The Wave

The wave is a class gone out of control. Students are telling other students to join or they will be beaten. The wave is a reenactment of Hitler's campaign to destroy all Jews. Some students realize what is happening to their friends and school. These students are out to stop the wave. One student looses everything she has to stop this. She looses her boyfriend, friends, and her favorite teacher. Since the wave is like Hitler the wave acts exactly like him. One student refuses to join the wave, the members beat him to the ground because of it. After the beating they find out the student was Jewish. The wave is out of control now. They must do something .....

Ever since the uprisings of the first human, mankind has strived for an outstanding utopia where everyone is treated equally. But once such a party is formed, it begins to treat all the other people badly. We all remember the Holocaust. If history repeats itself, it's bound to happen again. In 'The Wave' by Todd Strausser, all students in Gordon High School who are not members of 'The Wave' are harassed. With their slogan 'Strength Through Discipline, Strength Through Community, Strength Through Action' they walk through the halls of Gordon high thinking that they bring equality. But such is not the case. Once they bring equality, they tend to think that all other people are not bringing equality and treat them unfairly. Can Laurie Saunders and David Collen save the rest of the people from the wave?

I enjoyed reading this book. It explored on the concept that humans can repeat past mistakes. I could not put it down. It was great from the beginning to end. I want to read it again and own a copy of it. It is an important book for school. It teaches students to be aware of past mistakes and that they can repeat themselves if we are not careful. I first read this book in shool. It would make a fine addition to anyone's book collection. The auther did excellent work in researching and in writing. The book teaches that someone or a group can make a difference, good or bad. Also teaches about morals. That is why I chose to give it five stars.

Essay: A Separate Peace and The Wave
Everyone has a yearning to be part of something. Joining a group can be especially meaningful when a person is in search of a positive experience. However, when conflicts arise, difficult decisions must be made. Both A Separate Peace and The Wave have characters who become a part of a group situation and are forced to question why they're in the group and who they really are.
The Wave, a novel which looks in on a suburban Los Angeles classroom, tells a very deep story. Sarah, the main character in the story, is part of a new club that has been started in her school. Not long after joining she finds the club she has joined, called "The Wave", to be highly fraternal, possibly too fraternal, and mean to students who wouldn't join. Once she decides to stop going to the meetings, other members harass her. Sarah learns from the whole experience that fighting for her cause made her a better person. In the story A Separate Peace the character focused on is named Gene. He faces an internal conflict while at boarding school in New Hampshire: be liked by his friend Finny, or just be himself. Just like Sarah's, his decision is hard. Gene tries to be what Finny wants him to be and consequently does whatever Finny tells him to do. 014 There are some similarities between these two books. One similarity is that the characters focused on in both novels find themselves in situations that they can't get out off very easily. But in time Gene and Sarah acknowledge their mistakes and come to terms with them. Stronger personalities come as a result of the experiences.
In conclusion, the two main characters learn from the situations. Sarah learned that by leaving "The Wave" she was fighting a good cause. Gene realized he could be who he really was and no one would think any differently of him. Better souls resulted from one thing: change.

Can you imagine recreating a leader like Hitler and a group that followed him like the Nazis? Well, this book does. The Wave is based on a true occurance in Palo Alto, California in a High School History Class. This book is about a classroom experiment that goes too far. Mr. Ross is a High School teacher that teaches a group of students that form "The Wave". When most of the school gets caught up in "The Wave", two students realize it has gone too far. But can they stop it before it's too late? I thought The Wave was a very good book and really made you think if something like this would ever really happen again. I give The Wave 5 stars.

This book is a novelization of a "teleplay." I believe that the teleplay was an ABC afterschool special. Not exactly the recipe for a well written book. Based on a true story, the book does make a point. It is a good, if seemingly scary, illustration of the group mentality that we should all fear. I'm a history teacher myself and the book was recommended to by two of my students. I'm glad I read it and might do something with it next year. What? I know I won't run an experiment like this, but perhaps we will read a bit of it.

