Game Changer

American author Neal Shusterman, born in 1962, is a popular writer of young-adult fiction. His extensive bibliography spans various genres, including novels, picture books, games, poetry, and screenwriting. He has earned critical acclaim and received the 2015 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, as well as the 2017 Michael L. Printz Honor for his young-adult science-fiction novel Scythe.

Raised between Brooklyn and Mexico City in a Jewish family, Shusterman identifies as white, although he states that a DNA test reveals he is “genetically [...] about 40% North African” (Blandon, Sabrina. “Author Spotlight: Neal Shusterman.” Her Campus, 28 Nov. 2022). He further explains:

I think we’re all more than our genes. Identity also comes from common experience, and the things that matter to us. I tend to be more interested in the things we have in common rather than our differences. And so, it has always been my goal to tell stories that speak to the human condition and transcend cultural and racial boundaries.

Although he supports efforts to tell diverse stories and emphasizes themes like empathy, privilege, and identity in his books, Shusterman states:

I don’t want to be accused of posing. I’ve never really defined myself by a single identity—and in these times where identity means so much, I sometimes feel like I’m a bit of an outsider to every identity.