Neal Shusterman is an American author of young adult and children's fiction, born in 1962 in Brooklyn, New York. He moved to Mexico City as a teenager, an experience that broadened his imagination, and later studied psychology and drama at the University of California, Irvine. He began his career writing for film and television before establishing himself as a novelist.
Shusterman is known for thought-provoking speculative fiction that tackles difficult ethical and social questions. His Unwind dystology imagines a future in which troubled teenagers can be retroactively aborted for their parts, while the Arc of a Scythe series explores a world that has conquered death and must decide who controls mortality.
He won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature in 2015 for Challenger Deep, a novel drawn from his own son's experience with mental illness that depicts a teenager's descent into schizophrenia. The book was praised for its honesty and its inventive portrayal of a fracturing mind.
A prolific and versatile writer, Shusterman has published dozens of novels and story collections across genres, often collaborating with his sons. His willingness to confront challenging subjects with intelligence and empathy has made him one of the most respected voices in contemporary young adult literature.
