Adam Selzer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Adam Selzer (born July 13, 1980, in Des Moines, Iowa) is a critically acclaimed author, primarily of young adult and middle grade novels. His first novel was How To Get Suspended and Influence People, a 2007 Random House novel which was included on the Chicago Public Schools 2007 Summer Reading List.[1] It was also nominated for a Cybils 2007 Young Adult Fiction award.[2] It was followed in 2008 by another book, Pirates of the Retail Wasteland, which teenspace calleld "as invigorating and smoothly satisfying as a good caffe latte."[3] . To promote the book, there was a "Be a Pirate Contest" that promoted the book as an underground hit. The irony was not lost on Adam, who said "I never had a record deal, but no one called me an indie rocker. Now I DO have a book deal, but I'm an indie writer. Don't ask ME how the economy works."[4]. Like his previous book, it was named a Book Sense Pick for summer, 2008.
Other books scheduled to be published soon include I Put a Spell On You[5], a satire of the spelling bee genre, and "Ghost Hunting for Skeptics," a nonfiction memoir of his work in the ghost investigation industry. Most of his books (and many of his songs) take place in Cornersville Trace, a fictional suburb of an unnamed midwestern city[6]. Many of his characters and places are named after polka bands, such as Whoopee Norm Eddlebeck and the Dairyland Dutchmen, Myron Floren, and The Van den Berg Orchestra, among others. [7]
In addition to his fiction work, Adam works as a historian, tour guide and ghost investigator for Weird Chicago Tours, which he founded in 2006 with Troy Taylor and Ken Melvoin-Berg.[8]
[edit] List of works
- How To Get Suspended and Influence People, Delacorte Press, 2007 [ISBN 978-0-385-73369-4]
- Pirates of the Retail Wasteland, Delacorte Press, 2008 [ISBN 978-0-385-73482-0]
- I Put a Spell On You, Delacorte Press, 2008 [ISBN 978-0-385-90498-8]
- Weird Chicago: The Book (with Troy Taylor and Ken Melvoin-Berg), Whitechapel Press, 2008
- Weird Chicago Presents: The Murder Castle of H.H. Holmes (mini ebook) (editor), Whitechapel Press, 2008[9]
- Ghost Hunting For Skeptics, Llewellyn Press, 2009
- I Put a Spell On You, Also, Delacorte Press, 2009
- The Wisenheimer's Guide to U.S. History, Delacorte Press 2010
- Lost and Found, Delacorte Press, 2010
- Lost and Found" sequel Delacorte Press, 2011
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.cps.k12.il.us/aboutcps/departments/libraries/pdf/2007_Summer_Reading_List.pdf
- ^ Cybils: 2007 Nominations Young Adult Fiction
- ^ Teenspace - Books & Reading - New Stuff
- ^ AVAST!
- ^ RandomHouse.ca | Author Spotlight: Adam Selzer
- ^ http://www.adamselzer.com/cornersville.html
- ^ Polka Catalog
- ^ Weird Chicago Tours: Your Weird Guides!
- ^ Weird Chicago: H.H. Holmes Murder Castle Ebook!
