CANR
WORK TITLE: Scythe
WORK NOTES: Printz honor book 2017
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 11/12/1962
WEBSITE: http://www.storyman.com/
CITY: Dove Canyon
STATE: CA
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: CANR 303
http://www.slj.com/2015/11/industry-news/neal-shusterman-takes-nba-prize-for-challenger-deep/#_ http://www.timesofisrael.com/jewish-fathers-book-on-mental-illness-wins-national-book-award/
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
ADDRESS
CAREER
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Publishers Weekly Dec. 2, 2016, Shusterman” Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2016. Literature Resource Center, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=LitRC&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CH1000090934&it=r&asid=232dcadacb608e8982338caba37631fc. Accessed 12 Feb. 2017. “Neal, “Scythe.”. p. 113.
The Horn Book Magazine Nov.Dec., 2016. Anita L. Burkam, “Scythe.”. p. 87+.
School Library Journal Oct., 2016. Tyler Hixson, “Shusterman, Neal. Scythe.”. p. 115+.
ONLINE
Book Smugglers, http://thebooksmugglers.com (February 27, 2017).
Book Smugglers, http://thebooksmugglers.com (February 27, 2017).
Kirkus, https://www.kirkusreviews.com (February 27, 2017).
Neal Shusterman Takes NBA Prize for “Challenger Deep”
By Rocco Staino and Sarah Bayliss on November 19, 2015
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Brendan Shusterman (left) and Neal Shusterman at the NBA ceremony.
“Labels for mental illness are just labels,” author Neal Shusterman said while accepting the National Book Award (NBA) for Young People’s Literature at the 66th NBA ceremony last night in New York City. “I hope that Challenger Deep will open up a dialogue about mental illness and [help it] lose its stigma.”
Shusterman’s novel (HarperCollins, 2015), about a teenage boy struggling with schizoaffective disorder, was inspired his son Brendan, who has the condition. The title also won a Boston Globe-Horn Book Fiction Honor earlier this year. Brendan’s illustrations appear throughout the book, and he accompanied his father to the ceremony and to the podium to accept the award.
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Noelle Stevenson (center) with her parents.
“I learned from my son Brendan that Challenger Deep is the deepest place in the world,” Shusterman said, referring to the location in the Marianas Trench that is believed to be the deepest spot on Earth, a fact the author learned years ago when Brendan was a second grader working on a report about the Pacific Ocean.
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Ali Benjamin (right) with her husband.
Years later, when Brendan was grappling with mental illness, the teen told his father that schizophrenic episodes felt as if “you are screaming at the bottom of the ocean, and no one can hear you.” It was this image and his son’s journey through that darkness that inspired Shusterman’s award-winning novel.
Thanking his supporters, Shusterman said, “A career is made by so many people believing in you…for this book, mostly Brendan.”
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Steve Sheinkin (right) and his wife.
The glittering ceremony was held at the Cipriani Wall Street ballroom. Other short list finalists included Noelle Stevenson, author of Nimona (HarperCollins); Steve Sheinkin, who wrote Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War (Roaring Brook); Ali Benjamin, author of The Thing About Jellyfish (Little, Brown); and Laura Ruby, who wrote Bone Gap (HarperCollins). The judges were Laura McNeal, John Joseph Adams, Teri Lesesne, G. Neri, and Eliot Schrefer.
Challenger Deep is written in chapters alternating between two modes—the protagonist’s day-to-day experience as he descends and emerges from illness, and his internal narrative about a boy who is an artist on a ship traveling to the ocean depths.
“Poetic, compassionate, and thrillingly inventive,” is how the judges described the book that “affirms the power of narrative to describe the indescribable.” In a light moment, Shusterman joked that he had now fulfilled his father’s dream for him “to be a NBA star.”
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Judges (l. to r.) Teri Lesesne, Laura McNeal, Eliot Schrefer, and G. Neri.
McNeal, chair of the judges’ panel, said that group came to a quick, unanimous decision about their choice, which they made over lunch at New York City’s Jean-Georges restaurant on the day of the ceremony. Lesesne, professor of library science at Sam Houston State University, added that the group reviewed over 200 titles for this year’s award, while Neri described how the geographically disparate judges convened via Skype to discuss the books and present cases for ones they believed should advance.
Among the other finalists, 23-year-old Stevenson, also a co-creator of the tween-favorite comic series “Lumberjanes,” is the youngest person ever to be a NBA finalist, and she brought her parents along to celebrate. Debut novelist Benjamin was escorted by her husband and daughter. Ruby dazzled the red carpet in a sequin gown.
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Rocco Staino interviews judging chair Laura McNeal (center), with her son.
Sheinkin, whose nonfiction titles have been named NBA finalists for three of the last four years, brought his young children along to an NBA Teen Press Conference which took place the day before the ceremony. He and other finalists read aloud to students from around New York City who had gathered at the 92nd Street Y. Jacqueline Woodson, 2014 NBA winner for Brown Girl Dreaming (Penguin), moderated that event. LeVar Burton also made a special appearance and discussed Skybrary, the modern, digital incarnation of Reading Rainbow.
When students asked the authors why they wrote their books, Stevenson, who described herself as that “weird girl who spent all her time in the library,” answered that she wrote it for herself.
School libraries were also in the spotlight during the gala when James Patterson accepted the Literarian Award. The prolific author was honored for his outstanding service to the American literary community, including his grants to school libraries, bestowed in collaboration with Scholastic. Patterson noted that in the first 20 days of his school library initiative, he received grant applications from over 28,000 school librarians. Carmen Fariña, chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, presented the award.
Patterson said that he is compelled to do what he does because of a simple mission: So kids will say, “Please give me another book.”
In other categories, Ta-Nehisi Coates took the nonfiction award for Between the World and Me (Spiegel & Grau); Adam Johnson won the fiction prize Fortune Smiles: Stories (Random); and Robin Coste Lewis took the poetry award for Voyage of the Sable Venus (Knopf).
Jewish father’s book on mental illness wins awardNeal Shusterman says fictional piece ‘Challenger Deep’ is based on his experiences with his son BrendanBY BETH KISSILEFF November 26, 2015, 6:08 am 2
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Brendan, left, and Neal Shusterman (Courtesy of Neal Shusterman)Brendan, left, and Neal Shusterman (Courtesy of Neal Shusterman)NEWSROOM
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NEW YORK (JTA) — When Neal Shusterman helped his son Brendan with a second-grade report on the Pacific Ocean’s Marianas Trench, he thought the name of its deepest location, Challenger Deep, would make a great title for a book.
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In fact, for a number of years, whenever Shusterman — the author of numerous books, as well as a writer of films and TV — had to put down a title for a coming book, he would use that one.
Finally, Shusterman wrote and published a book by that name. And on Nov. 18, “Challenger Deep” — an account of a teenage boy as he begins to experience schizophrenic episodes — won a National Book Award for Young People’s Literature.
“Challenger Deep” may be fiction, but it is written from the experiences that Shusterman had parenting Brendan as he went through many diagnoses for mental illness during his teen years. In his acceptance remarks at the ceremony, held at Cipriani Wall Street, he said that as a teen, Brendan “had problems, anxiety, hallucinations, fell off a cliff into a place that many people have trouble coming back from.”
The title is particularly apt: While suffering the effects of mental illness, Brendan once told his father, “Dad, sometimes it feels like I am at the bottom of the ocean screaming but no one can hear me.”
Shusterman, a father of four, spoke about how he had waited to write the book until his son was “better and thriving, in a better place.” Brendan, 26, is now an artist who lives in California.
What makes “Challenger Deep” unique is its incorporation of artwork that Brendan created while suffering schizophrenic attacks.
“Using his artwork was crucial,” Shusterman told an interviewer. “I wanted others to value his art as our family does, as priceless.”
Additionally, much in the vein of William Styron’s “Darkness Visible,” the book aims to simulate the confused state of those experiencing mental illness for the YA crowd.
“A big question was how much I should explain, and how [much] I should leave the reader to figure out for themselves,” Shusterman said in an interview with the National Book Organization. “Since the goal was to make the reader feel the same type of disorientation and confusion inherent in schizophrenia — to basically put the reader through their own psychotic episode — I decided that I couldn’t take the reader by the hand.”
Shusterman grew up in Brooklyn “with empathy and compassion in a warm and loving Jewish family” that was “equal parts food, guilt and love, and a sense of compassion and ability to have empathy.”
