David Lubar (born March 16, 1954) is an author of numerous books for teens. He is also a video game programmer, who programmed ''
Super Breakout
''Super Breakout'' is a sequel to the 1976 video game '' Breakout'' released in arcades in September 1978 by Atari, Inc. It was written by Ed Rotberg. The game uses the same mechanics as ''Breakout'', but allows the selection of three distinct ...
'' for the
Game Boy
The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same t ...
and ''
Frogger
is a 1981 arcade action game developed by Konami and manufactured by Sega. In North America, it was released by Sega/Gremlin. The object of the game is to direct a series of frogs to their homes by crossing a busy road and a hazardous rive ...
'' for both the
Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy. He designed ''
Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge'' for the Nintendo
Game Boy Color.
Biography
Lubar was born and raised in
Morristown, New Jersey. As a boy he frequented the school library where his mother worked, as well as the town library and county library.
He attended
Rutgers University
Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...
and received a degree in
philosophy. After graduating, he tried to write full-time, but a low income forced him to pursue more lucrative options. David married his wife around this time in 1977. He began writing for ''
Creative Computing'' in 1980.
In 1982, Lubar was offered a job designing and programming video games in California. There he designed and translated video games for
Atari,
Nintendo Game Boy
The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same tea ...
,
Apple 2
The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-m ...
and the
Nintendo Entertainment System.
After realizing he still wanted to write, Lubar returned to writing in 1994 while still working as a developer. By 1995, he had sold six books, and the company he worked for had gone out of business. During 1998 and 1999 Lubar started programming for the
Nintendo Game Boy
The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same tea ...
while putting writing to the side, but he returned to writing shortly after. From 2000 to 2005, Lubar wrote short stories for various collections such as ''Ribbiting Tales'', ''Lost and Found'' and ''Shattered''.
Today, Lubar writes from his house. He has a daughter, Alison, who is a teacher.
Works
Books for Young Readers
Standalones
* ''Monster Road'' (1999)
*''Wizards of the Game'' (2003)
*''Dog Days'' (2004)
*''Punished!'' (2005)
*''Toon Out'' (2007)
*''Emperor of the Universe'' (2019)
Nathan Abercrombie, Accidental Zombie
*''My Rotten Life'' (2009)
*''Dead Guy Spy'' (2010)
*''Goop Soup'' (2010)
*''The Big Stink'' (2010)
*''Enter the Zombie'' (2011)
Monsterrific Tales
* ''Hyde and Shriek'' (2013)
* ''The Vanishing Vampire'' (2013)
* ''The Unwilling Witch'' (2013)
* ''The Wavering Werewolf'' (2014)
* ''The Gloomy Ghost'' (2014)
* ''The Bully Bug'' (2014)
Looniverse
* ''Stranger Things'' (2013)
* ''Meltdown Madness'' (2013)
* ''Dinosaur Disaster'' (2013)
* ''Stage Fright'' (2014)
Monster Itch
* ''Ghost Attack'' (2017)
* ''Vampire Trouble'' (2017)
Short Stories
= The Psychozone
=
* ''Kidzilla and Other Tales'' (1997)
* ''The Witch's Monkey and Other Tales'' (1997)
= Weenies
=
*''In the Land of the Lawn Weenies'' (2003)
*''Invasion of the Road Weenies'' (2005)
*''The Curse of the Campfire Weenies'' (2007)
*''The Battle of the Red Hot Pepper Weenies'' (2009)
*''Attack of the Vampire Weenies'' (2011)
*''Beware the Ninja Weenies'' (2012)
*''Wipeout of the Wireless Weenies'' (2014)
*''Strikeout of the Bleacher Weenies'' (2016)
*''Check Out the Library Weenies'' (2018)
= Teeny Weenies
=
*''Freestyle Frenzy'' (2019)
*''The Intergalactic Petting Zoo'' (2019)
*''The Boy Who Cried Wool'' (2019)
*''My Favorite President'' (2019)
*''Fishing for Pets'' (2020)
*''The Eighth Octopus'' (2020)
Books for Teens
Standalones
* ''Flip'' (2003)
*''Dunk'' (2004)
*''Extremities: Stories of Death, Murder, and Revenge'' (2013)
*''Character, Driven'' (2016)
Talents
*''Hidden Talents'' (1999)
*''True Talents'' (2007)
Scott Hudson
* ''
Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie
''Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie'' is a 2005 young adult novel by David Lubar. It is a story about the high school experiences of a fourteen-year-old boy named Scott Hudson. The book was one of the ALA's book picks for 2006.
''Sleeping Freshmen Never ...
'' (2005)
* ''Sophomores and Other Oxymorons'' (2015)
Video games
Apple II
*''Bumper Blocks''
*''Obstacle Course''
*''Killing Zone ''
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600, initially branded as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) from its release until November 1982, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977, it popularized microprocesso ...
*''Fantastic Voyage''
*''
Worm War I''
*''Nexar''
*''Flash Gordon''
*''Space Master X-7''
*''Bumper Bash''
*''My Golf''
*''River Raid II'', a sequel to ''
River Raid
''River Raid'' is a vertically scrolling shooter designed and programmed by Carol Shaw and published by Activision in 1982 for the Atari 2600 video game console. Over a million game cartridges were sold. Activision later ported the title to th ...
'' based on a concept by Dan Kitchen
Atari 8-bit family
*''
Pastfinder
''Pastfinder'' is a vertically scrolling shooter designed by David Lubar and published by Activision in 1984 for the Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64 and MSX home computers.
Plot
The year is 8878, and the player is a member of an elite legion of pla ...
''
*''Alpha Shield''
Nintendo Entertainment System
*''
The Simpsons: Bart vs. the World''
David Lubar - List of Video Games
/ref>
Game Boy
The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same t ...
*''Home Alone
''Home Alone'' is a 1990 American Christmas comedy film directed by Chris Columbus and written and produced by John Hughes. The first film in the ''Home Alone'' franchise, the film stars Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Hea ...
''
*''Frogger
is a 1981 arcade action game developed by Konami and manufactured by Sega. In North America, it was released by Sega/Gremlin. The object of the game is to direct a series of frogs to their homes by crossing a busy road and a hazardous rive ...
''
*'' Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge''
Further reading
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lubar, David
1954 births
Living people
People from Morristown, New Jersey
American children's writers
Video game programmers