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

young adult fiction Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. It is characterized by simpler world build ...

. 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 writer ...

for his book ''Challenger Deep'' and his novel, ''

Scythe A scythe (, rhyming with ''writhe'') is an agriculture, agricultural hand-tool for mowing grass or Harvest, harvesting Crop, crops. It was historically used to cut down or reaping, reap edible grain, grains before they underwent the process of ...

'', was a 2017 Michael L. Printz Honor book. He won the

Margaret Edwards Award The Margaret A. Edwards Award is an American Library Association (ALA) literary award that annually recognizes an author and "a specific body of his or her work, for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature". It is named aft ...

in 2024 "honoring his significant and lasting contribution to writing for teens."

Early life

Shusterman was born on November 12, 1962, and raised in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. His family is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. From a young age, Shusterman was an avid reader. At the age of 16, Shusterman and his family moved to

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. He finished high school there at the

American School Foundation The American School Foundation, A.C, ("''Colegio Americano''" in Spanish) is an independent international school in the American tradition based in Mexico City. It offers coeducational college-preparatory school for international students aged ...

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 The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...

, where he double-majored in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

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 executive producer and partner at Piller/Segan, an independent content production company. Television production Segan made his foray into television in 2001 with '' The Dead Zone'' ...

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 2005

Boston Globe–Horn Book Award The ''Boston Globe''–''Horn'' Book Awards are a set of American literary awards conferred by ''The Boston Globe'' and ''The Horn Book Magazine'' annually from 1967. One book is recognized in each of four categories: Fiction and Poetry, Nonficti ...

and 2008

California Young Reader Medal The California Young Reader Medal is a set of five annual literary awards conferred upon picture books A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily ...

for '' The Schwa Was Here,'' as well as the 2015

National Book Award The National Book Awards (NBA) are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. ...

for ''

Challenger Deep The Challenger Deep is the List of submarine topographical features#List of oceanic trenches, deepest known point of the seabed of Earth, located in the western Pacific Ocean at the southern end of the Mariana Trench, in the ocean territory o ...

''. He served as a judge for the

PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship The PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship is awarded by the PEN America (formerly PEN American Center) annually to a writer of children's or young-adult fiction of high literary caliber "at a crucial moment in his or her career to complete a ...

in 2012. '' Unwind'' has won more than 30 awards and is in development with

Constantin Film Constantin Film AG is a German film production company based in Munich. The company, which belongs to Swiss media conglomerate Highlight Communications AG, is a large independent German maker and distributor of productions. Constantin has releas ...

as a television series. In 2016, it was announced that his novel ''

'' is in development with Universal as a feature film. ''Challenger Deep'' was acquired by

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

in 2019, and

Will McCormack William Joseph McCormack Jr. (born January 13, 1974) is an American actor, executive producer, screenwriter, and film director. He is best known for his short film '' If Anything Happens I Love You'' (2020), which earned him the Academy Award f ...

has been selected to write the script. He has been nominated four times (twice in 2019; 2020; 2023) in different categories of the

Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis The (German Youth Literature Award) is an annual award established in 1956 by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth to recognise outstanding works of children's and young adult literature. It is Germany's only ...

and won the Youth Jury Prize in 2019. In March 2023, the German translation of the book ''Roxy'', written with his son Jarrod Shusterman, was nominated by the youth jury. Shusterman has also written for TV, including the

Disney Channel Original Movie Since its launch on April 18, 1983, American cable and satellite pay television channel Disney Channel airs and/or releases/distributes original first-run television films under the banner names of Disney Channel Premiere Films until October 1 ...

Pixel Perfect ''Pixel Perfect'' is a 2004 American Science fiction film, science fiction comedy film released as a List of Disney Channel original films#Disney Channel Original Movies, Disney Channel Original Movie. It aired in the United States on January 1 ...

'', and episodes of ''Goosebumps'', ''

Animorphs ''Animorphs'' is a science fantasy series of youth books written by Katherine Applegate and her husband Michael Grant, writing together under the name K. A. Applegate, and published by Scholastic. It is told in first person, with all si ...

,'' and

R. L. Stine Robert Lawrence Stine (; born October 8, 1943) is an American novelist. He is the writer of '' Goosebumps,'' a horror fiction novel series which has sold over 400 million copies globally in 35 languages, becoming the second- best-selling book ...

's '' The Haunting Hour: The Series.'' Fellow author

Orson Scott Card Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. , he is the only person to have won a Hugo Award for Best Novel, Hugo Award and a Nebula Award for Best Novel, Nebula Award in List of joint ...