His next project, he told JTA, is a graphic novel about the Holocaust.
In an email, Brendan said “Challenger Deep” “is going to help a lot of people.”
“Psychological and psychiatric disorders are a complicated and misunderstood matter, and I suppose you could say this is true for both patient and those who are trying to help,” he wrote. “The best we can do is empathize and show compassion towards those who may be suffering from psychological and psychiatric issues, whatever they may be.”
About Neal Shusterman
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 that appeal to adults as well as teens, weaving true-to-life characters into sensitive and riveting issues, and binding it all together with a unique and entertaining sense of humor.
Of Everlost, School Library Journal wrote: “Shusterman has reimagined what happens after death and questions power and the meaning of charity. While all this is going on, he has also managed to write a rip-roaring adventure…”
Of Unwind, Publishers Weekly wrote; “[A] gripping, brilliantly imagined futuristic thriller…could hardly be more engrossing or better aimed to teens.”
Of The Schwa Was Here, School Library Journal wrote: “Shusterman’s characters–reminiscent of those crafted by E. L. Konigsburg and Jerry Spinelli–are infused with the kind of controlled, precocious improbability that magically vivifies the finest children’s classics.
Of Scorpion Shards, Publisher’s Weekly wrote: “Shusterman takes an outlandish comic-book concept, and, through the sheer audacity and breadth of his imagination makes it stunningly believable. A spellbinder.”
And of The Eyes of Kid Midas, The Midwest Book Review wrote “This wins our vote as one of the best young-adult titles of the year” and was called “Inspired and hypnotically readable” by School Library Journal.
Neal Shusterman lives in Southern California with his four children, who are a constant source of inspiration!
Click here to read the Awards and Honors Neal Shusterman’s books have received.
A Word from the Author
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.
Then, in ninth grade I had an English teacher who really made a difference in my life. She saw my love of writing, and challenged me to write a story a month for extra credit. Since I desperately needed extra credit in her class, I took her up on the challenge, and by the end of ninth grade, I really began to feel like a writer. That’s when writing emerged above all my other interests as my driving passion.
When I was sixteen, our family moved from Brooklyn, New York, to Mexico City, and I spent my last two years of High School there. Having an international experience changed my life, giving me a fresh perspective on the world, and a sense of confidence I might not have had otherwise.
Neal Shusterman
Born: November 12, 1962 in New York, New York, United States
Other Names : Shusterman, Neal Douglas
Nationality: American
Occupation: Writer
Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2016. From Literature Resource Center.
Full Text: COPYRIGHT 2016 Gale, Cengage Learning
Updated:July 1, 2016
Table of Contents
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PERSONAL INFORMATION:
Born November 12, 1962, in New York, NY; son of Milton and Charlotte Shusterman; married Elaine Jones (a teacher and photographer), January 31, 1987 (divorced); children: Brendan, Jarrod, Joelle, Erin. Education: University of California, Irvine, B.A., 1985. Memberships: PEN, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Writers Guild of America (West). Addresses: Home: Dove Canyon, CA. Office: P.O. Box 18516, Irvine, CA 92623-8516. Agent: Andrea Brown, Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Inc., 1076 Eagle Dr., Salinas, CA 93905. E-mail: nstoryman@aol.com.
CAREER:
Screenwriter, playwright, and novelist. Director of educational films, including Heart on a Chain, MTI Film and Video, 1992, and What about the Sisters?, Coronet/MTI, 1994.
AWARDS:
Children's Choice, International Reading Association, 1988, for The Shadow Club; American Library Association (ALA) Best Book, 1992, Children's Choice, 1992, and Young Adult Choice, 1993, both International Reading Association, all for What Daddy Did; C.I.N.E. Golden Eagle Award for education, 1994, for What about the Sisters?; Best Books for Reluctant Readers, ALA, 1993, for The Eyes of Kid Midas; Best Books for Reluctant Readers, ALA, 1997, for MindQuakes: Stories to Shatter Your Brain; ALA Quick Pick Top Ten List and Best Book for Young Adults, both 1998, for The Dark Side of Nowhere; Boston Globe--Horn Book Award for fiction, 2005, for The Schwa Was Here; ALA Top Ten Pick for Reluctant Readers and Best Young Adult Book, 2008, for Unwind; Young Adult Choice, International Reading Association, 2008, and ALA Popular Paperback, 2009, both for Everlost; and ALA/Young Adult Library Services Association Quick Picks, 2011, for Bruiser; National Book Award for young people's literature, 2015, for Challenger Deep.
WORKS:
WRITINGS:
NOVELS FOR YOUNG ADULTS
The Shadow Club, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1988.
Dissidents, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1989.
Speeding Bullet, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1990.
What Daddy Did, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1990, reprinted, SSBFYR (New York, NY), 2015.
The Eyes of Kid Midas (fantasy), Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1992.
Piggyback Ninja, illustrated by Joe Boddy, Lowell House (Los Angeles, CA), 1994.
The Dark Side of Nowhere, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1996, reprinted, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (New York, NY), 2012.
Downsiders, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1999.
The Shadow Club Rising (sequel to The Shadow Club), Penguin Putnam (New York, NY), 2002.
Full Tilt, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2003.
Bruiser, HarperTeen (New York, NY), 2010.
Challenger Deep, illustrated by son Brendan Shusterman, HarperTeen (New York, NY), 2015.
"STAR SHARDS" YOUNG ADULT TRILOGY
Scorpion Shards, Forge (New York, NY), 1995, reprinted, Simon & Schuster BFYR (New York, NY), 2013.
Thief of Souls, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1999, reprinted, Simon & Schuster BFYR (New York, NY), 2013.
The Shattered Sky, Tor Books (New York, NY), 2002, reprinted, Simon & Schuster BFYR (New York, NY), 2013.
"DARK FUSION" YOUNG ADULT TRILOGY
Dread Locks, Dutton (New York, NY), 2005.
Red Rider's Hood, Dutton (New York, NY), 2005.
Duckling Ugly, Dutton (New York, NY), 2006.
"SKINJACKER" YOUNG ADULT TRILOGY
Everlost, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2006.
Everwild, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2009.
Everfound, Simon & Schuster BFYR (New York, NY), 2011.
"ANTSY" YOUNG ADULT SERIES
The Schwa Was Here, Dutton (New York, NY), 2004.
Antsy Does Time, Dutton (New York, NY), 2008.
Ship out of Luck, Dutton (New York, NY), 2013.
"UNWIND" YOUNG ADULT SERIES
Unwind, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2007.
UnWholly, Simon & Schuster BFYR (New York, NY), 2012.
UnSouled, Simon & Schuster BFYR (New York, NY), 2013.
UnDivided, Simon & Schuster BFYR (New York, NY), 2014.
UnBound, Simon & Schuster BFYR (New York, NY), 2015.
"ACCELERATI" YOUNG ADULT TRILOGY; WITH ERIC ELFMAN
Tesla's Attic, Disney-Hyperion (Los Angeles, CA), 2014.
Edison's Alley, Disney-Hyperion (Los Angeles, CA), 2015.
Tesla's Attic, Disney-Hyperion (Los Angeles, CA), 2016.
"MINDQUAKES" SERIES; SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS FOR YOUNG ADULTS
MindQuakes: Stories to Shatter Your Brain, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1996.
MindStorms: Stories to Blow Your Mind, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1996.
MindTwisters: Stories to Play with Your Head, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1997.
MindBenders: Stories to Warp Your Brain, Tor Books (New York, NY), 2000.
NONFICTION FOR YOUNG ADULTS
Just for Boys Presents Guy Talk, illustrated by Peter Walberg, Field Publications, 1987.
It's O.K. to Say No to Cigarettes and Alcohol! A Parent/Child Manual for the Protection of Children, illustrated by Neal Yamamoto, T. Doherty Associates (New York, NY), 1988.
(With Cherie Currie) Neon Angel: The Cherie Currie Story (biography), Price Stern Sloan (Los Angeles, CA), 1989.
Kid Heroes: True Stories of Rescuers, Survivors, and Achievers, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1991.
FOR TELEVISION
"The Werewolf of Fever Swamp: Part 1,""Night of the Living Dummy III: Part 1,"Goosebumps (series episodes), Fox Kids, 1996.
"Night of the Living Dummy III: Part 1,"Goosebumps (series episode), Fox Kids, 1997.
