{{short description|American author}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox writer <!--For more information, see :Template:Infobox Writer/doc.--> | name = Adam Selzer | honorific_prefix = | honorific_suffix = | image = Adam Selzer.JPG | image_size = 225px | alt = | caption = Selzer in 2015 | native_name = | native_name_lang = | pseudonym = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1980|7|13}} | birth_place = Des Moines, Iowa, United States | death_date = <!-- {{death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> | death_place = | resting_place = | occupation = Author | language = | ethnicity = | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = | period = | genre = <!-- or: | genres = --> | subject = <!-- or: | subjects = --> | movement = | notableworks = <!-- or: | notablework = --> | spouse = <!-- or: | spouses = --> | partner = <!-- or: | partners = --> | children = | relatives = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | years_active = | module = | website = | portaldisp = <!-- "on", "yes", "true", etc; or omit --> }} '''Adam Selzer''' (born July 13, 1980) is an American author, originally of young adult and middle grade novels, though his work after 2011 has primarily been adult nonfiction.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Summary Bibliography: Adam Selzer |url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?130062 |access-date=2026-04-23 |website=The Internet Speculative Fiction Database}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Adam Selzer |url=https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Adam-Selzer/414230674 |access-date=2026-04-23 |website=Simon & Schuster |language=en}}</ref>
==Career==
Adam Selzer's first novel was ''How To Get Suspended and Influence People'', published in 2007 by Random House. In 2009, it made national news after attempts were made to have it removed from the Nampa Public Library in Idaho;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2009/10/idaho_mom_protests_how_to_get.html|title=Idaho mom protests 'How to Get Suspended and Influence People' library book for teens|agency=Associated Press|date=October 22, 2009|website=oregonlive}}</ref> it was included in the American Library Association's Banned Books Week packet in 2010.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Doyle |first=Robert P. |date=2010 |title=Books Challenged or Banned in 2009-2010 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/11213/8181 |access-date=2026-04-23 |website=American Library Association}}</ref>
His 2008 novel for younger readers, ''I Put a Spell On You: From the Files of Chrissie Woodward, Spelling Bee Detective'', was nominated for a Great Lakes Book Award.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.annarbor.com/entertainment/books/great-lakes-book-awards/|title=2009 Great Lakes Book Award winners|website=The Ann Arbor News|date=2009-09-09|last=Rooney|first=Nicola}}</ref> It has been used as a teaching book for classroom reading.<ref>{{Cite web |title=I Put a Spell on You: From the Files of Chrissie Woodward, Spelling Bee Detective |url=https://school.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?tid=13169 |access-date=2026-04-23 |website=TeachingBooks |language=en-US}}</ref>
A 2009 short film Selzer co-wrote, ''At Last, Okemah!'', won an audience choice award at the 2009 Chicago Reel Shorts Film Fest as well as an Audience Award for Best Film at the 2011 Bare Bones International Film Festival.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The 6th Annual Chicago International REEL Shorts Film Fest |url=http://www.projectchicago.com/2009-festival |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20190605212307/http://www.projectchicago.com/2009-festival |archive-date=2019-06-05 |access-date=2026-04-23 |website=Project Chicago}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=At Last, Okemah! (Short 2009) - Awards |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1469249/awards/ |access-date=2026-04-23 |website=IMDb}}</ref>
