Popular American writer Neil Schusterman was born November 12, 1962 in New York Brooklyn.
Librarian, teacher and Jaws
In the third grade, he read the slowest of all. But he was lucky. He was taken under the wing by a school librarian and managed to instill a love of reading. He became an avid reader. White's Charlotte’s Web made such a strong impression on him that he, an eight-year-old boy, took courage and turned to the author with a proposal in a letter about her continuation.
As a boy, he was very fond of different stories. Roald Dahl’s magical tale “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” made Neal think for the first time that a person could invent his own fantasy world from nowhere, and he realized that he also wanted to do this.
He made a great many plans. Whatever he wanted to be: a writer and actor, doctor and artist, architect and director, even a rock star … and preferably at the same time. But I remembered the words of my teacher that you should not do everything at once, that in this case he would not be a master at all.
It was the proposal of an English teacher in the ninth grade to write a story that changed his life. He was inspired to write the story by the film Jaws, which was released at that time.
It was then that he first felt like a writer, and this interest became higher than all others in his life.
Be a writer!
At the age of 16, the family moved to live in Mexico City. There he studied in the last two years of school. He believed that the experience of living in different countries allowed him to take a fresh look at life, to believe in himself, which would be impossible in other circumstances.
After graduating from the University of California at Irvine, he received diplomas in two specialties: “Psychology” and “Theater”. Here he gained his first writing experience, leading a humorous column in the newspaper of his faculty, which bore a very playful name. The Anonymous Nil Shusterman column made fun of a variety of things: from parking to political issues. The column, I must say, was popular. Four years of authorship confirmed him in choosing his own business.
A year after graduating from college, he signed the first contract for writing the script of the film.
Career
For over twenty years, millions of readers have been familiar with the novelist, screenwriter, and television author Neil Shusterman. His books occupy the minds of adolescents and their parents around the world. From his pen came novels and science fiction series, essays, short stories and poems, even games.
Most of his work is aimed at a teenage audience. He is deeply convinced that it is this age that is decisive in the life of any person. The events that occur with a teenager, in many respects depends on what he will become later in adult life.
Books by Neil Schusterman have won many awards. They are marked by the International Reading Association, the American Library Association. Since the time he received his first award in 1988, he has written several dozen books, and each of them is in the top ten!
Some of his books are humorous and targeted at younger teens. But fantasy and gloomy retelling of famous myths are intended for older adolescents.
Neal is convinced that you need to write in a variety of formats. It’s like a challenge to yourself. This is a test for writing skills.
His talent is multifaceted: writing, directing, writing music and performances, creating games for teens, oratory.
A degree in psychology and theater allows Neal to provide a completely unique approach to the presentation of the material.
Currently, he actively collaborates with television and film studios, writes scripts for television programs (for example, for the Disney Channel), films and TV shows ("Goosebumps").
In addition, he travels around the country a lot, meets with schoolchildren and students, with his readers.
Neil Shusterman: reviews, his books in Russia
The Russian reader discovered this most popular writer in the world not so long ago. With the advent of his books in translation into Russian, the number of admirers increased. Reviews about the work of this writer are mostly positive. Everyone is talking about his special worldview. It is enough just to get acquainted with his work, to hear the opinions of people, and you will certainly want to read one, then another, then a third, and then all the books of this remarkable author. Read or listen, because there are audio books in excellent performance.
How masterpieces are born
Neil Shusterman himself spoke about this in one of his interviews.
Often, in order to start work, he has to go on a trick and convince himself that the whole story has already taken shape in his head. Why the trick? Yes, because rarely everything goes according to plan.
First, he writes each chapter by hand. He writes and rewrites. By the time he begins to set up the chapters in the computer, this is a completely different option. So it turns out three different projects. Now the time comes for a big revision, when changes are made, problems are eliminated, and a fourth project appears.
The book should lie down for a while, a month or so. And after the next revision, the fifth version of the book can be shown to people. The sixth will be made taking into account the comments received, and it is he who is sent to the publisher. It may require further refinement, but finally, the book will see the light of day.
By the way, many heroes of his works bear the names of real people. Often, it is the writer who turns to the fans and admirers for names and at the same time briefly describes the character's character, his role in the future book.
So the masterpieces of Neil Schusterman are not easily born.
A family
A father with many children and an excellent family man. He currently lives in Southern California with four children, two sons and two daughters. They for him constantly remain a source of inspiration.
They most often become the first readers of his books. He takes their remarks very seriously, which is especially valuable to him, because for people like his children, he writes. And also because they speak honestly what they think without fear. True, the growing number of adult admirers is definitely pleasing and inspiring.
Brendan and Challenger Deep
All the books of Neil Schusterman are certainly expensive and important to him as children. But one of them is much closer to the rest of his heart. This is Challenger Deep - a lyrical, touching novel, which is based on the story of one of his sons, who has been suffering from schizoaffective disorder since school, and whose idea of the name is also suggested by the boy.
It all started with Brendan's passion for the ocean in second grade. It was then that Neil noted for himself that such a beautiful and sonorous name for the deepest place in the Mariana Trench could be a great name for a book, but there was no worthy story.
In addition, by the 9th grade, the boy started having problems that came with anxiety, which later turned into delirium with paranoia and hallucinations. According to him, even street signs had a conversation with him. I had to hospitalize the child. Diagnoses changed, but it was clear that a serious mental illness was evident. The family was devastated and tried its best to help the child.
But the words of the teenager, addressed to his father, that he feels as if at the bottom of the ocean, and no one can hear his cry for help, became a push for Neal. He realized that the Challenger Deep should be near, that family and relatives should understand the child, to be together, to help him.
And later, when, finally, with the help of medicines, doctors and the boy’s own will, the disease was taken under control, it was his father who consulted with him whether such a book was needed, whether it would be good if it was written about a mental illness, if he uses it, Brenda, experience. And with the approval of his son in the past, 2015, the book saw the light of day. Neil dedicated it to a doctor who put so much effort into saving his son's life. In addition, he used in her drawings of Brendan, created by him during the period of exacerbation.
It was to his son that he suggested reading the first draft version of the book and making his suggestions. He wanted to be sure that those who went through this would understand that he had compassion for them, that the book would help, give strength and dignity, to go through all the trials. Neil is convinced that without compassion a person cannot be a person, that one must speak about mental illness aloud and openly, casting aside shame. First of all, because every third American family is faced with this and perceives such a misfortune in the family as a stain. And this is a disease. A man should be proud that he is a man.
