Neal Shusterman (born November 12, 1962) is an American writer of

young-adult fiction Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...

. He won the 2015

National Book Award for Young People's Literature The National Book Award for Young People's Literature is one of five annual National Book Awards, which are given by the National Book Foundation (NBF) to recognize outstanding literary work by US citizens. They are awards "by writers to writers".< ...

for his book ''Challenger Deep'' and his novel, ''Scythe'', was a 2017 '' Michael L. Printz Honor'' book.

Early life

Shusterman was born on November 12, 1962, and raised in Brooklyn, New York City. From a young age, Shusterman was an avid reader. At the age of 16, Shusterman and his family moved to Mexico City. He finished high school there at the American School Foundation and is quoted as saying that "Having an international experience changed my life, giving me a fresh perspective on the world, and a sense of confidence I might not have otherwise." He attended the University of California, Irvine, where he double-majored in psychology and theater, and was also on the varsity swim team.

Career

After college, Shusterman worked as an assistant at the Irvin Arthur Associates, a talent agency in Los Angeles, where

Lloyd Segan Lloyd Segan is an American film and television producer, and a principal in Piller/Segan, an independent content production company. Television production Segan made his foray into television in 2001 with '' The Dead Zone'' based on Stephen ...

became his agent. Within a year, Shusterman had his first book deal and a screenwriting job. He lives in Florida. Shusterman has received numerous honors for his books, including the National Book Award in 2015 for his novel Challenger Deep, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, and the 2008

California Young Reader Medal The California Young Reader Medal is a set of five annual literary awards conferred upon picture books and fiction books selected by vote of California schoolchildren from a ballot prepared by committee. The program was established in 1974 with Int ...

for '' The Schwa Was Here''. He served as a judge for the PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship in 2012. His novels ''

Downsiders ''Downsiders'' is a 1999 novel by Neal Shusterman. Plot summary The Downsiders are a secret community of an unknown population (either native-born or "fallers" from the topside) dwelling underneath New York City. They are a proud, noble communit ...

'' and '' Full Tilt'' have each won over 20 awards. '' Unwind'' has won more than 30 awards and is in development with Universal TV as a television series. His novel '' Scythe'' is in development with Universal as a feature film. Shusterman has also written for TV, including the Original Disney Channel movie ''

Pixel Perfect The native resolution of an LCD, LCoS or other flat panel display refers to its single fixed resolution. As an LCD consists of a fixed raster, it cannot change resolution to match the signal being displayed, while black and white CRT monitor ...

'', as well as episodes of '' Goosebumps'' and '' Animorphs''. He has written for '' R. L. Stine's The Haunting Hour: The Series'' and is also adapting his novel ''Challenger Deep'' for 20th Century Fox. Fellow author Orson Scott Card invited Shusterman to write novels parallel to ''

Ender's Game ''Ender's Game'' is a 1985 military science fiction novel by American author Orson Scott Card. Set at an unspecified date in Earth's future, the novel presents an imperiled humankind after two conflicts with an insectoid alien species they dub ...

'' about other characters from the series, but schedules didn't permit it, and Card wrote ''

Ender's Shadow ''Ender's Shadow'' (1999) is a parallel science fiction novel by the American author Orson Scott Card, taking place at the same time as the novel ''Ender's Game'' and depicting some of the same events from the point of view of Bean, a supporting ...

'' and the subsequent series himself.

Awards

*2005 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award. *2008

for '' The Schwa Was Here''. *2015

and the Golden Kite Award for Fiction for ''Challenger Deep''. *2017 Micheal L. Printz Award Honour Book for "Scythe". *2019 Young Hoosier Book Award (Middle Grade) for '' Scythe.''

Bibliography

Fiction series

The Accelerati trilogy (with
Eric Elfman Eric Elfman is an American writer with a special interest in science fiction, fantasy, UFOs, and paranormal events. He is the author of 13 books for middle-grade and young adult readers, including the ''Accelerati Trilogy'', which he co-wrote w ...
)

*''Tesla's Attic'' (2014) *''Edison's Alley'' (2015) *''Hawking's Hallway'' (2016)

Antsy Bonano

*''The Schwa Was Here'' (2004) *''Antsy Does Time'' (2008) *''Ship Out of Luck'' (2013)

Arc of a Scythe

*'' Scythe'' (2016) *''

Thunderhead A thunderhead is a cumulonimbus cloud seen during a thunderstorm. Thunderhead may also refer to: * Thunderhead (horse), a racehorse * ''Thunderhead'' (Preston and Child novel) * ''Thunderhead'' (Shusterman novel) * Thunderhead (roller coaster ...

'' (2018) *''The Toll'' (2019) *''Gleanings: Stories from the Arc of a Scythe'' (2022)

Dark Fusion

*''Dread Locks'' (2005) *''Red Rider's Hood'' (2005) *''Duckling Ugly'' (2006)

Shadow Club

*''

The Shadow Club ''The Shadow Club'' is a book written by Neal Shusterman Neal Shusterman (born November 12, 1962) is an American writer of young-adult fiction. He won the 2015 National Book Award for Young People's Literature for his book ''Challenger Deep' ...