His first nonfiction book for Random House was ''The Smart Aleck's Guide to American History'', published in 2009''.''<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-11-01 |title=THE SMART ALECK’S GUIDE TO AMERICAN HISTORY |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/adam-selzer/the-smart-alecks-guide-to-american-history/ |website=Kirkus Reviews}}</ref> It was a Junior Library Guild selection.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Smart Aleck’s Guide to American History |url=https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/the-smart-aleck-s-guide-to-american-hist-9780385906135j |access-date=2026-04-23 |website=Junior Library Guild |language=en}}</ref> Critics have compared the humor to that of ''The Daily Show'' and Mark Twain.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=http://www.smartalecksguide.com/|title=Smart Aleck's Guides: Subversive Study Aids}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jacksonville.com/article/20100321/NEWS/801255273|title=Wacky U.S. history book will make trivia lovers chuckle|first=Lee|last=Scott|website=The Florida Times-Union}}</ref> It was nominated for a YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction in 2011.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklistsawards/bookawards/nonfiction/2011noms|title=2011 YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award Nominations|date=November 29, 2010|website=Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA)|publisher=American Library Association}}</ref>
In 2009, Selzer's editor at Random House suggested he write a book based on a song Selzer had written in 2000.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-08-15 |title=Kissing Zombies and Blowing Up the World: An Interview with Adam Selzer |url=https://www.toasted-cheese.com/absolute-blank/kissing-zombies-and-blowing-up-the-world-an-interview-with-adam-selzer/ |access-date=2026-04-23 |website=Toasted Cheese |language=en-US}}</ref> The resulting book, ''I Kissed a Zombie and I Liked It'', was released in January 2010.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-12-21 |title=I Kissed a Zombie, and I Liked It by Adam Selzer |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780385735032 |access-date=2026-04-23 |website=Publishers Weekly}}</ref> A follow-up (to both that book and ''I Put a Spell On You'') entitled ''Extraordinary*'' was released by Delacorte Books in 2011,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Extraordinary* |url=https://penguinrandomhousesecondaryeducation.com/book/?isbn=9780375983580 |access-date=2026-04-23 |website=Penguin Random House Secondary Education |language=en}}</ref> the same day as Selzer published ''Sparks'' with Flux Books under the name SJ Adams.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sparks |url=https://northstareditions.com/flux/sparks/ |access-date=2026-04-23 |website=North Star Editions |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2013, ''Sparks'' was named a Stonewall Honor Book,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Morales |first=Macey |date=2013-01-28 |title=American Library Association announces 2013 youth media award winners |url=https://www.ala.org/news/2013/01/american-library-association-announces-2013-youth-media-award-winners |access-date=2026-04-23 |website=American Library Association |language=en}}</ref> as well as being placed on the American Library Association Rainbow Book List.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-01-28 |title=2013 Rainbow Book List |url=https://glbtrt.ala.org/rainbowbooks/archives/1025 |access-date=2026-04-23 |website=Rainbow Book List |language=en-US}}</ref>
In addition to his writing, Selzer works as a historian, tour guide, and ghost investigator in Chicago.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2022-10-11 |title=Historian Adam Selzer on H. H. Holmes and His Murder Castle: Separating Fact from Fiction |url=https://scandalwaterpodcast.com/episode/historian-adam-selzer-on-h-h-holmes-and-his-murder-castle-separating-fact-from-fiction/ |access-date=2026-04-23 |website=Scandal Water Podcast |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-09-03 |title=Interview with Adam Selzer |url=https://www.llewellyn.com/author_interview.php?author_id=4405&interview_id=49 |access-date=2026-04-23 |website=Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd.}}</ref> In 2009, his first adult nonfiction title with a major publisher, ''Your Neighborhood Gives Me the Creeps'', told stories of his life and work as a ghost tour guide and as a skeptic in the ghost-hunting field.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Prosser |first=Lee |date=2009-12-01 |title=Your Neighborhood Gives Me The Creeps: True Tales of an Accidental Ghost Hunter |url=https://ghostvillage.com/your-neighborhood-gives-me-the-creeps/ |website=Ghostvillage.com}}</ref> He previously worked for Weird Chicago Tours and Chicago Hauntings before founding his own tour company AdamChicago Tours.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ABOUT ADAM |url=https://adamchicago.com/about-adam/ |access-date=2026-04-23 |website=AdamChicago |language=en-US}}</ref>
