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 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. Challenger Deep was acquired by Disney+ in 2019, and Will McCormack 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 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 Pixel Perfect, and episodes of Goosebumps, Animorphs, and R. L. Stine's The Haunting Hour: The Series.

Fellow author Orson Scott Card invited Shusterman to write novels parallel to Ender's Game about other characters from the series, but schedules did not permit it, and Card wrote Ender's Shadow and the subsequent series himself.

Awards 2005 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award for The Schwa Was Here 2015 National Book Award for Young People's Literature, Golden Kite Award for Fiction, and Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor for Challenger Deep 2019 Young Hoosier Book Award (Middle Grade) for Scythe 2019 Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis for Challenger Deep (German: Kompass ohne Norden), chosen by the youth jury

Works Fiction series

The N.O.A.H. Files (with Eric Elfman)I Am the Walrus (2023)Shock the Monkey (2024)The Dog Days Are Over (2025)

The Accelerati trilogy (with Eric Elfman)Tesla's Attic (2014) Edison's Alley (2015) Hawking's Hallway (2016)

Antsy BonanoThe Schwa Was Here (2004) Antsy Does Time (2008) Ship Out of Luck (2013)

Arc of a ScytheScythe (2016)Thunderhead (2018) The Toll (2019) Gleanings: Stories from the Arc of a Scythe (2022)Mindworks: An Uncanny Compendium of Short Fiction (2025)

Dark FusionDread 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 trilogyEverlost (2006) Everwild (2009) Everfound (2011)

The Star Shards ChroniclesScorpion Shards (1995) Thief of Souls (1999) Shattered Sky (2002)

The Unwind dystologyUnwind (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) [writing as Easton Royce] novelization of The X-Files episode Syzygy10) Dark Matter (1999) [writing as Easton Royce] novelization of The X-Files episode Soft LightThe X-Files Young Readers Series 8) Voltage (1996) [writing as Easton Royce] novelization of The X-Files episode D.P.O.9) E.B.E. (1996) co-authored with Les Martin [writing as Easton Royce] novelization of The X-Files episode E.B.E.Space: Above and Beyond 1) The Aliens Approach (1996) [writing as Easton Royce] novelization of the pilot episode of the Space: Above and Beyond TV series 3) Mutiny (1996) [writing as Easton Royce] novelization of the Space: Above and Beyond episode, MutinyOther novelsDissidents (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 novelsCourage to Dream: Tales of Hope in the Holocaust (2023) Illustrated by Andrés Vera Martínez

Picture booksPiggyback Ninja (1994) Illustrated by Joe Boddy

Short storiesResurrection Bay (2013) [published only as an ebook]

Short story collectionsDarkness 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 RevisMindWorks: An Uncanny Compendium of Short Fiction (2025)

GamesHow 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)

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

Poems "Shadows of Doubt" (1993)

Screenwriting credits TelevisionGoosebumps (1996–1998)Animorphs (1998)The Haunting Hour: The Series (2011)

FilmDouble Dragon (1994)Pixel Perfect'' (2005)