'' (1988) *''The Shadow Club Rising'' (2002)

Skinjacker trilogy

*'' Everlost'' (2006) *'' Everwild'' (2009) *'' Everfound'' (2011)

Star Shards

*''Scorpion Shards'' (1995) *''Thief of Souls'' (1999) *''Shattered Sky'' (2002)

The Unwind dystology

*'' Unwind'' (2007) *''UnStrung'' (2012) (short story) *''UnWholly'' (2012) *''UnSouled'' (2013) *''UnDivided'' (2014) *''UnBound'' (2015) (short story collection, contains ''UnStrung'')

The X-Files

*The X-Files Young Adult Series :*3) ''Bad Sign'' (1997)

riting as Easton Royce Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically inscribed, mechanically transferred, or digitally represented symbols. Writing systems do not themselves constitute h ...

novelization of ''The X-Files'' episode '' Syzygy'' :*10) ''Dark Matter'' (1999)

novelization of ''The X-Files'' episode ''

Soft Light Hard and soft light are different types of lighting that are commonly used in photography and filmmaking. Soft light is light that tends to "wrap" around objects, projecting diffused shadows with soft edges, whereas hard light is more focused and ...

'' *The X-Files Young Readers Series :*8) ''Voltage'' (1996)

novelization of ''The X-Files'' episode '' D.P.O.'' :*9) ''E.B.E.'' (1996) co-authored with Les Martin

novelization of ''The X-Files'' episode '' E.B.E.''

Space: Above and Beyond

*1) ''The Aliens Approach'' (1996)

novelization of the pilot episode of the ''Space: Above and Beyond'' TV series *3) ''Mutiny'' (1996)

novelization of the ''Space: Above and Beyond'' episode, ''Mutiny''

Novels

*''Dissidents'' (1989) *''Speeding Bullet'' (1991) *''What Daddy Did'' (1991) (later renamed ''Chasing Forgiveness'') *''The Eyes of Kid Midas'' (1992) *'' The Dark Side of Nowhere'' (1997) *''

'' (1999) *'' Full Tilt'' (2004) *''Bruiser'' (2010) * *''Challenger Deep'' (2015) illustrated by Brendon Shusterman *''Dry'' (2018) co-authored with Jarrod Shusterman *''Game Changer'' (February 2021) *''Roxy'' (November 2021)

Picture books

*''Piggyback Ninja'' (1994) Illustrated by Joe Boddy

Short stories

*''Resurrection Bay'' (2013) ublished only as an ebookref>

Short story collections

*''Darkness Creeping: Tales to Trouble Your Sleep'' (1993) *''Darkness Creeping II: More Tales to Trouble Your Sleep'' (1995) *''Mindquakes: Stories to Shatter Your Brain'' (1996) *''Mindstorms: Stories to Blow Your Mind'' (1996) *''Mindtwisters: Stories To Shred Your Head'' (1997) *''Mindbenders: Stories to Warp Your Brain'' (2000) *''Darkness Creeping: Twenty Twisted Tales'' (2007) *Violent Ends (2015) co-authored with 17 other authors including, Brendon Shusterman,

Shaun David Hutchinson Shaun David Hutchinson (born May 1, 1978) is an American author of young adult texts. His novels often "combine speculative elements with LGBT characters and themes." Personal life Hutchinson was born May 1, 1978 in West Palm Beach, Florida and ...

, and

Beth Revis Beth Revis is an American author of fantasy and science fiction, mainly for the young adult audience. She is best known for the '' Across the Universe'' trilogy, which consists of the novels ''Across the Universe'', ''A Million Suns'' and ''Shade ...

Games

*How to Host a Murder: Roman Ruins (1997) *How to Host a Murder: The Grapes of Frath (1997) *How to Host a Teen Mystery: Hot Times at Hollywood High (1997) *How to Host a Murder: The Good, the Bad, and the Guilty (1998) *How to Host a Murder: Tragical Mystery Tour (1999) *How to Host a Teen Mystery: Barbecue with the Vampire (1999) *How to Host a Murder: Saturday Night Cleaver (2000) *How to Host a Murder: Maiming of the Shrew (2001) *How to Host a Teen Mystery: Roswell That Ends Well (2002) *How to Host a Murder: An Affair to Dismember (2003)

Nonfiction

*''Guy Talk'' (1987) *''It's Ok to Say No to Cigarettes and Alcohol'' (1988) *''Neon Angel: The Cherie Currie Story'' (1989) with Cherie Currie *''Kid Heroes: True Stories of Rescuers, Survivors, and Achievers'' (1991)

Poems

*"Shadows of Doubt" (1993)

Screenwriting credits

Television

*'' Goosebumps'' (1996-1998) *'' Animorphs'' (1998) *'' The Haunting Hour: The Series'' (2011)

Film

*'' Double Dragon'' (1994) *''

'' (2004)

References

External links

*
Shusterman at FacebookShusterman at TwitterShusterman at Instagram
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shusterman, Neal 1962 births 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American children's writers 20th-century American Jews American male novelists American male screenwriters Living people Writers from Brooklyn American writers of young adult literature National Book Award winners 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from New York (state) Screenwriters from New York (state) 21st-century American Jews