Most Popular Books by Neal Shusterman

An Instant New York Times Bestseller From New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman comes a “thought-provoking and grimly enjoyable” (Kirkus Reviews) “epic biological thriller” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) about a world where happiness is contagious but the risks of catching it may be just as dangerous as the cure. A deadly and unprecedented virus is spreading. But those who survive it experience long-term effects no one has ever seen before: utter contentment. Soon after infection, people find the stress, depression, greed, and other negative feelings that used to weigh them down are gone. More and more people begin to revel in the mass unburdening. But not everyone. People in power—who depend on malcontents and prey on the insecure to sell their products, and convince others they need more, new, faster, better everything—know this new state of being is bad for business. Surely, without anger or jealousy as motivators, productivity will grind to a halt and the world will be thrown into chaos. Campaigns start up to convince people that being eternally happy is dangerous. The race to find a vaccine begins. Meanwhile, a growing movement of Recoverees plans ways to spread the virus as fast as they can, in the name of saving the world. It’s nearly impossible to determine the truth when everyone with a platform is pushing their agenda. Three teens from very different backgrounds who’ve had their lives upended in very different ways find themselves at the center of a power play that could change humanity forever.

Nick and Allie don''t survive the car accident... ...but their souls don''t exactly get where they''re supposed to get either. Instead, they''re caught halfway between life and death, in a sort of limbo known as Everlost: a shadow of the living world, filled with all the things and places that no onger exist. It''s a magical, yet dangerous place where bands of lost children run wild and anyone who stands in the same place too long sinks to the center of the Earth. When they find Mary, the self-proclaimed queen of lost kids, Nick feels like he he''s found a home, but allie isn''t satisfied spending eternity between worlds. Against all warnings, Allie begins learning the "Criminal Art" of haunting, and ventures into dangerous territory, where a monster called the McGill threatens all the souls of Everlost. In this imaginative novel, Neal Shusterman explores questions of life, death, and what just might lie in between.

Proactive Citizenry, the company which created Cam from the parts of unwound teens, has a plan: to mass produce Rewound teens like Cam for military purposes. But below the surface is of that horror lies another shocking level of intrigue: Proactive Citizenry has been suppressing technology that could make unwinding completely unnecessary. As Conner, Risa and Lev uncover these shocking secrets, enraged teens begin to march on Washington to demand justice and a better future. But more trouble is brewing. Starkey''s group of storked teens are growing more powerful and militant with each new recruit. And if they have their way, they''ll burn the harvest camps to the group, and put every adult in them before a firing squad-which could destroy any chance America has for a peaceful future. Praise for UNWIND: "This is the kind of rare book that makes the hairs on your neck rise up. It is written with a sense of drama that should get it instantly snapped up for film." The Times "Gripping, brilliantly imagined futuristic thriller… The issues raised could not be more provocative - the sanctity of life, the meaning of being human - while the delivery could hardly be more engrossing or better aimed to teens." Publishers Weekly, starred review "a powerful, shocking, and intelligent novel... It''s wonderful, wonderful stuff." thebookbag.co.uk "This book challenges ones ideas about life, about morality, about religion, about fanatics. It is not a comfortable read but it is thought-provoking." Carousel

"A timely, speculative thought experiment in perspective, privilege, and identity." —Kirkus "The conceit behind Shusterman’s latest is truly unique. While it exhibits the author’s usual storytelling aplomb, it also manages to delve into more serious and timely subject matter, such as racism, sexism, and homophobia. Despite these heavy topics, the story still moves at a lively pace and, thanks to a zany sci-fi twist, manages to pack in a few laughs as well." —Booklist All it takes is one hit on the football field, and suddenly Ash’s life doesn’t look quite the way he remembers it. Impossible though it seems, he’s been hit into another dimension—and keeps on bouncing through worlds that are almost-but-not-really his own. The changes start small, but they quickly spiral out of control as Ash slides into universes where he has everything he’s ever wanted, universes where society is stuck in the past…universes where he finds himself looking at life through entirely different eyes. And if he isn’t careful, the world he’s learning to see more clearly could blink out of existence… This high-concept novel from the National Book Award-winning and New York Times-bestselling author of the Arc of a Scythe series tackles the most urgent themes of our time, making this a must-buy for readers who are starting to ask big questions about their own role in the universe.