"My Name Is Jake," "My Name Is Jake: Part 2," "Underground,""The Message," "The Capture: Part 1,""The Capture: Part 2," Animorphs (series episodes), Nickelodeon Network, 1998.
Pixel Perfect (teleplay), Disney Channel, 2004.
"Pool Shark," "Catching Cold," The Haunting Hour (series episodes), Hub Television Network, 2011.
OTHER
(With Sandy Chanley, Tom Bull, and Ron Matsko-Ensel) Heart on a Chain (screenplay), MTI Film and Video, 1991.
Neal Shusterman's Darkness Creeping: Tales to Trouble Your Sleep (horror short stories), illustrated by Michael Coy, Lowell House (Los Angeles, CA), 1993.
What about the Sisters? (screenplay), Coronet/MTI, 1994.
Darkness Creeping II: More Tales to Trouble Your Sleep (horror short stories), Lowell House (Los Angeles, CA), 1995.
Darkness Creeping: Twenty Twisted Tales (horror short stories), Puffin (New York, NY), 2007.
Also author (with Eric Elfman) of film script Class Act. Creator of "How to Host a Mystery" and "How to Host a Murder" games.
MEDIA ADAPTATIONS:
Downsiders was optioned for a television movie by the Disney Channel, with a script by Shusterman; Everlost was optioned for film by Universal Studios, with a script by Shusterman; The Schwa Was Here was optioned for film, to be directed by Ron Underwood; Unwind was optioned for film, with a script by Shusterman.
Sidelights
"Writers are a lot like vampires," noted author Neal Shusterman on his home page. "A vampire will never come into your house, unless invited--and once you invite one in, he'll grab you by the throat, and won't let you go. A writer's much the same." Shusterman, an award-winning author of books for young adults, screenplays, stage plays, music, and games, works in genres ranging from biography and realistic fiction to fantastic mystery, science fiction, and thriller. Following the publication of Dissidents, Shusterman's third book, Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books contributor Roger Sutton called the author "a strong storyteller and a significant new voice in YA fiction." Lyle Blake, writing in School Library Journal, found The Eyes of Kid Midas to be "inspired and hypnotically readable." In his many books for young readers, including his popular "Dark Fusion" series for older teens, Shusterman acts the part of benevolent vampire, "feeding on your turmoil, as well as feeding on your peace," as the author explained on his home page.
It was this power of books not only to entertain and inform but to totally captivate that Shusterman himself experienced as a young reader. At age ten, Shusterman, who was born and raised in Brooklyn, went off to summer camp. One particular book, Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach, which he discovered in the rafters of one of the cabins, swept him away in time and place, as did Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory not long after. "I remember wishing that I could create something as imaginative," Shusterman said on his home page. Writing his own stories came soon thereafter; inspired by the movie Jaws, he wrote the scenario of a similarly beleaguered small town, substituting giant sand worms for the shark.
As a teen Shusterman moved with his family to Mexico City, Mexico, where he finished high school, and then went on to the University of California, Irvine, where he earned a degree in drama and psychology and set out to write his own novels. Returning to the same summer camp he had attended as a boy--now as a counselor--he tried out his stories on youthful ears and left another copy of Jonathan Livingston Seagull in the rafters for some other imaginative youth to discover. At age twenty-two he became the youngest syndicated columnist in the country when his humor column was picked up by Syndicated Writer's Group.
Shusterman gained extensive recognition for his first novel, The Shadow Club, published in 1988. It tells the story of seven middle-school friends who grow tired of living in the shadows of their rivals. Each one is second-best at something, and they form a secret club to get back at the students who are number one. At first they restrict their activities to harmless practical jokes like putting a snake in an actress's thermos or filling a trumpet player's horn with green slime. Before long, however, their pranks become more destructive and violent. The mystery involves whether the members of the club have unleashed "a power that feeds on a previously hidden cruel or evil side of their personalities," wrote David Gale in School Library Journal, or whether another student has been responsible for the more dangerous actions. In Voice of Youth Advocates, Lesa M. Holstine predicted that the book would be popular with young adults, since it would likely resemble their own experience with "rivalries and constantly changing friendships." A long-awaited sequel, The Shadow Club Rising, was published in 2002.
In Dissidents, Derek is a rebellious fifteen-year-old who is shipped off to Moscow to live with his disinterested mother, the U.S. ambassador to Russia, after his father dies in a car accident. Derek misses his father, hates all the restrictions of his new life, has trouble making friends at school, and acts out his frustrations in wild behavior. He soon becomes fascinated with Anna, the daughter of an exiled Soviet dissident, after he sees her in a television interview. Anna's mother is dying, and Derek comes up with a scheme to reunite her with her father. Although a Publishers Weekly contributor found Shusterman's portrayal of U.S.-Soviet relations "simplistic," the reviewer went on to praise the book as "a briskly paced, intriguing" adventure. Kristiana Gregory, writing in the Los Angeles Times Book Review, called Dissidents "an excellent glimpse of life on the other side of the globe."
According to Horn Book reviewer Ellen Fader, Speeding Bullet treats readers to a "gritty, fast-paced, and, at times, funny" tale. Nick is an angst-ridden tenth-grader who does poorly in school and has no luck with girls. His life changes dramatically one day when, without thinking, he puts himself in danger to rescue a little girl who is about to be hit by a subway train. He becomes a hero and is thanked personally by the mayor of New York City. Nick then decides to make saving people his mission in life, and before long he also rescues an old man from a burning building. His newfound celebrity status gets the attention of Linda, the beautiful but deceitful daughter of a wealthy developer, and the two begin dating. Nick continues rescuing people, but he soon discovers that Linda has set up the situations and paid actors to portray people in distress. His next real rescue attempt results in Nick being shot, but he recovers and ends up with a better outlook on life. In School Library Journal, Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst called Shusterman's book "a complex, multilayered novel" that would provide young adults with "much material for contemplation," while a writer for Publishers Weekly found it "a fast-paced modern parable with compelling characters and true-to-life dialogue."
Shusterman's book What Daddy Did is based on a true story. It is presented as the diary of fourteen-year-old Preston, whose father killed his mother during a heated argument. It details Preston's complex emotions as he deals with the tragedy, learns to live without his parents, and then struggles with his father's release from prison. Preston finally comes to forgive his father and even serves as best man when his father remarries. Dorothy M. Broderick, writing in Voice of Youth Advocates, called What Daddy Did "a compelling, spellbinding story of a family gone wrong," adding that it might inspire young adults to "actually stop and think about their own relationship with their parents." Though Gerry Larson commented in School Library Journal that "too many issues are not sufficiently resolved" in the book, Rita M. Fontinha wrote in Kliatt that it "is an important book for many reasons: violence, love, faith, growth, denial, forgiveness are all explored and resolved."
In The Eyes of Kid Midas Shusterman takes a fantasy situation and shows the frightening consequences as it spins out of control. Kevin Midas, the smallest kid in the seventh grade, is continually picked on by class bullies and annoyed by his family at home. Then he climbs to the top of a mysterious hill on a school trip and finds a magical pair of sunglasses that make all his wishes come true. At first, he uses the sunglasses for simple things such as making an ice cream cone appear in his hand or making a bully jump into a lake. Over time he becomes addicted to the power, even though he realizes that his wishes can be dangerous and irreversible. When even his dreams start turning into reality and no one seems to notice that anything is out of the ordinary besides him, Kevin must find a way to return things to normal before it is too late. Voice of Youth Advocates contributor Judith A. Sheriff stated that events in the novel "provide much for thought and discussion, yet do not get in the way of a well-told and intriguing story." Writing in the Wilson Library Bulletin, Frances Bradburn noted that "Shusterman has written a powerful fantasy based on every adolescent's desire to control his or her life," while a contributor to Publishers Weekly called the book both "imaginative and witty" and one that "convincingly proves the dangers of the narcissistic ethos of having it all."
The Dark Side of Nowhere, a science-fiction thriller, finds teenager Jason feeling trapped in his small town until he discovers an awful secret about himself. Jason undergoes an identity crisis and a crucial choice after discovering that he is the son of aliens who stayed on Earth following an unsuccessful invasion. In Booklist Carolyn Phelan noted that the novel contains "a fast-paced story, giving Jason many vivid, original turns of phrase." A writer for Kirkus Reviews felt that "Shusterman delivers a tense thriller that doesn't duck larger issues" and "seamlessly combines gritty, heart-stopping plotting with a wealth of complex issues." School Library Journal contributor Bruce Anne Shook concluded that The Dark Side of Nowhere serves up "great science fiction."
