Although Workin' for Peanuts is not part of a series, it shares concerns with several of Strasser's other works, such as his books about Gary Specter and his rock band. First romance from the male point of view is a common theme in many of the books, including Angel Dust Blues (1979), in which Alex Lazar eventually falls in love with a rich girl named Ellen, and A Touchy Subject (1985), in which seventeen-year-old Scott Tauscher breaks up with his rich girlfriend, Alix, and helps his neighbor Paula escape to North Carolina. The effects of wealth and social class are also topics in these two books as well as in Rock n' Roll Nights (1982), Turn It Up! (1984), and Wildlife (1987), all of which involve the rise to celebrity of a teenage rock band.

Workin' for Peanuts, with its lowerclass young protagonist who is infatuated with a wealthy woman, shares...