Neal Shusterman
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Neal Shusterman (born 1962), who also writes under the pen name of Easton Royce, is an American author of books for young readers. He won the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for The Schwa was Here (2005). He was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. He lives in Orange County, California with his 4 children.
His inspiration for writing first came as an alternative to stickball. [1] (side note: Shusterman attended Kutsher's Camp Anawana and was a counselor there. Discussing his memories of his time there, he stated "As both a camper and counselor, Anawana has played such an important part of my life. Being a camper turned me from being a total non-athlete, into a varsity swimmer. My career as an author of young-adult novels began because of the stories I used to tell when I was a counselor." [2] On his own website, he writes "When I was in college, attempting to write my first novels, I went back to that same summer camp I went to as a kid, this time as a counselor. I became known as the camp story teller, and would make up stories to tell the kids at night. Some of those stories became books a few years later -- The Shadow Club, and The Eyes of Kid Midas. It was hearing those kids' reactions to my stories that really made me believe I could be a successful author." [3])
The first idea he came up with is a giant squid devouring Chicago. Some of his other novels are The Dark Side of Nowhere, Full Tilt, The Eyes of Kid Midas, and the Star Shards Chronicles trilogy: Scorpion Shards, Thief of Souls, and Shattered Sky. His novel Downsiders has won 16 awards.
He has also written for TV including hour long prime time specials for the Goosebumps and the Animorphs TV series. [4]
As Royce, he writes tie-in novels for The X-Files and Space: Above and Beyond.
[edit] External Links
Neal Shusterman Official Website