With Downsiders Shusterman again skirts the boundaries between reality and science fiction/fantasy. Talon is a young New Yorker with a difference. His people live underground--the "Downsiders" of the title--in the sewers and subways beneath the city. His people never mix with "Topsiders" until Talon falls for Lindsay. But their fragile romance is threatened when Lindsay's father, a city engineer, is working on an underground aqueduct and one of Talon's friends denounces him for his collaboration with the Topsiders. The book contains "sophisticated social satire," wrote Shook in a School Library Journal review of the book. Although Shook acknowledged "a few weak spots," the critic went on to call Downsiders "an exciting and entertaining story that will please fans of adventure, science fiction, and fantasy." Janice M. Del Negro, reviewing the title for Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, commented specifically on the "quick and suspenseful" pace of the novel and on the "believable underground culture" that Shusterman creates. The novelist "twines suspense and satire through this ingenious tale," wrote a contributor to Kirkus Reviews, summarizing Downsiders as a "cleverly envisioned romp."
A "surreal, scary fantasy, packed with suspenseful psychological drama," according to Booklist contributor Ed Sullivan, Full Tilt finds sixteen-year-old Blake embroiled in a mystery after he receives an invitation from a beautiful young woman. The invitation is to a private carnival, and when Blake's older brother Quinn goes in Blake's stead, he winds up in a comatose state. When Blake learns that Quinn has lost his very soul, he must endure a test that includes seven horrifying carnival rides, all of which tap into his deepest childhood fears. Full Tilt "will have readers glued to the pages," concluded Paula Rohrlick in Kliatt, who also noted the book's "clever dialogue and ... carnival ride action."
In his 2010 novel, Bruiser, Shusterman explores the implications of one character's ability to absorb the physical and psychological pains of those he loves. Teenager Brewster Rawlins appears to be a big, antisocial bad boy, but when Bronte Sternberger begins to date him, she learns that he loves poetry. As she and her twin brother, Tennyson, become better acquainted with Brewster, they notice their everyday scrapes healing with unexpected speed, while Brewster suffers many new injuries. According to a Kirkus Reviews contributor, the novel is "wrenching but ultimately redemptive." Concluded the reviewer: "Shusterman spins a fantastic tale that sheds light on everyday life." Lynn Rutan in Booklist considered Bruiser "thought-provoking." She found a pivotal crisis "a bit convenient" but maintained that "the compelling issues and engaging premise make this a rewarding read." Writing for the Voice of Youth Advocates, Victoria Vogel said that "Shusterman's writing is wonderful and a joy to read." She commented that the book's shifting viewpoints make it "a bit frustrating at times," but like Rutan she summed it up as "compelling and thought-provoking."
The 2015 book Challenger Deep features a fifteen-year-old boy named Caden Bosch. Caden suffers from schizophrenia, and he often believes he is on ship that is sailing to Challenger Deep, the deepest part of the Marianas trench. Caden speaks often with the crew and the captain, and his delusions are occasionally broken by moments of clarity. Eventually, Caden begins to realize that the ship's crew occasionally resembles his friends and family. After Caden is sent to a psychiatric hospital, his doctors and fellow patients also morph into crewmembers. Notably, the story is filled with illustrations by the author's schizophrenic son, Brendan Shusterman. Brendan's drawings were made during a psychotic episode, underscoring the interplay between reality and fantasy.
Sharing his inspiration for the story in a Horn Book Online interview with Elissa Gershowitz, Shusterman remarked: "When my son was in high school, he began to show signs of mental illness. In the depths of it, when he couldn't tell the difference between what was real and what was in his mind, in a moment of despair, he said to me, 'Sometimes it feels like I'm at the bottom of the ocean screaming at the top of my lungs and no one can hear me.' That's when I knew what Challenger Deep had to be about. I held on to the idea for six years before I began writing it." As Deirdre F. Baker noted in Horn Book, "Caden's narrative is all the more engulfing because of the abundant wit and creativity evident in the eccentric specifics of his perceptions." A Publishers Weekly critic was also impressed, asserting that Challenger Deep "turns symptoms into lived reality in ways readers won't easily forget." According to Jennifer Bruer Kitchel in BookPage, "Challenger Deep is difficult to read at times ... but it is also extremely compelling and hard to resist. Shusterman is a master storyteller and it shows."
Humor and reality also mix in the novels The Schwa Was Here and Antsy Does Time, both of which focus on quick-witted Brooklyn middle-schooler Antsy Bonano. In The Schwa Was Here, Antsy and his friends befriend a shy boy named Calvin Schwa and become fascinated by Calvin's ability to be totally overlooked in most social situations. A scheme is hatched to take advantage of their new friend's talent, but when it goes too far the boys must endure a punishment that ultimately yields Antsy a new friend. When friend Gunnar is diagnosed with a fatal disease, Antsy signs over four weeks of his own life to the boy in Antsy Does Time. A date with Gunnar's attractive sister is a surprising result, but Antsy's unselfish act also has more annoying consequences. In Booklist John Peters described Shusterman's young hero as a teen "whose glib tongue and big heart are as apt to get him into trouble as out of it," while Horn Book critic Sarah Ellis called Antsy "a fresh and winning amalgam of smart aleck and schlemiel." Shusterman's young characters "are infused with the kind of controlled, precocious improbability that magically vivifies the finest children's classics," concluded Jeffrey Hastings in a School Library Journal review of The Schwa Was Here.
Antsy's adventures continue in Ship out of Luck, and the series protagonist is about to turn eighteen. To celebrate, Old Man Crawley invites Antsy and his family to take a cruise on the Plethora of the Deep. The five-star cruise ship is headed to the Caribbean. Antsy's sister, Lexie, even brings her service dog, Moxie, along. The group sets sail over Fourth of July weekend, and Antsy's falls for a girl named Tilde while onboard. Unfortunately, Tilde has a few criminal plans in mind, and she wants Antsy to join in her endeavors. Will Antsy avoid trouble before it's too late?
Lauding the story in Voice of Youth Advocates, Christina Miller remarked: "Though sometimes a bit far-fetched, Ship out of Luck is suspenseful and humorous and ... chock full of idioms, metaphors and analogies." Bradburn, writing in Booklist commended Ship out of Luck, calling it "a funny Shusterman romp that plays right into the latest cruise ship disaster stories." Offering further applause in Kirkus Reviews, a columnist advised that the story "is full of sharp quips and amusing observations, is beautifully constructed and contains a meticulously foreshadowed yet completely surprising plot twist."
In Scorpion Shards, Shusterman takes special powers one step beyond, enlisting the science-fiction/fantasy genre and the realms of the supernatural for his three-part "Star Shards" series. A Publishers Weekly contributor noted that in the series debut "Shusterman takes on an outlandish comic-book concept and, through the sheer audacity and breadth of his imagination, makes it stunningly believable." In Scorpion Shards six teens are outcasts because of the usual afflictions of adolescence, such as acne, obesity, and the fear of being different. However, the exaggerated sense of their problems is also accompanied by something special: supernatural powers. Tory's acne causes her to taint everything she touches; Travis likes to break things and ultimately destroys several homes in a landslide. Soon these six divide into two groups: those who want to get rid of such powers and those who wish to cultivate them. "This is a classic story about the battle between [good] and evil made especially gripping as the teenagers struggle with opposing forces literally within themselves," wrote Kliatt contributor Donna L. Scanlon. In Booklist, Bill Ott noted that "with all the symbols, metaphors, archetypes--so much meaning--clanging around in this book, it's hard for the characters to draw a breath." However, Ott went on to note of Scorpion Shards that "the horror story is suspenseful and compelling."
The second novel in the "Star Shards" trilogy, Thief of Souls, follows five of the teens who have discovered the origins of their superhuman powers. Although they have attempted to live normal lives, Dianna, Tory, Lourdes, Winston, and Michael are now drawn to San Simeon, California, by their sixth companion, Dillon, and enlisted to become what a reviewer for Publishers Weekly described as "misguided miracle workers." "Echoes of classical and Christian mythology reverberate throughout this tale of fallible messiahs and fallen creatures," noted the reviewer, "giving it an uncommonly solid subtext." Jackie Cassada, reviewing Thief of Souls in Library Journal, commented that Shusterman's "economy of style and bare-bones characterization propel his tale to its climax with few distractions."
