Unwind has won more than 30 awards and is in development with Universal TV as a television series. His novels Downsiders and Full Tilt have each won over 20 awards. He served as a judge for the PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship in 2012.

Shusterman has received numerous honors for his books, including the National Book Award in 2015 for his novel Challenger Deep, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, and the 2008 California Young Reader Medal for The Schwa Was Here. Within a year, Shusterman had his first book deal and a screenwriting job. Career Īfter college, Shusterman worked as an assistant at the Irvin Arthur Associates, a talent agency in Los Angeles, where Lloyd Segan became his agent. 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. At the age of 16, Shusterman and his family moved to Mexico City.

While he has stated that he does not identify as a person of color, he is between 40-50% North African and likely has Moroccan ancestors, but did not know this until he had genetic testing done. From a young age, Shusterman was an avid reader. Shusterman was born on November 12, 1962, and raised in Brooklyn, New York City. 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. Neal Shusterman (born November 12, 1962) is an American writer of young-adult fiction. National Book Award for Young People's Literature Shusterman at the 2013 Texas Book Festival

Scythe by neal shusterman