In a society where unwanted teens are salvaged for their body parts, three runaways fight the system that would "unwind" them Connor''s parents want to be rid of him because he''s a troublemaker. Risa has no parents and is being unwound to cut orphanage costs. Lev''s unwinding has been planned since his birth, as part of his family''s strict religion. Brought together by chance, and kept together by desperation, these three unlikely companions make a harrowing cross-country journey, knowing their lives hang in the balance. If they can survive until their eighteenth birthday, they can''t be harmed -- but when every piece of them, from their hands to their hearts, are wanted by a world gone mad, eighteen seems far, far away. In Unwind, Boston Globe/Horn Book Award winner Neal Shusterman challenges readers'' ideas about life -- not just where life begins, and where it ends, but what it truly means to be alive.

When fourteen-year-old Lindsay meets Talon and discovers the Downsiders world which had evolved from the subway built in New York in 1867 by Alfred Ely Beach, she and her new friend experience the clash of their two cultures.

"In a world where disease has been eliminated, the only way to die is to be randomly killed (''gleaned'') by professional reapers (''scythes''). Two teens must compete with each other to become a scythe--a position neither of them wants. The one who becomes a scythe must kill the one who doesn''t"--

After the events of Everlost, Nick and Allie are on separate paths—and Everlost, the limbo land of dead children, is at war in this riveting novel from New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Neal Shusterman. Nick wants to help the dead reach the light at the end of the tunnel, but Mary Hightower, their self-proclaimed queen and a dangerous fanatic, is determined to keep them trapped in Everlost for all of eternity. Traveling in the memory of the Hindenburg, Mary is spreading her propaganda and attracting Afterlights to her cause at a frightening speed. Allie travels home to seek out her parents, along with Mikey, who was once the terrifying monster the McGill. Allie is tempted by the seductive thrill of skinjacking the living, until she discovers the shocking truth about skinjackers that makes her question her place in both worlds.

Fourteen-year-old Jason faces an identity crisis after discovering that he is the son of aliens who stayed on earth following a botched invasion mission.

After the destruction of the Graveyard, Connor and Lev are on the run, seeking a woman who may be the key to bringing down unwinding forever while Cam, the rewound boy, tries to prove his love for Risa by bringing Proactive Citizenry to its knees.

A teen attempts to forgive the unforgiveable in this “stunning novel” (VOYA) based on a tragic true story from the author of the New York Times bestselling Unwind dystology. Preston Scott was only twelve years old when his father killed his mother. He never saw it coming. Despite his parents’ constant fighting, Preston always thought they were perfect together. He never dreamed his father would be capable of murder. Then again, who could ever predict something like this? Fast forward: Preston is now fourteen. His father has just been released from jail and is moving near his grandparents’ house, where Preston and his younger brother Tyler have been living. His grandparents forgave his dad long ago for killing their daughter, and although Preston tries to feel the same kind of forgiveness, it’s not easy: he’ll never see his mother again, and yet, he still loves his father. How is that possible? Will Preston ever be able to reconcile his dueling feelings for his father, and move past this tragedy? Chasing Forgiveness was originally published in 1991 as What Daddy Did.

“Compellingly readable and a worthy finale to the Skinjacker trilogy.” —VOYA In the stunning conclusion to the Skinjacker trilogy by New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Neal Shusterman, the final battle for the very soul of Everlost rages on. As Mary Hightower slumbers in a glass coffin waiting to be reborn back into Everlost, her allies and henchmen begin to carry out her terrible mission. Mary’s army is joined by a newcomer: Jix, a spy for the Mayan King of Everlost. A furjacker who skinjacks great cats, Jix has his own agenda. Meanwhile, Mikey McGill desperately tries to rescue Allie the Outcast. At his side is Nick the Chocolate Ogre, who has become pure chocolate and hardly remembers himself at all. Mikey encounters a creature that scares even the mighty McGill: a scar wraith, whose touch can extinguish an Afterlight forever. As fights and schemes come to a head, it becomes clear that the outcome of this battle will determine not just the fate of Everlost, but the fate of the living world as well.