The futuristic "Star Shards" series concludes with The Shattered Sky, which focuses on the battle between the six teens and an evil soul eater, Okoya. Now Earth is invaded by three Vectors, travelers from another dimension that survive extinction by feasting on souls. Okoya is kin to these new invaders, and he is worried that he will be killed by his alien comrades should the invasion succeed. Okoya attempts to strike a bargain with Dillon, one of the most powerful shards and one of the few who has not been compromised. Noting that The Shattered Sky is "not for the squeamish" due to its graphic descriptions, a Publishers Weekly critic nonetheless wrote that the book's "strong themes of morality, vengeance and the emotional cost of great power should intrigue thoughtful readers."
A second novel trilogy, Shusterman's "Dark Fusion" series, weaves traditional folk stories and mythology into its plots. In series opener Dread Locks, readers meet wealthy, overindulged fourteen-year-old Parker Baer. When beautiful, golden-haired Brit Tara Herpecheveux and her family move in next door, Parker is fascinated, and although Tara has some odd habits, she quickly becomes one of the most sought-after friends at school. Her new friends, however, all contract a strange illness that eventually turns them to stone. Noting that Shusterman's novel presents an "updated melding" of the Goldilocks story and the tale of the legendary Medusa, Rohrlick in Kliatt deemed Dread Locks "a fast-moving, spine-chilling story" mixing both horror and fantasy. In School Library Journal Molly S. Kinney wrote that "most books of this genre rarely deliver a message so powerfully," and in Booklist Debbie Carton dubbed Dread Locks a "fast-paced, short read [that] will be a big hit with fans of Daren Shan."
The "Dark Fusion" series continues with Red Rider's Hood and Duckling Ugly, both of which draw on the dark side of traditional fairy stories. In Red Rider's Hood the story of Little Red Riding Hood blends with the werewolf legend in the author's tale of a street-smart urban teen who infiltrates a gang called the Wolves in order to avenge his grandmother's mugging but finds that a strange force is drawing him toward accepting the gang's nocturnal lifestyle. In Duckling Ugly, Shusterman weaves a fictional mix that includes strands of "The Ugly Duckling," "Beauty and the Beast," and "Sleeping Beauty" in his story about Cara de Fido, a teen whose ugly appearance and odd behaviors make her an outcast among her peers. Cara still has normal teen feelings, however, and that includes a crush on a handsome boy. When she is rejected, the teen runs away, determined to find her destiny even though it may cause suffering to others. In School Library Journal Sharon Rawlins called Duckling Ugly "a dark, edgy, and suspenseful tale," and Rohrlick wrote in Kliatt that Red Rider's Hood "features lots of action and creepy details," making it attractive to reluctant readers.
Shusterman began another series, called the "Skinjacker" trilogy, with his 2006 novel Everlost, which finds two teens trapped together in a strange limbo world after dying in a car accident. Shusterman's "action-packed plot moves quickly," noted Susan Dove Lempke in her Horn Book review, "and the characters grow and change as they learn to cope with their new existence."
The "Skinjacker" trilogy continues with Everwild, in which Shusterman further develops the conflicts between Alice Hightower, an Everlost resident who wants to keep as many children as possible there with her, and Nick, who is also known as the Chocolate Ogre and who seeks to release denizens into the light. The author also delves into the ways of Skinjackers--Everlost residents who are there because of coma rather than death and can take over the bodies of other living people. "Shusterman has created a new way to be undead," wrote Eric Norton in the School Library Journal, summarizing Everwild as "a perfect read for the spooky time of the year." Lempke described the novel in Horn Book as an "unusual but hard-to-follow story," adding that it is "thought-provoking and scary." A Kirkus Reviews contributor thought it "a fascinating read penned by an expert hand."
Everfound escalates Mary's efforts to annihilate the living world and introduces a character capable of causing eternal death. Cheryl Clark in the Voice of Youth Advocates felt that "Shusterman has worked his usual literary magic in this fantastic finale." Acknowledging that it is "vivid," Andy Sawyer in School Librarian expressed the concern that Everfound is "rather less than the sum of its imaginative parts" while also taking note of its "gripping subplots" and "poignant moments." Highlighting the novel's "skillfully written dialogue" and "impressively built world," Sam Bloom in the School Library Journal perceived some "shortcomings" in the work, which he nevertheless maintained "shouldn't be too much of a bother" to series fans. "Rich in detail, with exceptional characterization ... this is an engrossing and thoroughly satisfying ending to a unique saga," in the opinion of a Kirkus Reviews contributor.
Unwind, a near-future fable inspired by the abortion debate that finds unwanted children over age thirteen relegated to use as a collection of harvest-ready body parts through a process known as retroactive pregnancy termination. When Connor, Lev, and Risa are scheduled for "unwinding," the teens escape in the hope that they can find a place to safely live out their natural lives. In Unwind, the author "manages to create and balance three separate and compelling journeys of self-discovery," according to Claire E. Gross in her Horn Book review of the novel, and in School Library Journal Amy J. Chow praised the book's "gripping, omniscient" narration. Commenting on the provocative premise underlining Unwind, Ned Vizzini wrote in his New York Times Book Review that "ultimately, ... the power of the novel lies in what it doesn't do: come down explicitly on one side or the other" of the socially sanctioned taking of human life.
Unwind serves as the first installment of an eponymous series, and the second installment UnWholly, begins as Connor, Lev, and Risa continue to maintain and protect the underground unwinds safe houses. Some of the heroes' charges actually want to turn themselves in, but Connor, Lev, and Risa can't afford to let them go; they might betray their safe house locations. In the meantime, the government is chasing after resistors like Connor, Lev, and Risa, and pirates are snatching up runaway unwinds to sell them on the black market. When a schizophrenic composite human named Cam (comprised of parts from ninety-nine unwound teens) enters the picture, everything changes.
UnWholly largely feared well with critics, and April Spisak in Horn Book found that "Shusterman elegantly balances the strikingly different perspectives of the three main protagonists effectively." Jennifer M. Miskec, writing in Voice of Youth Advocates, was equally laudatory, and she declared that the Connor's, Rev's, and Lisa's "various perspectives intensify the complex systems the protagonists are working against." Miskec went on to conclude: "Smart, intense, and thought provoking, this series will stick with readers." As a Kirkus Reviews critic put it, UnWholly is set in a "disturbing, dystopic and dangerous future world," making for "a breathless, unsettling read."
The "Unwind" series continues with UnSouled and UnDivided. The latter installment opens as Lev tries to get the Arapache council to let unwinding refugees live on Chancefolk land. Connor and Risa are running from an ex-Juvey cop named Nelson. He will stop at nothing to capture Connor and make sure he is unwound. Cam also appears in the story, and he embarks on a quest to get revenge against the company that caused his unwinding.
Applauding UnDivided in her Voice of Youth Advocates assessment, Jennifer M. Miskec advised that "the popularity of this series is warranted: it is smart, it is dark, it is riveting, and the characters are drawn with respect." Peters, writing again in Booklist, proffered praise as well, announcing that "Shusterman expertly brings together a series of crises, betrayals, escapes, self-sacrifices, and desperate ploys." Indeed, Claire E. Gross in Horn Book felt that Shusterman achieves "an impressive juggling act" that is "ambitious, insightful, and devastating."
In addition to novels, Shusterman also explores the supernatural with the short stories in his "MindQuakes" series--including MindQuakes: Stories to Shatter Your Brain, MindStorms: Stories to Blow Your Mind, MindTwisters: Stories to Play with Your Head, and MindBenders: Stories to Warp Your Brain--as well as books such as Darkness Creeping: Twenty Twisted Tales. The "MindQuakes" books are guaranteed to "snare even reluctant readers," according to a contributor to Publishers Weekly. Reviewing the second installment in the series, MindStorms, Scanlon noted in Kliatt that "these stories range from humorous to poignant and capture the reader's imagination," while in their "quirky, off-the-wall" style they resemble the Twilight Zone television series. A contributor to Voice of Youth Advocates, writing about MindTwisters, warned readers to "prepare to have your mind twisted and your reality warped by this exciting collection of weird tales," while School Library Journal critic Mara Alpert dubbed Darkness Creeping "extremely readable and elegantly creepy."
Shusterman has also written for television and film, as well as directed educational short films. In all of his ventures, he takes the creative process and its responsibilities to heart. "I often think about the power of the written word," he explained on his home page. "Being a writer is like being entrusted with ... or, more accurately stealing the power of flames, and then sling-shotting it into the air to see who catches fire. I think writers have a responsibility not to launch those fireballs indiscriminately, although occasionally we do. Still, what a power to find yourself responsible for, because words can change the world. I've always felt that stories aimed at adolescents and teens are the most important stories that can be written, because it is adolescence that defines who we are going to be."