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 ...

'' about other characters from the series, but schedules did not 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 supportin ...

'' and the subsequent series himself.

Awards

*2005

for '' The Schwa Was Here'' *2008

for ''The Schwa Was Here'' *2015

, Golden Kite Award for Fiction, and Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor for ''

'' *2017

Michael L. Printz Award The Michael L. Printz Award is an American Library Association literary award that annually recognizes the "best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit". It is sponsored by ''Booklist'' magazine; administered by the ALA's ...

Honor for ''

'' *2019 Young Hoosier Book Award (Middle Grade) for ''Scythe'' *2019

for ''Challenger Deep'' (German: ''Kompass ohne Norden''), chosen by the youth jury

Bibliography

Fiction series

The N.O.A.H. Files (with
Eric Elfman Eric Elfman is an American author with a specializing in science fiction, fantasy, UFOs, and paranormal events. He has written over 14 books for young adults and middle-grade readers, including the ''Accelerati Trilogy'', which was co-written w ...
)

*''I Am the Walrus'' (2023) *''Shock the Monkey'' (2024)

The Accelerati trilogy (with
Eric Elfman Eric Elfman is an American author with a specializing in science fiction, fantasy, UFOs, and paranormal events. He has written over 14 books for young adults and middle-grade readers, including the ''Accelerati Trilogy'', which was co-written 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

*''

'' (2016) *'' Thunderhead'' (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)

The Shadow Club Duology

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

The Skinjacker trilogy

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

The Star Shards Chronicles

*''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'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The original series aired from September 10, 1993, to Ma ...

*The X-Files Young Adult Series :*3) ''Bad Sign'' (1997) riting as Easton Roycenovelization of ''The X-Files'' episode '' Syzygy'' :*10) ''Dark Matter'' (1999) riting as Easton Roycenovelization of ''The X-Files'' episode ''

Soft Light Soft may refer to: * Softness, or hardness, a property of physical materials Arts and entertainment * ''Soft!'', a novel by Rupert Thomson, 1988 * Soft (band), an American music group * ''Soft'' (album), by Dan Bodan, 2014 * ''Softs'' (album), ...

'' *The X-Files Young Readers Series :*8) ''Voltage'' (1996) riting as Easton Roycenovelization of ''The X-Files'' episode '' D.P.O.'' :*9) ''E.B.E.'' (1996) co-authored with Les Martin riting as Easton Roycenovelization of ''The X-Files'' episode '' E.B.E.''

Space: Above and Beyond

*1) ''The Aliens Approach'' (1996) riting as Easton Roycenovelization of the pilot episode of the ''Space: Above and Beyond'' TV series *3) ''Mutiny'' (1996) riting as Easton Roycenovelization of the ''Space: Above and Beyond'' episode, ''Mutiny''

Other 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) *'' Downsiders'' (1999) *'' Full Tilt'' (2004) *''Bruiser'' (2010) *''Challenger Deep'' (2015) illustrated by Brendon Shusterman *''Dry'' (2018) co-authored with Jarrod Shusterman *''Game Changer'' (2021) *''Roxy'' (2021) co-authored with Jarrod Shusterman *''Break to You'' (2024) co-authored with Debra Young and Michelle Knowlden *''All Better Now'' (2025) ISBN 9781534432758

Graphic novels

*''Courage to Dream: Tales of Hope in the Holocaust'' (2023) Illustrated by Andrés Vera Martínez

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, 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 ''Shades ...

*''MindWorks: An Uncanny Compendium of Short Fiction'' (2025)

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 ''Goosebumps'' is a series of children's horror novels written by American author R. L. Stine. The protagonists in these stories are teens or pre-teens who find themselves in frightening circumstances, often involving the supernatural, the p ...

'' (1996–1998) *''

'' (1998) *'' The Haunting Hour: The Series'' (2011)

Film

*''

Double Dragon is a beat 'em up video game series originally developed and published by Technōs Japan. It began with the release of the arcade game '' Double Dragon'' in 1987. The series features twin martial artists, Billy and Jimmy Lee, as they fight again ...

'' (1994) *''

'' (2004)

References

External links

* * * * {{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 Novelists from New York City American writers of young adult literature 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Screenwriters from New York (state) 21st-century American Jews American Ashkenazi Jews Margaret A. Edwards Award winners University of California, Irvine alumni National Book Award for Young People's Literature winners