In 2017, he released the first comprehensive biography of Chicago serial killer H. H. Holmes.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-01-23 |title=H.H. Holmes: The True History of the White City Devil by Adam Selzer |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781510713437 |access-date=2026-04-23 |website=Publishers Weekly}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-02-04 |title=H.H. HOLMES |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/adam-selzer/hh-holmes/ |website=Kirkus Reviews}}</ref>
==List of works==
===Novels=== *{{Cite book |title=How to Get Suspended and Influence People |publisher=Delacorte Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-385-73369-4}} *{{Cite book |title=Pirates of the Retail Wasteland |date=2008 |publisher=Random House Children's Books |isbn=978-0-385-73482-0}} *{{Cite book |title=I Put a Spell On You: From the Files of Chrissie Woodward, Spelling Bee Detective |date=2008 |publisher=Delacorte Press |isbn=978-0-385-73504-9}} *{{Cite book |title=Andrew North Blows up the World |date=2009 |publisher=Random House Children's Books |isbn=978-0-375-89375-9}} *{{Cite book |title=I Kissed a Zombie, and I Liked It |date=2010 |publisher=Random House Children's Books |isbn=978-0-385-73503-2}} *{{Cite book |title=Extraordinary: The True Story of My Fairy Godparent, Who Almost Killed Me, and Certainly Never Made Me a Princess |date=2011 |publisher=Delacorte Press |isbn=978-0-385-73649-7}} *{{Cite book |title=Sparks |date=2011 |publisher=Flux |others=As S.J. Adams |isbn=978-0-738-73002-8}} *{{Cite book |title=Play Me Backwards |date=2014 |publisher=Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers |isbn=978-1-4814-0102-9}} *{{Cite book |title=Just Kill Me |date=2016 |publisher=Simon & Schuster BFYR |isbn=978-1-4814-3494-2}}
===Nonfiction=== *{{Cite book |title=Weird Chicago |date=2008 |publisher=Whitechapel Productions |others=With Troy Taylor and Ken Melvoin-Berg |isbn=978-1-89252-359-4}} *{{Cite book |title=Fatal Drop: True Tales of the Chicago Gallows |date=2008 |publisher=Whitechapel Productions |others=As William Griffith |isbn=978-1-89252-362-4}} *{{Cite book |title=The Smart Aleck's Guide to American History |date=2009 |publisher=Delacorte Press |isbn=978-0-385-73650-3}} *{{Cite book |title=Your Neighborhood Gives Me the Creeps: True Tales of an Accidental Ghost Hunter |date=2009 |publisher=Llewellyn Publications |isbn=978-0-73871-557-5}} *{{Cite book |title=Speaking Ill of the Dead: Jerks in Chicago h=History |date=2012 |publisher=Globe Pequot Press |isbn=978-0-7627-7291-9}} *{{Cite book |title=The Ghosts of Chicago: The Windy City's Most Famous Haunts |date=2013 |publisher=Llewellyn Publications |isbn=978-0-7387-3611-2}} *{{Cite book |title=Ghosts of Lincoln: Discovering His Paranormal Legacy |date=2015 |publisher=Llewellyn Worldwide |isbn=978-0-7387-4514-5}} *{{Cite book |title=Flickering Empire: How Chicago Invented the U.S. Film Industry |date=2015 |publisher=Columbia University Press |others=With Michael Glover Smith |isbn=978-0-231-17448-0}} *{{Cite book |title=Mysterious Chicago: History at Its Coolest |date=2016 |publisher=Skyhorse Publishing |isbn=978-1-5107-1342-0}} *{{Cite book |title=H. H. Holmes: The True History of the White City Devil |date=2017 |publisher=Skyhorse Publishing |isbn=978-1-5107-1346-8 |language=en}} *{{Cite book |title=Graceland Cemetery: Chicago Stories, Symbols, and Secrets |date=2022 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=978-0-252-05342-9}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{Official website}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Selzer, Adam}} Category:1980 births Category:American children's writers Category:Living people Category:Novelists from Chicago