FURTHER READINGS:
FURTHER READINGS ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
PERIODICALS
Booklist, February 1, 1996, Bill Ott, review of Scorpion Shards, p. 926; April 1, 1997, Carolyn Phelan, review of The Dark Side of Nowhere, p. 1322; May 15, 2003, Ed Sullivan, review of Full Tilt, p. 1656; December 1, 2004, Frances Bradburn, review of The Schwa Was Here, p. 648; June 1, 2005, Debbie Carton, review of Dread Locks, p. 1792; September 15, 2006, Holly Koelling, review of Everlost, p. 57; May 15, 2007, Jennifer Mattson, review of Darkness Creeping: Twenty Twisted Tales, p. 60; September 1, 2008, John Peters, review of Antsy Does Time, p. 96; May 1, 2010, Lynn Rutan, review of Bruiser, p. 76; May 1, 2011, Cindy Dobrez, review of Everfound, p. 88; July 1, 2012, John Peters, review of UnWholly, p. 64; June 1, 2013, Frances Bradburn, review of Ship out of Luck, p. 94; January 1, 2014, Magan Szwarek, review of Tesla's Attic, p. 114; September 15, 2014, John Peters, review of UnDivided, p. 56; February 1, 2015, Jennifer Barnes, review of Challenger Deep, p. 47.
BookPage, May, 2015, Jennifer Bruer Kitchel, review of Challenger Deep, p. 27.
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, June, 1989, Roger Sutton, review of Dissidents, p. 264; September, 1999, Janice M. Del Negro, review of Downsiders, p. 31; July-August, 2010, Kate Quealy-Gainer, review of Bruiser, p. 500.
Children's Bookwatch, October, 2011, review of Everfound; May, 2015, review of Edison's Alley.
Horn Book, May-June, 1991, Ellen Fader, review of Speeding Bullet, p. 340; June 1, 2005, Debbie Carton, review of Dread Locks, p. 1792; December, 2006, Susan Dove Lempke, review of Everlost, p. 725; March-April, 2008, Claire E. Gross, review of Unwind, p. 219; September-October, 2008, Sarah Ellis, review of Antsy Does Time, p. 597; January-February, 2010, Susan Dove Lempke, review of Everwild, p. 93; September.-October, 2012, April Spisak, review of UnWholly, p. 105; July-August, 2013, Sarah Ellis, review of Ship out of Luck, p. 147; March-April, 2014, April Spisak, review of UnSouled, p. 128; March-April, 2014, Sam Bloom, review of Tesla's Attic, p. 129; November-December, 2014, Claire E. Gross, review of UnDivided, p. 109; March-April, 2015, Deirdre F. Baker, review of Challenger Deep, p. 109; May-June, 2015, Sam Bloom, review of Edison's Alley, p. 118.
Horn Book Guide, spring, 2010, Susan Dove Lempke, review of Everwild, p. 108; spring, 2011, Hannah Rodgers Barnaby, review of Bruiser, p. 112; fall, 2011, Susan Dove Lempke, review of Everfound, p. 397.
Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, October, 2001, Sally Emery, review of Downsiders, p. 173.
Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 1997, review of The Dark Side of Nowhere, p. 468; June 1, 1999, review of Downsiders, p. 889; April 15, 2002, review of The Shattered Sky, p. 533; October 1, 2004, review of The Schwa Was Here, p. 969; January 15, 2006, review of Duckling Ugly, p. 90; October 1, 2009, review of Everwild; June 15, 2010, review of Bruiser; April 15, 2011, review of Everfound; July 15, 2012, review of UnWholly; May 1, 2013, review of Ship out of Luck; October 1, 2013, review of UnSouled;; December 15, 2013, review of Tesla's Attic; September 15, 2014, review of UnDivided; February 1, 2015, review of Challenger Deep; November 15, 2015, review of UnBound.
Kliatt, May, 1993, Rita M. Fontinha, review of What Daddy Did, p. 10; January, 1997, Donna L. Scanlon, reviews of Scorpion Shards, pp. 10-11, and MindStorms: Stories to Blow Your Mind, p. 16; May, 2003, Paula Rohrlick, review of Full Tilt, p. 14; May, 2005, Paula Rohrlick, review of Dread Locks, p. 18; November, 2005, Paula Rohrlick, review of Red Rider's Hood, p. 10; September, 2006, Paula Rohrlick, review of Everlost, p. 18.
Library Journal, March 15, 1999, Jackie Cassada, review of Thief of Souls, p. 113; July 15, 2002, Jackie Cassada, review of The Shattered Sky, p. 99.
Library Media Connection, October, 2010, Ruth Cox Clark, review of Bruiser, p. 81.
Los Angeles Times Book Review, July 23, 1989, Kristiana Gregory, review of Dissidents, p. 11.
New York Times Book Review, March 16, 2008, Ned Vizzini, "Young and in the Way," p. 15.
Publishers Weekly, May 12, 1989, review of Dissidents, p. 296; December 14, 1990, review of Speeding Bullet, p. 67; November 16, 1992, review of The Eyes of Kid Midas, p. 65; December 4, 1995, review of Scorpion Shards, p. 63; May 27, 1996, review of MindQuakes: Stories to Shatter Your Brain, p. 79; February 8, 1999, review of Thief of Souls, p. 199; April 8, 2002, review of The Shattered Sky, p. 210; November 26, 2007, review of Unwind, p. 54; June 28, 2010, review of Bruiser, p. 131; December 2, 2013, review of Tesla's Attic, p. 84; February 16, 2015, review of Challenger Deep, p. 182; December 2, 2015, review of Challenger Deep, p. 89.
School Librarian, winter, 2011, Andy Sawyer, review of Everfound, p. 249; spring, 2013, Stephen King, review of UnWholly, p. 57.
School Library Journal, May, 1988, David Gale, review of The Shadow Club, p. 113; February, 1991, Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, review of Speeding Bullet, p. 94; June, 1991, Gerry Larson, review of What Daddy Did, p. 128; December, 1992, Lyle Blake, review of The Eyes of Kid Midas, p. 133; July, 1997, Bruce Anne Shook, review of The Dark Side of Nowhere, p. 9; July, 1999, Bruce Anne Shook, review of Downsiders, p. 100; October, 2004, Jeffrey Hastings, review of The Schwa Was Here, p. 176; June, 2005, Molly S. Kinney, review of Dread Locks, p. 169; December, 2005, Kimberly L. Paone, review of Red Rider's Hood, p. 155; July, 2006, Sharon Rawlins, review of Duckling Ugly, p. 112; July, 2007, Mara Alpert, review of Darkness Creeping, p. 111; January, 2008, Amy J. Chow, review of Unwind, p. 126; December, 2009, Eric Norton, review of Everwild, p. 132; August, 2010, Amy S. Pattee, review of Bruiser, p. 112; June, 2011, Sam Bloom, review of Everfound, p. 136; September, 2012, Anthony C. Doyle, review of UnWholly, p. 156; July, 2013, Liz Overberg, review of Ship out of Luck, p. 86; December, 2013, Kristyn Dorfman, review of UnSouled, p. 136; March, 2014, Vicki Reutter, review of Tesla's Attic, p. 148; October, 2014, Kristyn Dorfman, review of UnDivided, p. 123; February, 2015, Heather Miller Cover, review of Challenger Deep, p. 108; March, 2015, review of Edison's Alley, p. 167; January, 2016, Kelly Jo Lasher, review of UnBound, p. 102.
Voice of Youth Advocates, June, 1988, Lesa M. Holstine, review of The Shadow Club, p. 90; June, 1991, Dorothy M. Broderick, review of What Daddy Did, p. 103; February, 1993, Judith A. Sheriff, review of The Eyes of Kid Midas, p. 358; April, 1998, review of MindTwisters: Stories to Play with Your Head, p. 14; February, 2010, Cheryl Clark, review of Everwild, p. 512; August, 2010, Victoria Vogel, review of Bruiser, p. 272; June, 2011, Erica Alexander and Cheryl Clark, review of Everfound, p. 192; August, 2012, Jennifer M. Miskec, review of UnWholly, p. 286; August, 2013, Christina Miller, review of Ship out of Luck, p. 68; February, 2015, Jennifer M. Miskec, review of UnDivided, p. 83; April. 2015, Lisa A. Hazlett, review of Challenger Deep, p. 70; April, 2015, Jonatha Basye, review of Edison's Alley, p. 83.
