Help! I'm Trapped in a Supermodel's Body

by Shelley Stoehr

Like Jake's disorienting experience in Lanny's body, Wolfson's protagonist suddenly sees the world through a completely different lens when she's placed in an unfamiliar social situation. Both books mine comedy from the clash between who you are and how others perceive you, with that same blend of humor and genuine empathy for the outsider perspective.

by Danielle Forget

Zappia captures that same satirical eye for school social hierarchies and the absurdity of popularity contests that Strasser does. Her characters are equally determined to decode the mysterious rules of their social world, and she writes with the same wry humor about how ridiculous these systems actually are when you examine them closely.

by Louis Sachar

This might seem like a departure, but both books share Strasser's gift for weaving together multiple perspectives and timelines while keeping readers laughing despite genuinely high stakes. Sachar builds his world through interconnected stories the way Strasser builds his comedy through the collision of two completely different lives—there's real craft beneath the fun.

by Laurie Halse Anderson

Here's your surprise pick: Anderson's novel also explores what happens when someone's external presentation doesn't match their internal reality, but she takes that premise into genuinely serious territory. If you're ready to see how the same body-as-identity concept plays out when the stakes become real, this 1999 novel shows you the other side of Strasser's comedic coin.

by Paul Geraghty

Two misfits team up to pull off an elaborate prank war, and the book has that same rapid-fire comedic timing and celebration of outsider logic that makes Strasser's premise work. Culkin and Spiner write with genuine affection for characters who see the world sideways, and they understand that the best comedy comes from characters who are completely committed to their ridiculous plans.