After Mr. Ben Ross, the history teacher at Gordon High School, showed the class a film about Hitler, the other Nazis, and the Jews in the concentration camps, a few of his students start to ask questions about why the Germans didn't do anything about the Jews in the concentration camps. It bothered Mr. Ross that he couldn't answer the students' questions, so he decided to do an experiment called The Wave. Mr. Ross taught his students the salute, the symbol, and mottos: Strength through Discipline, Strength through Community, and Strength through Action. The class quickly gathers momentum and discipline through the leadership of their history teacher. The experiment made everybody, including Mr. Ross, get caught up with it. It made people have confidence and pride to be a member of The Wave. At first, it was just a game. But as The Wave becomes more successful, it spreads throughout the whole school, as old members recruit new ones. Later, conflicts arise because of The Wave. Members threaten anybody who is against The Wave or who doesn't want to become a member. After The Grapevine publishes a newspaper describing The Wave and its disadvantages, things really get out of control. Only Laurie Saunders and her boyfriend, David Collins discover out how dangerous The Wave is, they both try to stop it. But is it already too late?
The Wave is a very good book. I think the book is also very descriptive and detailed, but it also doesn't give a lot of useless information. Another reason I like the book is because it is told in the perspectives of the main characters, mostly Laurie and Mr. Ross. The Wave has taught me a lot about group and peer pressure. Through Mr. Ross's experiment, the book describes how minorities, such as the Nazis, control a majority, such as the Germans and how important self-esteem and individuality are. It shows how one thing, such as The Wave, can cause so many conflicts between people. In addition, it shows how close history was about to repeat itself and that we should try not to repeat mistakes that happened. This book is one of my personal favorites.

In my opinion, The Wave was a powerfully moving book. It talked about how some things in history were so powerful, that even today they can cause horrid actions to take place. Last year my eighth grade class read this book and I think that not one person wasn't effected in some way by this book. It also taught me ever more about the horrible things that happened in WW2 and about Hitler's power. If you want a fiction book that not only is entertaining, but is very informative at the same time, read The Wave

I'm surprised at the reviewers who have expressed incredulity over how so many students could get caught up in such a movement. That sort of denial about the power of wanting to be part of something bigger than yourself is exactly how. That wanting can only be channeled in a safe, productive manner when we fully acknowledge and understand it and learn to control it instead of letting it control us. The readers who didn't learn this lesson are, sadly, the ones most likely to get caught up in something like The Wave.

As an english teacher in an "alternative education" high school, I noticed how all the students seemed to fall into clicks, more so than in a traditional high school. I thought that this book might be helpful in showing the students the harm of conformity. I used it in my senior novels class, and the response was increadable. Before long I had under-class students coming to borrow a copy. Everyone can get something useful from reading this.

As an english teacher in an "alternative education" high school, I noticed how all the students seemed to fall into clicks, more so than in a traditional high school. I thought that this book might be helpful in showing the students the harm of conformity. I used it in my senior novels class, and the response was increadable. Before long I had under-class students coming to borrow a copy. Everyone can get something useful from reading this.

The book I read this summer is called the "Wave," written by TODD STRASSER. This book is based on a true event occurred in a high school history class in Palo Alto, California, in 1969.

This book is deal with adults and young adults. The book is basically about how a teacher's experiment becomes so serious and gets out of control. Through his experiment the students learn something, something that they would never forget for their entire life. Ben Ross, a history teacher, recreates Nazism time in a history classroom just to show how it was when Hitler killed millions of Jews in the holocaust. The main points in the book are very well defined and are really understandable. You can really imagine everything that is happening in the book in your mind. This book gives us a very important massage that the history can repeat itself without letting us know. It enligthens us to the reality that the thing that happened in the history can happen in 1969, and it can also happen in 2004. I am not really fond of reading books but I am really glad that I got a chance to read this book and I pad myself on completing it in one week. Strasser has done a pretty good work in this book and that why I give this book 4 out of 5.