When sixteen-year-old Blake goes to a mysterious, by-invitation-only carnival he somehow knows that it could save his comatose brother, but soon learns that much more is at stake if he fails to meet the challenge presented there by the beautiful Cass

The Shadow Club starts simply enough: the kids who are tired of being second-best get together and, for the first time, talk about how they feel. But soon the members decide to play practical jokes on the first-place winners they envy, and things begin to spin dangerously out of control. "This is a provocative novel . . . The plot is ingeniously simple and the course of events compelling. Brisk enough to snag a popular audience, but forceful in impact, it will leave readers thinking." (Booklist, starred review)

They say his clothes blend into the background, no matter where he stands. They say a lot of things about the Schwa, but one thing’s for sure: no one ever noticed him. Except me. My name is Antsy Bonano, and I was the one who realized the Schwa was “functionally invisible” and used him to make some big bucks. But I was also the one who caused him more grief than a friend should. So if you all just shut up and listen, I’ll tell you everything there is to know about the Schwa, from how he got his name, to what really happened with his mom. I’ll spill everything. Unless, of course, “the Schwa Effect” wipes him out of my brain before I’m done….

Dread Locks is the first entry in the Dark Fusion series from master storyteller Neal Shusterman. He cleverly weaves together familiar parts of fairy tales and Greek mythology to tell the story of fourteen-year-old Parker Bear, rich and utterly bored with life—until a new girl arrives in town. Tara''s eyes are always hidden behind designer sunglasses, and her hair, blond with glimmering spirals, seems almost alive. Parker watches, fascinated, as one by one Tara chooses high school students to befriend; he even helps her by making the necessary introductions. Over time, her “friends” develop strange quirks, such as drinking gallons of milk, eating dirt, and becoming lethargic. By the time Parker realizes what Tara is doing, he is too embroiled to stop her. In fact, she has endowed him with certain cravings of his own. . . .To say more would spoil the spooky fun of this wild thriller—let the twist speak for itself and leave you still as a statue.

The uproarius companion to "The Schwa was Here" and "Antsy Does Time" In honor of Old Man Crawley’s eightieth birthday, the Bonano family has been invited to celebrate with a weeklong cruise to the Caribbean aboard the world’s largest, grandest ship. But whether on land or at sea, Antsy can’t manage to stay out of trouble: He quickly finds himself the accomplice of stowaway and thief Tilde, whose self-made mission it is to smuggle onto the ship and across the U.S. border illegal immigrants from her native Mexico. When Antsy steps in to take the fall for Tilde, he becomes the focus of a major international incident and the poster child for questionable decisions. Equal parts clever and riotous, Ship Out of Luck brings back the beloved cast of characters from Neal Shusterman’s acclaimed The Schwa Was Here and Antsy Does Time.

Rowan and Citra take opposite stances on the morality of the Scythedom, putting them at odds, in the chilling sequel to the Printz Honor Book Scythe from New York Times bestseller Neal Shusterman, author of the Unwind dystology. The Thunderhead cannot interfere in the affairs of the Scythedom. All it can do is observe—it does not like what it sees. A year has passed since Rowan had gone off grid. Since then, he has become an urban legend, a vigilante snuffing out corrupt scythes in a trial by fire. His story is told in whispers across the continent. As Scythe Anastasia, Citra gleans with compassion and openly challenges the ideals of the “new order.” But when her life is threatened and her methods questioned, it becomes clear that not everyone is open to the change. Will the Thunderhead intervene? Or will it simply watch as this perfect world begins to unravel?

A brilliant but troubled high school student pretends to engage in sports activities and uses his artistic talents to document his voyage to the world''s most southern point while his friends observe his increasingly unbalanced behavior.

The triumphant conclusion to the acclaimed Star Shards Chronicles trilogy that began with "Scorpion Shards" and "Thief of Souls."