The Wave

Todd Strasser - BIOGRAPHY

Todd Strasser, who also writes some items under the pen name Morton Rhue, was born May 5, 1950, in New York City, New York. His parents moved to Roslyn Heights, New York on Long Island when he was young. He attended Willets Elementary School and then attended the Wheatley School. He has described his best subjects as math and science, but he also liked to read. He attended New York University but dropped out, living on a commune and then traveling to Europe and working as a street musician, then returning to the States to study at Beloit College concentrating in literature and writing. Graduating from Beloit in 1974, he went on to work in both journalism and advertising. His first novel, Angel Dust Blues, was published in 1979. With the money he earned, he started-up the Dr. Wing Tip Shoo fortune cookie company that helped support his writing whim over the next twelve years

Strasser has written a wide variety of books for the young adult market. He has done adaptations for movies such as Free Willy, Jumanji, and Star Wars: Episode 1. He has a long-running series called Help! I'm Trapped, as well as several books in the Time Zone High series. He has also written books with more serious and controversial messages for young readers, including The Accident, about drunk driving; Give A Boy a Gun, about gun violence; Can't Get There From Here, about homeless teens; and CON-fidence, about the difficulties of being popular in school. Strasser's most notable book is The Wave: starting as a magazine article about a real-life incident, it was turned into a television movie and then adapted to a novel by Strasser in 1981.

Todd Strasser has won numerous awards and recognition for his books, and continues to write prolifically. He married in 1981 and has two adult children. His favorite current hobby is surfing.