The Wave by Morton Rhue
"Morton Rhue" is a pseudonym and his real name is Todd Strasser . He was born in New York City in 1950 and he grew up on Long Island (N.Y.). Todd went to the I.U. Willets Elementary School. The he went to the Wheatly School for junior high an high school. He had trouble with spelling and grammar. Later he graduated from Beloit College. He was a reporter on the Middletown (N.Y.) Times-Herald Record and an adverting copywriter before his first novel for young people, Angel Dust Blues, was published 1979. For some years he supplemented his income as the owner of Toggle Inc., a small fortune-cookie company. He and his wife, Pamela, live not far from New York City with their daughter, son, and yellow Labrador retriever. "The Wave" was the first book he had published under his pseudonym "Morton Rhue". As Todd Strasser he published more than 100 books. He wrote movie novelizations, too, for example "Free Willy", "Jumanji" or "Home alone". He got many awards for some of his books.
The book is called `The Wave', because the experiment, the teacher started is named like that. His intention is to create something, which symbolises movement, direction and impact. Then he gets the idea of calling it `The Wave' , because a wave has these characteristics. In order to give the `Wave members', his pupils, a feeling of community, he also introduces a special symbol and a special salute. The symbol is a circle with the outline of a wave inside it. The salute is to cup the right hand in the shape of a wave, then to tap it against the left shoulder and hold it upright.
Ben Ross a history teacher at an American high school is discussing the horrors of the holocaust. The students ask how all this could happen. They ask if all the Germans were not Nazis, why they just stood by and watched. Mr. Ross can not answer their questions properly. He wants to start an experiment. He wants to recreate the situation of life in Nazi Germany. This experiment is called The Wave. The Wave is completely different to their normal lessons. There is a membership card and a special salute. The new Wave community is a kind of secret family, something special. Other students want to be involved and members recruit new members. So the Wave moves beyond the classroom. Later the Wave gets out of control. Anyone who says something against the Wave is an enemy, these people are threatened. After a while Mr. Ross realizes that the Wave gets out of control. He decides to end his experiment abruptly. He organizes a Wave rally. When the lights in the hall get out a film of Hitler and the holocaust appear on the TV-screens. The film stops with a picture of Hitler surrounded by soldiers. Finally Mr. Ross says: "Yes you all would have made good Nazis... Fascism isn't something those other people did, it's right here in all of us".
The author of the book ‚The Wave' uses a limited omniscient narrator for the story. That means that it is told from the point of view of the most important characters (especially Laurie and Mr. Ross) He always uses the third person form. The relationship between descriptions and dialogues is balanced out.
In my opinion it is a must to read "The Wave" if someone is interested in the historical and political facts of the Third Reich. The Wave is a modern novel, that tells you how Hitler was able to have such a great success and how he won the masses. In "The Wave" the classroom- experiment is compared to Hitler's raise to power. Ben Ross plays the role of a leader and finally this thing called "The Wave" gets out of control. The book makes clear, that something like the Third Reich is not past, it tells us that it can happen even in the present. It is interesting to read and also easy to understand. Because of these reasons the reader may be caught up while reading it.
Sum: A book for young adults, told in a modern way. Everybody should read it and you will not regret it!

This book was based on a true classroom experiment to teach students about the power of a movement of people and the pressures it can cause on society. The author did a fairly good job of making this experiment into a book. I liked how he used different students' points of views to tell the story and the teacher also told part of the story. It helped give me a better feel on the effect the experiment had to the students. The book jumps right into the first day the experiment was introduced to Ben Ross's history class and then the rest of the story switches characters and tells how "The Wave" spread across the campus and the effect it had on certain students. There were times when I felt it moved to quickly and the author could have used more details and descriptions to help make the story more like the real experiment. The use of many characters telling the story or being involved in "The Wave" also got confusing to me because I would get confused on who was who and what role they played in "The Wave." Although it helped having the students tell the story I think the author could have used less and still got the same point across. Overall I enjoyed reading the book and thought it showed a good lesson everyone can learn about how easily anyone can get caught up in a movement of people and how easily that movement can have an effect on society and the people closest to them.

This book is a fictionalized account of a real experiment that happened in one high school called "The Wave". It is really well-written and you can just feel the angst of the kids involved. I really thought the teacher should have been fired. I have half a mind to write him and call him out. The most tragic character is poor Robert. I really felt for him and you will too. This book should be required reading in high schools. It is every bit as relevant as TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD.

This book really enlightened me. I supose i'v always been rather ignorant about about the truth of the nazi movement and the hesteria behind it. I, like the high schoolers in this book could not truely understand how millions of people could stand back and watch a mass geneocide. In all my reading i'v never come across an insidence that so clearly reduplicated the hearts of the Germin people during the third reich rule. It scares me to think that something like this really happened, and how willingly yet unconsciously they were brainwashed into the "cult". This is a very important subject and every one should have a taste of it. This and other warnings like it should be remembered and watched so the dreams of a mad man can never be relived fully. Like I said before a very enlightening book to the heart behind the faciast ideal.

