"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.

托德·斯特拉瑟（Todd Strasser），1950年生于美国纽约。他创作了140多部适合年轻人阅读的小说，另外还有多部备受赞誉的非虚构作品。他的作品大多源于自己的生活经历和感受，其中最著名的就是《浪潮》，由该小说改编成的同名电影，引起极大轰动，在世界多个国家热映。