The book is used by high schools all over the country, either in German or, for English-language courses, in its original version. The novel tells of a California high school teacher who seeks to dramatize the perilous allure of fascism by conducting an experiment in his classroom. Alarmingly, the teenagers take to it. The movement, called the Wave, spreads through the school and soon gets out of control. A Jewish youngster is roughed up.
Many teachers are enthusiastic.
They say 'The Wave' serves up characters with whom students can readily identify and that it offers young Germans a more detached view, since the action takes place in distant California and not uncomfortably close to home. Fuchs and other devotees assign 'The Wave' alongside classics like 'Animal Farm' and 'The Diary of Anne Frank'. Even skeptics find the book immensely readable. Gudrun Finger, a veteran teacher at Beuel Comprehensive School in Bonn, has assigned The Wave on and off over the years despite some misgivings. But when I select it for class reading it's primarily for the foreground story itself, which is in any case gripping for the students.