Wilson Library Bulletin, March, 1993, Frances Bradburn, review of The Eyes of Kid Midas, p. 85.
ONLINE
Horn Book Online, http://www.hbook.com/ (March 9, 2015), Elissa Gershowitz, author interview.
Neal Shusterman Home Page, http://www.storyman.com (June 1, 2016).*
Scythe
Publishers Weekly.
263.49 (Dec. 2, 2016): p113.
COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Scythe
Neal Shusterman. Simon & Schuster, $18.99 ISBN 9781442472426
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
In the future Earth of this grim novel from National Book Awardwinner Shusterman (Challenger Deep), the digital
cloud has transformed into the selfaware Thunderhead, whose benevolent totalitarian rule has turned the planet into a
utopia. There's no poverty or crime, and everyone is guaranteed immortality. Well, almost everyone. Because babies
are still being born, population growth must be limited. Thus evolved the Scythes, an organization whose members are
charged with "gleaning" citizens at random. Sixteenyearold Citra and Rowan are chosen by a Scythe named Faraday
to train as apprentices. Neither likes the idea, but they're given no choice. Later, Citra becomes an apprentice to Curie,
a legendary Scythe, but Rowan is apprenticed to Goddard, who kills for sadistic pleasure. Calling to mind Le Guin's
"The Ones Who Walk Away from Ornelas," Shusterman's story forces readers to confront difficult ethical questions. Is
the gleaning of a few acceptable if it maximizes the happiness of all? Is it possible to live a moral life within such a
system? This powerful tale is guaranteed to make readers think deeply. Ages 12up.
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
"Scythe." Publishers Weekly, 2 Dec. 2016, p. 113. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA475224742&it=r&asid=6ea985522d5d1ca44e8300fe100ab5c8.
Accessed 12 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A475224742
2/12/2017 General OneFile Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1486954430553 2/3
Scythe
Anita L. Burkam
The Horn Book Magazine.
92.6 (NovemberDecember 2016): p87.
COPYRIGHT 2016 The Horn Book, Inc.. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Sources, Inc. No redistribution
permitted.
http://www.hbook.com/magazine/default.asp
Full Text:
Scythe
by Neal Shusterman
Middle School, High School Simon 435 pp.
1 1/16 9781442472426 $17.99 (g)
ebook ed. 9781442472440 $10.99
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
With new technology, mortality has become a thing of the past, with one exception: "scythes" are responsible for
"gleaning"that is to say, killingtheir fellow citizens to restrict population growth to a sustainable rate. Teens Citra
Terranova and Rowan Damisch are both horrified and intrigued when Honorable Scythe Faraday selects them to be his
apprentices, to train with him for one year and compete to see which one will become a scythe. Neither wants the role,
but: "'Therein lies the paradox of the profession,' Faraday said. 'Those who wish to have the job should not have it ...
and those who would most refuse to kill are the only ones who should.'" But then a dangerously radical scythe, who
does enjoy killing, insists that the winner must glean the losing apprentice, setting off a cascade of events that leads to
a much more personal, and deadly, contest. Using diary entries and character musings, Shusterman explores aspects of
death, including the ways mortality lends meaning to life; his canvas is large enough that he can entertain both
gruesome and humorous aspects, while the central questioncould you kill if required to do so?will keep readers
transfixed. As events wind up, Shusterman's moral questions become more and more pointed while the stakes become
higher and higher, leading to a philosophical exploration of life and death packaged as a Jason Bournelike highaction
adventure.
(g) indicates that the book was read in galley or page proof. The publisher's price is the suggested retail price and does
not indicate a possible discount to libraries. Grade levels are only suggestions; the individual child is the real criterion.
Burkam, Anita L.
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
Burkam, Anita L. "Scythe." The Horn Book Magazine, Nov.Dec. 2016, p. 87+. General OneFile,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
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Shusterman, Neal. Scythe
Tyler Hixson
School Library Journal.
62.10 (Oct. 2016): p115.
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permitted.
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Full Text:
* SHUSTERMAN, Neal. Scythe. 448p. ebook available. S. & S. Nov. 2016. Tr $18.99. ISBN 9781442472426.
Gr 8 UpIn a world in which humanity has conquered death (no aging, no disease, no poverty, no war), ruled by the
Thunderhead, an omniscient evolution of today's cloud, Scythes are the only ones who are allowed to take a human
life. They are considered to be the best humanity has to offer, and they roam the world "gleaning" people in order to
keep the population in check. Scythes are treated like royalty and feared. The last thing Citra Terranova and Rowan
Damisch want is to become Scythes, but when they are chosen by Scythe Faraday to become his apprentices, they are
thrown into a life in which they need to master the art of death. They prove to be apt pupils, but when Scythe Faraday
mysteriously gleans himself and Citra and Rowan are apprenticed to two other fearsome Scythes, they will have to put
their skills to the test against each other. Intertwined with the fascinating concept of humanity conquering death and the
idea of Scythes is the prospect that perhaps this is not the ideal world in which to live. Humanity has perfected itself
so what does that leave it to accomplish? Shustemian starts off this series in dramatic fashion as he creates an
engrossing world that pulls readers in and refuses to let them go. VERDICT A truly astounding, unputdownable read
and a fastpaced beginning to an excellent scifi series. A musthave.Tyler Hixson, School Library Journal
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
Hixson, Tyler. "Shusterman, Neal. Scythe." School Library Journal, Oct. 2016, p. 115+. General OneFile,
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Accessed 12 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A466166981
BOOK REVIEW: SCYTHE BY NEAL SHUSTERMAN
Title: Scythe
Author: Neal Shusterman
Genre: Horror, Speculative Fiction, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Young Adult
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: November 22, 2016
Hardcover: 448 Pages
Scythe (final cover)
In a world where disease has been eliminated, the only way to die is to be randomly killed (“gleaned”) by professional reapers (“scythes”). Citra and Rowan are teenagers who have been selected to be scythe’s apprentices, and—despite wanting nothing to do with the vocation—they must learn the art of killing and come to understand the necessity of what they do.
Only one of them will be chosen as a scythe’s apprentice. And when it becomes clear that the winning apprentice’s first task will be to glean the loser, Citra and Rowan are pitted against one another in a fight for their lives.
Stand alone or series: Book 1 in the Arc of a Scythe series
How did I get this book: Review Copy from the Publisher
Format (e- or p-): Hardcover
REVIEW
It is the future. Humanity has conquered illness and disease, age and decay. With the miracles of technology, anyone’s accidental stumble into oncoming traffic, their intentional jump off a building, their death by violence, illness, or dumb fate is no longer permanent. Thanks to a combination of nanites and impressive ambulatory measures under the auspices of an all-knowing artificial intelligence called “The Thunderhead”, humans have conquered poverty, racism, war, and death itself.
With old age, sickness, and death a relic of the past–the age of mortality–humanity must resort to other measures to ensure population control and self-governance.
So, the Scythes were created.
An organization completely independent of the Thunderhead, Scythes alone have the power to glean (that is, permanently kill). Scythes are not permitted to have spouses or children, they are not allowed to own any earthly possessions other than their robes, their immunity-granting rings, and their tools of destruction. Scythes follow a code of ten commandments and must meet a quota of death each year. No Scythe can glean any other Scythe; but a Scythe may self-glean, whenever he or she chooses.
This particular tale opens with two different MidMerican teenagers, sixteen-year olds Citra and Rowan, who are selected by Honorable Scythe Faraday, as his dual apprentices. Every Scythe finds his own way to glean, her own sense of justice and honor for those lives about to be ended–Faraday relies on statistics and patterns from the Age of Mortality, gleaning those who would have died in car accidents, drownings, and other such mundane occurrences. Under H.S. Faraday’s strict code of morality and empathy, Citra and Rowan learn the immense responsibility and heartache it takes to become a dealer of death–though only one of them will graduate from apprentice to Scythe, both take the lessons to heart.
Not all Scythes, however, are like Faraday. At the first Scythe Conclave, Citra and Rowan discover that complex politics and differing ideologies and personal agendas divide the Scythedom–some Scythes kill because they like it, contrary to everything that Faraday has taught them. When the pair of apprentices find themselves split apart by a tragic turn of fate, and pitted against one another in a competition to become an ordained Scythe, they must decide whether or not they will fall in line with the rest of the Scythedom, or if they will ignite the flames of change to burn it all down.
