Neal shusterman author biography sample

When I was a kid, I wanted to be everything. A writer, an actor, a doctor, a rock star, an artist, an architect, and a film director. I had a teacher who said “You can’t do that! You’ll be a jack of all trades and a master of none!” But I had it worked out: I’d be a jack of seven trades, and master of three.

–Neal Shusterman, A Note from the Author

Neal Shusterman is the award-winning author of The Skinjacker Trilogy and The Unwind Trilogy. A native of New York and is an example of both the power of adults and of books on a young person’s life.

CHILDHOOD

In third grade, Shusterman was the slowest reader in his class, but an elementary school librarian took him under her wing and taught him to love books. Then, at around age ten, his parents were apparently late picking him up at a summer camp. Being the last kid waiting to get picked up, and with nothing else to do, Shusterman went back into the cabin and found a dust-covered copy of Jonathan Livingston Seagull. He opened the book, began reading, and was swept away by the story of the seagull in search of perfect flight. Around the same time, he also read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Shusterman felt awed by it too and to do this day remembers wishing that he could create something as imaginative.

ADOLESCENCE

And when I saw movies that I enjoyed, read books that I enjoyed, my response was rather than wanting to read something just like it, I wanted to be able to do that myself. And so that had always been a part of what I wanted to do was be a storyteller in one way or another.

–Neal Shusterman, Adolescent Literacy

In ninth grade, an English teacher also made a difference in Shusterman’s life. He had written a story the summer before, inspired by the movie Jaws, and decided he wanted to b

American novelist (born 1962)

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 and his novel, Scythe, was a 2017 Michael L. Printz Honor book.

He won the Margaret Edwards Award 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, New York City. His family is Jewish.

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 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 and 2008 California Young Reader Medal for The Schwa Was Here, as well as the 2015 National Book Award for Challenger Deep. He served as a judge for the PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship in 2012.Unwind has won more than 30 awards and is in development with Constantin Film as a television series.

In 2016, it was announced that his novel Scythe is in development with Universal as a feature film.^[14&#

In a future where no one dies unless a Scythe mandates it, Citra and Rowan are chosen to learn the “art of killing” in preparation for the scythedom. What follows is a thrilling adventure where the two must work together to uncover the corruption in their supposed utopian society.

Book 1: Scythe

A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery: humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now Scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control.Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.

Book 2: Thunderhead

Rowan and Citra take opposite stances on the morality of the Scythedom, putting them at odds, in the chilling sequel to the Printz Honor Book Scythe from New York Times bestseller Neal Shusterman, author of the Unwind dystology.The Thunderhead cannot interfere in the affairs of the Scythedom. All it can do is observe—it does not like what it sees.A year has passed since Rowan had gone off grid. Since then, he has become an urban legend, a vigilante snuffing out corrupt scythes in a trial by fire. His story is told in whispers across the continent.As Scythe Anastasia, Citra gleans with compassion and openly challenges the ideals of the “new order.” But when her life is threatened and her methods questioned, it becomes clear that not everyone is open to the change.Will the Thunderhead intervene?Or will it simply watch as this perfect world begins to unravel?

Book 3: The Toll

Dictators, prophets, and tensions rise. In a world that’s conquered death, will humanity finally be torn asunder by the immortal beings it created?Citra and Rowan have disappeared. Endura is gone. It seems like nothing stands between Scythe Goddard and abso

Award-winning author Neal Shusterman grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where he began writing at an early age. After spending his junior and senior years of high school at the American School of Mexico City, Neal went on to UC Irvine, where he made his mark on the UCI swim team, and wrote a successful humor column. Within a year of graduating, he had his first book deal, and was hired to write a movie script.

In the years since, Neal has made his mark as a successful novelist, screenwriter, and television writer. As a full-time writer, he claims to be his own hardest task-master, always at work creating new stories to tell. His books have received many awards from organizations such as the International Reading Association, and the American Library Association, as well as garnering a myriad of state and local awards across the country. Neal’s talents range from film directing (two short films he directed won him the coveted CINE Golden Eagle Awards) to writing music and stage plays – including book and lyrical contributions to “American Twistory,” which is currently played in several major cities. He has even tried his hand at creating Games, having developed three successful “How to Host a Mystery” game for teens, as well as seven “How to Host a Murder” games.

As a screen and TV writer, Neal has written for the “Goosebumps” and “Animorphs” TV series, and wrote the Disney Channel Original Movie “Pixel Perfect”. Currently Neal is developing an original TV series with his son, Jarrod, and adapting Tesla’s Attic with co-writer Eric Elfman for TV as well.

Wherever Neal goes, he quickly earns a reputation as a storyteller and dynamic speaker. Much of his fiction is traceable back to stories he tells to large audiences of children and teenagers — such as his novel The Eyes of Kid Midas. As a speaker, Neal is in constant demand at schools and conferences. Degrees in both psychology and drama give Neal a unique approach to writing. Neal’s novels always deal with topics