= This was a good book!
Reviewer: Quinones from Peekskill, NY
This book took place in Palo Alto, California in Gordon High School. It started when Mr.Ross(the teacher) showed the class a
movie about the Holocaust. "Experiment of the wave", strengh through disciplne and strengh through community. "The Wave" is
the group that joined the experiment which took over a large number of students. The administrators of the school start to
observe the class with the experiment.
Two students opposed "The Wave" and one was threatened and the other one got beat up. Lauri also opposed "The Wave"
and wrote an article about it in the school newspaper "The Grapevine".
At the end of the book, "The Wave" was dissolved although it taught a great lesson, I think it did more bad than good.
This book was 3rd Person (Someone else is telling the story)
Lauri Saunders- Student, editor of school newspaper
Mr. Ross- History Teacher
David Collins- Lauri's boyfriend
READ THIS BOOK!!!

This book is a fascinating effort to bring home the horrors of the Holocaust and the pernicious effects of branding people as the "other." A must-read for our divisive, soulless times, I read this with my two older children and we all learned something from it. You will, too.

In this book the characters' psychology is too superfical,even though the book could be very pleasant if you're interested in short novels to spend an evening with. A positive aspect of the novel is the fact that you get immerged in it very easily thanks to realistic aspect of the book and the easy writing .

The wave i basically about a class experiment that gets out of control. At first, things seem ok, but it turns into a outbreak from the past. It all started out when Ben Ross was teaching his history class about World War 2. He then devises an experiment to help his students better understand how things happened like they did. However, it suddenly gets out of control and destiny has conspired to repeat the same mistakes of the past. Or has it?

This book has really answered alot of the questions that children may encounter while learning about WWII. It provides clear answers to the reasons of why anybody could let happen what happened in Nazi Germany during WWII. This is a sensational book and I would recomend it to everybody.

After having read the first couple of pages, I was absolutely unable to put the book down. The idea of the story, that fascism is still present everywhere, even in America, which resents it the most is quite interesting. It is true that the characters are not exactly the most complex ones I was ever confronted with in a novel, and also the idea that a high school class of such a rowdy nature is transformed into such a obedient and disciplined "machine" is quite ridiculous, but I believe that had the characters had more depth, or had the author spent more time on the transformation, it would have interfered with the story's flow.

Now, the main reason why I enjoyed this book so much is that it confronts a theme that too many people are trying to forget, to ignore: the susceptibility of every single person on this planet to fascism. To prove this, a teacher at an American high school starts a very dubious experiment. He founds a "club", the Wave. They have their own greeting, and an own belief (power by discipline, power by community, power by action). But soon nobody sees the Wave as a school project anymore, but as real life. Students that refuse to join the Wave are threatened. The student newspaper releases an article which criticizes the Wave very strongly, and somebody sprays the word "ENEMY" on the author's locker. Things escalate when a Jewish boy is beaten up. Even the teacher who founded the Wave cannot control it any longer. But then he shows the members of the Wave a picture of Adolf Hitler, and says that he is their leader. He shows how wrong the way that they were behaving was, and suddenly, everything goes back to normal.

The ending of this book is truly somewhat idiotic, and is obviously a result of lack of ideas. It seems as if the author was trying very hard to find a "happy end" to his story. As if Mr. Strasser had run out of time and had to finish his book quickly. This caused an extreme loss of quality. Another factor that demonstrates this idea is that the story was written in such simple a language that any four year old child could have read the story without difficulties. Overall, I must say that the book seemed to be more like a first draft than anything else. The idea for the story was very fascinating, but its execution more than questionable.

The Wave does not give a dynamic character description. This book describes a history teacher's experiment about dicipline,[...]. To begin, The Wave did not give a thorough description of the character's thoughts and behaviors. The author should state whether David, a student, liked the Wave or not. It seemed that David could never make up his mind. The author should also give more detail about David's behavior. For instance, David attacked Laurie, his girlfriend, then suddenly decided to be nice and agree with her. The author should tell why David liked the idea of the Wave then heard Laurie's opinion and agreed with her. This proves that the wave is not well written and does not provide a good character description.

