books written 1993-2001.

Wish you were Dead

Lucy goes missing after Str-S-d wrote on their blog that she wish Lucy was dead. Str-S-d keeps writing about the popular kids in school pick on her and make fun of her. When Lucy's boyfriend goes missing the town doesn't know what to do. They are scared for their children's lives. Str-S-d thinks this is just coincidence, when she talked about Adam, Lucy's boyfriend. But soon after she writes about Madison, the main character, Best friend she ends up missing. Madison feels its her because Lucy, Adam, and Courtney were friends. Tyler a boy who Madison has a crush on, seems to know about this, but won't tell Madison about it. She wants to hear about his opinion, but is afraid what this will lead to. Soon she finds out who Str-S-d and the cyberstalker Madison has. That leads her to the real killer.

Other books

Strasser has also written separate stories including Kidnap Kids (about two siblings who kidnap their parents), Y2K-9 (about a dog who gets his 3 chat room friends to save the world from Year 2000 problem) and Hey Dad! Get a Life.

List of works

• The Wave. New York: Dell, 1981; Laurel Leaf/Dell, 1985; Puffin Books 1988, ISBN 0-14-037188-5. Also made into an ABC television show (1981) and a German movie (2008)
• "Young Adult Books: Stalking the Teen." Horn Book Magazine, vol. 62, no. 2 (1986, Mar.-Apr.), pp. 236–239.
• The Accident. New York: Delacorte, 1988. Adapted for television in the ABC Afterschool Special Over the Limit (1990).
• How I Created my Perfect Prom Date. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996. Originally published as Girl Gives Birth to Own Prom Date (1996) and later adapted into the film Drive Me Crazy (1999).
• Give a Boy a Gun. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2000; Simon Pulse 2002, ISBN 0-689-84893-5
• Thief of Dreams, Putnam Juvenile 2003, ISBN 0-399-23135-8
• Can't Get There from Here, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 2004, ISBN 0-689-84169-8
• Slide or Die. Simon Pulse 2006, ISBN 1-4169-0581-2 Drift X Series
• Battle Drift
• Sidewayz Glory
• Wish u were dead

References

1. ^ "Todd Strasser". Scholastic. http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/contributor.jsp?id=3669. 
2. ^ http://www.elmhurst.edu/library/courses/edu/fiene/toddstrasser.html
3. ^ "Todd Strasser". http://www.toddstrasser.com/. 
4. ^ http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/s/todd-strasser/
5. ^ "Todd's Life". http://toddstrasser.com/html/ToddsLife.html. 

Persondata
Name	Strasser, Todd
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Short description
Date of birth	May 5, 1950
Place of birth
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