In the novel Game Changer, Neal Shusterman employs the complete reimagination of the setting, and reinvention of character through each chapter in order to convey that Ash initially feels self pity that his ideal view of the world does not match up with his reality, but inevitably finds happiness in life, ultimately illustrating that one should be grateful for the life they are given, no matter how harsh it may be.

To begin, Shusterman uses the reimagination of Ash’s setting to illustrate his yearning for the ideal world. Ash, as a character, is gifted with the opportunity to reinvent his entire world after every football tackle. In one of the chapters he was born into poverty. With this poverty comes many issues. Because Ash is born into poverty, he is able to discover what problems a life of poverty brings. Consequently, in discovering these problems he is able to start to figure out what problems he has with the world he lived in versus the one he lives in now. In discovering this he then starts to yearn for the perfect world. In yearning for the perfect world, while in another one, he is then able to start to become grateful for the world he left behind. Therefore in becoming grateful for past worlds one is grateful for the life they are given. Not only was Ash put into a world of poverty, conversely he was put into a world of wealth. After a second football tackle, Ash left his world of poverty to live a life of wealth. He then started to discover the problems that came with being too wealthy. Because he found problems in his ideal world of being wealthy he started to have conflicting feelings in that world. Consequently in having these conflicting feelings, he discovered that this world was not everything he wanted it to be. Thus in breaking the facade of his ideal world he discovered that he must be grateful for the life he had previously, then the one he is trying to have. Not only could Ash change the world around him, Ash was gifted with the opportunity to change his view of the world.

Ash became many different versions of himself to attempt to reach his ideal world view. Ash became a woman in one of his many football tackles. In becoming a woman he faced many unique challenges, in his quest to create his ideal world. Because he faced many different challenges, he started to understand other people's perspectives on the world. Consequently, in being able to view a woman's perspective on the world, he was able to sympathize with their challenges. Thus in sympathizing with the challenges of being a woman, he became grateful for the world he lived in prior to the one he lived as a woman. Ash not only became a woman, he also became a gay male in his attempt to find the ideal world. Ash's journey as a gay male gave him many obvious negatives straight away, but as he grew more into his homosexuality, he found many positives in his journey. Because Ash found many positives in the life of a gay man, he started to reflect on his past life and the life of his present. In reflecting on his past and present he was able to find many pitfalls and benefits of both lives. Thus in being able to recognize the pitfalls and benefits he became incredibly grateful for his life as a gay man and his life as a straight man, inevitably becoming grateful for the opportunity to live in general.

Ash's journey of finding his ideal view of the world, in Game Changer,  used the reinvention of settings and character to help him discover that all worlds have benefits and downfalls, ultimately illustrating that being given the opportunity to live, no matter the situation, is the gift in itself.

In the novel “All Better Now,” Neal Shuterman uses the character Ron’s role as an alpha spreader to convey that although the disease he carries eliminates suffering, it removes free will and individuality, ultimately illustrating that true happiness requires struggle and personal choice.

To begin, Neal uses Ron's gift as an alpha spreader to create an ideal pain free world. In the text Ron has been gifted(or cursed) with the opportunity to spread a disease that eliminates all negative emotions. Because this gives individuals the opportunity to escape grief and anxiety, it creates this facade of a perfect world. Consequently, those affected by this gift of rons, then feel a sense of contentment and peace that seems entirely positive. When they feel this, the world starts to resemble an ideal place for everyone to live, a place many people strive for. Thus, due to this immediate elimination of suffering, Ron's gift is viewed as a positive, and advantage that helps create an ideal view of the world and improves many lives. Not only does Ron create a world that is rid of suffering, he starts to experience the consequences that come along with being an alpha spreader. As this ability spreads to many people, they begin to lose their drive and ambition, along with their individuality. Because this removal of anxiety and pain is created it also removes the drive to grow, pursue goals, and question injustice. Making people become content and complacent. They become passive and disconnected from their own emotions. Consequently, this lack of passion affects many more individuals and society as a whole loses the complexity and uniqueness that defines what it means to be human. In eliminating drive along with suffering, the gift rons is given is shown as a burden, because it takes away essential aspects of humanity, rather than making life better. Thus, in identifying the gift as more of a burden, ron illustrates that in order to be happy one needs struggle and personal choice. 

This gift that Ron carries, is not only a tool for humanity but also an instrument of destruction. Ron uses this gift for what he views as the betterment of society, but comes to identify that this gift cannot be taken back once distributed. Ron’s love interest questions it heavily and leaves him. Because Ron starts to regret losing his girl, he also questions the morality of distributing the gift to people without the opportunity to undo it. Consequently due to this moral responsibility, Ron's power becomes a burden rather than a gift.  Therefore, in comparing the help and harm the gift creates, this tension shows that in order to be happy one needs struggle and individuality. Not only does Ron struggle with the mortality of his spreading, he also starts to question his idea of happiness. As Ron starts to spread the gift, he comes to understand that happiness forced onto people is not pure or genuine. Because fulfillment in life comes from experiencing positive and negative emotions alike, when he removes the struggle from people he in turn removes their opportunity for self growth and discovery. Now, since individuals no longer have their use of free will, this happiness that was given becomes artificial and fake, eliminating the meaning behind happiness. Therefore in attempting to better society through happiness, the gift Ron has illustrates that genuine happiness and life without personal struggle and choice is incomplete.

To conclude, Ron's role as an alpha spreader shows that a gift can both be a blessing and a burden. While this ability first appears to create the ideal version of happiness and a perfect world by eliminating suffering and pain, it ultimately removes the meaning behind happiness and genuine joy, while also taking away individuality. This contrast between the gift illustrates that in order to be truly happy, one needs to navigate pain, choices, and be able to grow through challenges that life throws at you.