The first in a brand new series from National Book Award-winner Neal Shusterman, Scythe is a harrowing, poignant speculative fiction novel. Examining themes that range from the broadest questions (e.g. What does it mean to be human? What are we now if we cannot die?) to the most personal and specific (e.g. For narrators Citra and Rowan, how can I take someone’s life away forever?), Scythe is a rich examination of mortality, morality, and the meaning of life, when everyone lives in comfort forever.
In a different author’s hands, Scythe could have been a cheesy YA Dystopian star-crossed romance, full of longing sighs and prosaically smoldering exchanges; it could have been a literary adult novel with a dystopian-lite premise, full of self-conscious prose and excessive navel gazing. In Shusterman’s hands, Scythe is both YA dystopia and literary fiction, masterfully blending the best aspects of both genres while neatly sidestepping the trappings of both. Told in chapters alternating between Citra and Rowan’s third person narration, interspliced with journal entries from different Scythes throughout, Scythe never once falters in its heart, authenticity, or voice.
Citra Terranova is the first character we meet in the novel: an overachiever with a desire to prove herself right and question those around her, regardless of age of status. When she meets Scythe Faraday–who enters her family’s home to eat dinner before going next door to glean their neighbor–Citra is frightened but curious, and her blend of forthrightness and bravery pique the Scythe’s interest.
Rowan Damisch is the second narrator we meet: a boy who skims across the surface of life, who is overlooked by his parents who have their other children, but who feels very deeply. Scythe Faraday enters Rowan’s life when he comes to his high school with a mission to glean the school’s beloved quarterback–and instead of walking away from the gleaning, Rowan shows compassion and stays with his classmate through death.
These two characters challenge and compliment each other; they are pitted against each other in melodramatic fashion but never actually waver in their core beliefs (though they are tested sorely–Rowan, in particular). There is no sappy romance here, no cheesy dialogue or protracted melodrama. Instead, Rowan and Citra are driven by their desire to do right by the world, even if it means the end of their own lives and the Scythedom as they know it.
Beyond the characters, though, my favorite thing about this book is how complex and nuanced the moral questions and worldbuilding are. This is a utopian world: one where crime, poverty, and hate have been replaced with complacence and peace. In such a world, though, what becomes of humanity? When we have nothing to strive for, what do we become? In humans that have “turned the corner” (i.e. have been rejuvinated back to youth, but retain all of their memories and experiences) many times over, this can result in a weariness with the world. For those who are charged with the power of gleaning, it can mean an immense burden (as seen with Scythes Faraday and Curie), or a license to live to excess as Gods among Gods.
I loved this book. I was challenged by this book, I was entertained by this book, I was rendered speechless by this book. Scythe is one of my favorite reads of 2016 and will make my top 10 list for the year–I cannot wait to read the next novel in the series.
Notable Quotes/Parts: From Chapter 1:
The scythe arrived late on a cold November afternoon. Citra was at the dining room table, slaving over a particularly difficult algebra problem, shuffling variables, unable to solve for X or Y, when this new and far more pernicious variable entered her life’s equation.
Guests were frequent at the Terranovas’ apartment, so when the doorbell rang, there was no sense of foreboding—no dimming of the sun, no foreshadowing of the arrival of death at their door. Perhaps the universe should have deigned to provide such warnings, but scythes were no more supernatural than tax collectors in the grand scheme of things. They showed up, did their unpleasant business, and were gone.
Her mother answered the door. Citra didn’t see the visitor, as he was, at first, hidden from her view by the door when it opened. What she saw was how her mother stood there, suddenly immobile, as if her veins had solidified within her. As if, were she tipped over, she would fall to the floor and shatter.
“May I enter, Mrs. Terranova?”
The visitor’s tone of voice gave him away. Resonant and inevitable, like the dull toll of an iron bell, confident in the ability of its peal to reach all those who needed reaching. Citra knew before she even saw him that it was a scythe. My god! A scythe has come to our home!
“Yes, yes of course, come in.” Citra’s mother stepped aside to allow him entry—as if she were the visitor and not the other way around.
He stepped over the threshold, his soft slipper-like shoes making no sound on the parquet floor. His multilayered robe was smooth ivory linen, and although it reached so low as to dust the floor, there was not a spot of dirt on it anywhere. A scythe, Citra knew, could choose the color of his or her robe—every color except for black, for it was considered inappropriate for their job. Black was an absence of light, and scythes were the opposite. Luminous and enlightened, they were acknowledged as the very best of humanity—which is why they were chosen for the job.
Some scythe robes were bright, some more muted. They looked like the rich, flowing robes of Renaissance angels, both heavy yet lighter than air. The unique style of scythes’ robes, regardless of the fabric and color, made them easy to spot in public, which made them easy to avoid—if avoidance was what a person wanted. Just as many were drawn to them.
The color of the robe often said a lot about a scythe’s personality. This scythe’s ivory robe was pleasant, and far enough from true white not to assault the eye with its brightness. But none of this changed the fact of who and what he was.
He pulled off his hood to reveal neatly cut gray hair, a mournful face red-cheeked from the chilly day, and dark eyes that seemed themselves almost to be weapons. Citra stood. Not out of respect, but out of fear. Shock. She tried not to hyperventilate. She tried not to let her knees buckle beneath her. They were betraying her by wobbling, so she forced fortitude to her legs, tightening her muscles. Whatever the scythe’s purpose here, he would not see her crumble.
“You may close the door,” he said to Citra’s mother, who did so, although Citra could see how difficult it was for her. A scythe in the foyer could still turn around if the door was open. The moment that door was closed, he was truly, truly inside one’s home.
He looked around, spotting Citra immediately. He offered a smile. “Hello, Citra,” he said. The fact that he knew her name froze her just as solidly as his appearance had frozen her mother.
“Don’t be rude,” her mother said, too quickly. “Say hello to our guest.”
“Good day, Your Honor.”
“Hi,” said her younger brother, Ben, who had just come to his bedroom door, having heard the deep peal of the scythe’s voice. Ben was barely able to squeak out the one-word greeting. He looked to Citra and to their mother, thinking the same thing they were all thinking. Who has he come for? Will it be me? Or will I be left to suffer the loss?
“I smelled something inviting in the hallway,” the scythe said, breathing in the aroma. “Now I see I was right in thinking it came from this apartment.”
“Just baked ziti, Your Honor. Nothing special.” Until this moment, Citra had never known her mother to be so timid.
“That’s good,” said the scythe, “because I require nothing special.” Then he sat on the sofa and waited patiently for dinner.
You can read the full excerpt online HERE.
Rating: 9 – Damn near perfection. This book rekindled my love for the YA dystopian genre, and will absolutely make my shortlist of best books of 2016.
SCYTHE
From the "Scythe" series, volume 1
by Neal Shusterman
Best of 2016
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KIRKUS REVIEW
Two teens train to be society-sanctioned killers in an otherwise immortal world.
On post-mortal Earth, humans live long (if not particularly passionate) lives without fear of disease, aging, or accidents. Operating independently of the governing AI (called the Thunderhead since it evolved from the cloud), scythes rely on 10 commandments, quotas, and their own moral codes to glean the population. After challenging Hon. Scythe Faraday, 16-year-olds Rowan Damisch and Citra Terranova reluctantly become his apprentices. Subjected to killcraft training, exposed to numerous executions, and discouraged from becoming allies or lovers, the two find themselves engaged in a fatal competition but equally determined to fight corruption and cruelty. The vivid and often violent action unfolds slowly, anchored in complex worldbuilding and propelled by political machinations and existential musings. Scythes’ journal entries accompany Rowan’s and Citra’s dual and dueling narratives, revealing both personal struggles and societal problems. The futuristic post–2042 MidMerican world is both dystopia and utopia, free of fear, unexpected death, and blatant racism—multiracial main characters discuss their diverse ethnic percentages rather than purity—but also lacking creativity, emotion, and purpose. Elegant and elegiac, brooding but imbued with gallows humor, Shusterman’s dark tale thrusts realistic, likable teens into a surreal situation and raises deep philosophic questions.
A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning. (Science fiction. 14 & up)
Pub Date: Nov. 29th, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4424-7242-6
Page count: 448pp
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 26th, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15th, 2016