Books with author Todd Strasser

The Wave is based on a true incident that occured in a high school history class in Palo Alto, California, in 1969.The powerful forces of group pressure that pervaded many historic movements such as Nazism are recreated in the classroom when history teacher Burt Ross introduces a "new" system to his students. And before long "The Wave," with its rules of "strength through discipline, community, and action, " sweeps from the classroom through the entire school. And as most of the students join the movement, Laurie Saunders and David Collins recognize the frightening momentum of "The Wave" and realize they must stop it before it's too late.

“Combines terrific suspense with thoughtful depth. . . . Riveting.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)In the summer of 1962, the possibility of nuclear war is all anyone talks about. But Scott’s dad is the only one in the neighborhood who actually builds a bomb shelter. When the unthinkable happens, neighbors force their way into the shelter before Scott’s dad can shut the door. With not enough room, not enough food, and not enough air, life inside the shelter is filthy, physically draining, and emotionally fraught. But even worse is the question of what will — and won’t — remain when the door is opened again.

“A powerful novel…that is especially timely.” —Booklist (starred review) “Taut, compact, and suspenseful, the novel raises important questions about war.” —Kirkus Reviews From award-winning author Todd Strasser comes a gripping novel that explores the struggles of war, the price paid by those who fight in them, and what it really means to be a hero.Jake Liddell is a hero. At least, that’s what everyone says he is. The military is even awarding him a Silver Star for his heroic achievements—a huge honor for the son of a military family. Now he’s home, recovering from an injury, but it seems the war has followed him back. He needs pills in order to sleep, a young woman is trying to persuade him into speaking out against military recruitment tactics, and his grandfather is already urging him back onto the battlefield. He doesn’t know what to do; nothing makes sense anymore. There is only one thing that Jake knows for certain: he is no hero.

This novel dramatizes an incident that took place in a California school in 1969. A teacher creates an experimental movement in his class to help students understand how people could have followed Hitler. The results are astounding. The highly disciplined group, modeled on the principles of the Hilter Youth, has its own salute, chants, and special ways of acting as a unit and sweeps beyond the class and throughout the school, evolving into a society willing to give up freedom for regimentation and blind obedience to their leader. All will learn a lesson that will never be forgotten.

Todd Strasser’s acclaimed account of school violence that Kirkus Reviews calls “vivid, distressing, and all too real.”For as long as they can remember, Brendan and Gary have been mercilessly teased and harassed by the jocks who rule Middletown High. But not anymore. Stealing a small arsenal of guns from a neighbor, they take their classmates hostage at a school dance. In the panic of this desperate situation, it soon becomes clear that only one thing matters to Bendan and Gary: revenge.

From Todd Strasser, a “truly shocking” (Kliatt) account of the prison-style workings of teen boot camps.Garrett is an average fifteen-year-old, except that he’s in love with an older woman. Even though Garrett gets good grades and hasn’t had any real discipline problems, his parents decide to ship him off to Harmony Lake, a boot camp for teenagers. He is “kidnapped” by camp employees and transported there, where after a painful attempt at rebellion he quickly figures out that the fastest way to graduate is by following all the rules. But no matter what rules he follows, Garrett soon realizes that the people who run the boot camp won’t rest until his spirit is well and truly broken. And so, with danger at every turn, he plans a daring escape—with chilling consequences.

When Barry Dunn starts beating kids up off school property, Principal Blano says school rules prevent him from doing anything about it. But Jake has a plan. If he can get his friend Josh to switch bodies with Principal Blano, the rules won't apply. Josh in Blanco's body can expel Barry and get rid of him for good. But things don't go quite the way Jake expected. In fact, if Josh is going to expel anyone, it could be Jake!

This novel dramatizes an incident that took place in a California school in 1969. A teacher creates an experimental movement in his class to help students understand how people could have followed Hitler. The results are astounding. The highly disciplined group, modeled on the principles of the Hilter Youth, has its own salute, chants, and special ways of acting as a unit and sweeps beyond the class and throughout the school, evolving into a society willing to give up freedom for regimentation and blind obedience to their leader. All will learn a lesson that will never be forgotten.

Drawing from his teenage years, Todd Strasser’s novel revisits a tumultuous era and takes readers on a psychedelically tinged trip of a lifetime. With his girlfriend, Robin, away in Canada, eighteen-year-old Lucas Baker’s only plans for the summer are to mellow out with his friends, smoke weed, drop a tab or two, and head out in his microbus for a three-day happening called the Woodstock Music and Art Fair. But life veers dramatically off track when he suddenly finds himself in danger of being drafted and sent to fight in Vietnam. If that isn’t heavy enough, there’s also the free-loving (and undeniably alluring) Tinsley, who seems determined to test Lucas’s resolve to stay faithful to Robin; a frighteningly bad trip at a Led Zeppelin concert; a run-in with an angry motorcycle gang; parents who appear headed for a divorce; and a friend on the front lines in ’Nam who’s in mortal danger of not making it back. As the pressures grow, it’s not long before Lucas finds himself knocked so far down, it’s starting to look like up to him. When tuning in, turning on, and dropping out is no longer enough, what else is there?