My personal opinion of the story THE WAVE is that is a very good book and it should be read in a History class and not in an English class. Otherwise the book was very good and powerful. The reason why it should be read in a History class is because Hitler has to do with history.

I thought this book was good. It tells to stories and there outcomes -=- One Hitler and the Nazis, and you already know its outcome; Two the characters' in the book's story. Now this book is good and take it from me you will like the characters outcome at the end. Read it!!!

The Wave was a well-written and extreamly informative study in the pressures of society, and the effects of deindividuation on a person, or, in this case, a school. What we learn while reading it is just how easy it is to be caught up in the 'cattle mentality' (to stop thinking for ourselves and mearly follow along with what those around us are doing).

The somewhat frightening aspect of the book is the fact that some of the waves basic principles seem to be extreamly good logic; yet only too easily can good ideas turn astray.

This book is a great read, and I would strongly recommend it to anyone remotely interusted in Social Psychology.

Kenneth G. 1A

The story behind this book is a great life lesson on how power can be addictive and painful. I liked the fact that the story was based on kids my age. I sometimes feel pressured by something like that of the wave every day. I really could relate to the story.

I found this book to be very interesting and fascinating as I kept on reading. The book also forces through alot of different themes to us that we can think about. The ending really proves to us that yes, we can change even though we say that we won't.

I highly reccomend this book to anyone that likes an exciting book. This a great book. It talks about what happens when a High School experiment goes terriblely wrong. It starts when teacher Bob Ross tries an experiment to show his students why many people followed Nazism. Soom the Wave's Motto :Strength through disiplin,strength through community, and strength through action gonverns the whole school. People are threatened and beantened for not joining the Wave. Students are skipping classes to get to Mr.Ross's. This a great book. Very exciting.

The Wave deplicts the true meaning of life in Germany with the Nazis! It was like I was actually there with them! It shows how people were influenced into joining something that takes away there independence. I suggest that everyone read this.

The Wave is a novel about a high school experiment gone wrong. Ben Ross's history class is learning about the Nazis and cannot understand how the world could just sit back and watch. Ben creates a group called the Wave that people join to become equals and have "strength through discipline, strength through community, strength through power". students soon become pressured to join the wave and the situation becomes horrifyingly similar to the Nazis of Germany. This books teaches the lesson to think for yourself.

This book shows us that if your not careful history just might repeat itself with out you noticing. "A classroom experiment that went too far." is exactly what it is. I think that Todd Strasser wrote this book not only because it was a true story, but also to tell us to be careful. Being a high school student myself I pictured how my school might be if this was to happen. I pictured how my friends would act and if they would go along with it or not. I think this a must read book. It was a book I could not put down and finished it in a day.

My daughter brought home The Wave because they're reading it in class. She told me that the teacher wanted parents to read the book also. I finished it in two hours. While it was quickly paced and could easily have gone deeper and more indepth it's still an excellent portrayal of what COULD happen and HOW. You always wonder how someone could let themself be involved with something so horrible and this book gives us a glimps into the power of persuasion and how it can be abused in all facets of life.

This short novel is highly valuable in that it recounts a dramatized version of a very disturbing incident of fascist-like behavior in an American high scool. It develops much suspense and is fairly strong in conveying the message which was intended in the real-life incident. However, the reading level is that of elementary school, which might seem inappropriate for such a mature topic. Its brevity also hinders its depth. However, the message is still appropriate for readers of any age.

This book really shows what group pressure can do to a High School class. This book shows exactly how Hitler "brainwashed" the people of Germany to follow him as saying simmilar things like, "Strenght Through Discipline, Strenght Through Community, Strenght Through Action." These few words almost dystroy a school and a relationship between Laurie Saunders and David Collins. This book really shows what can happen today.

Strenghth through acion, Strenghth through dicipline, Strenghth through community. These are three of the impowering phrases that help "The Wave" as strong as it became. The reference to Nazis and cults helped me gain perspective on how "The Wave" was a power hungry, minipulating group. This excellent book helped me understand how the nazis could let there friends be persicuted and pretend that nothing is happining.