Bruce J. Gevirtzman is the chief writer for Phantom Projects, a renown theater group, and has authored over twenty plays, which have been performed in community and local theaters across the nation. His acclaimed book, Shaking Hands With Aliens: An Intimate Understanding of America’s Teenagers (Praeger, 2008) is a funny and poignant study of American teen culture. He has worked as a high school baseball coach, taught competitive speech and debate, and directed live theater. Bruce has worked with young people for over three decades.
In addition to being a baseball coach, Bruce is a former English instructor and currently teaches at California State University, Fullerton. He set a California Interscholastic Federation record for game ejections in a single season, prompting him to write a novel about a serial killer of umpires, called Kill the Ump!. He has several publishing credits: Shaking Hands With Aliens: An Intimate Understanding of America’s Teenagers (ABC-CLIO, 2008); Straight Talk to Teachers: Twenty Insane Ideas for a Better Classroom (Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2009); Audacious Cures for America’s Ailing Schools (Rowman & Littlefield, 2012); and Frustration of Shame: In Defense of America’s Teachers (Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2016).
Bruce lives with his wife and two children in Orange County, California. Neither his 20-year-old daughter nor his 18-year-old son reminds him of Zitty, but Bruce probably experienced the inside of enough trashcans during his freshman year of high school to give him a good whiff of the ordeal.
Isaac (Zitty) Gordon doesn’t claim to be your average teenager. For one thing, he works alongside Apple tycoon Steve Jobs. For another thing, someone has tried to kill him at least five different times. His friends are weird: Dylan, his rebellious teenage bodyguard; Dawn, the only girl Zitty has ever loved; and Rusty, the only boy that has ever loved Zitty.
Zitty is unique; unfortunately, his uniqueness compounds his problems, and exacerbates his challenges. Zitty spends countless hours hoping to solve a murder mystery before he winds up its victim. In his desperate quest, he discovers more than he ever bargained for, as his inexplicable rush to tragedy begins.