Neal Shusterman was born November 12, 1962 in Brooklyn, New York. He is Jewish and North-African. Up until 3rd grade, he hated reading, but the school librarian helped him get more into reading. His newfound love of reading also motivated his love of writing, but Shusterman didn't take it more seriously until high school. He was a "self-sabotaging overachiever" in school, as he constantly took on a lot more than he could handle. When he was 16, he and his family moved to Mexico City for his dad's work. Shusterman says that this move transformed his perspective of the world, along with his place in it.

Shusterman went to University of California, Irvine. Initially, he enrolled as a biological science major. Throughout his experience in college, he realized he had a different calling. By his junior year, he switched to double-majoring in psychology and theater, "The science of the mind and behavior, and the art of the mind and behavior"- as he describes it (FanfiAddict). With his major switch, Shusterman knew for sure that he wanted to be a writer. 

Before going to college, Shusterman was a camp counselor in upstate New York, where he became known as the "Camp Storyteller." During college, Shusterman turned his campfire stories into books. His first two books were rejected by every publisher he sent them to. However, one year after he graduated, a publisher accepted and sold his book. This book is called "The Shadow Club". 

After Shusterman's first book was published in 1988, he did a lot more writing. He's explored writing in various mediums, but he's primarily known for his books and novels. He has screenwriting credits for Goosebumps and Animorphs. Shusterman also wrote some of the games for the How to Host a Murder boxed-game series, along with its sister-series How to Host a Teen Mystery.

Despite the fact that Shusterman's fantasy and dystopian books are his most recognized, Shusterman doesn't have a favorite genre. He describes himself as a "Genre buster" (issuu), because he believes that the stories he tells shouldn't be defined by a singular label or category. Shusterman believes that it's important to be aware of social issues, and there are many themes of social issues in his works. However, he doesn't like writing about them straight-up. His goal for his writing is to create stories about the human experience and human identity– stories that go beyond cultural norms and boundaries. Shusterman highly values reading and writing. In an interview wtih a college student, he explains that reading allows you to learn about others' ideas and experiences, and that writing allows you to share your own ideas and experiences. 

In addition to Shusterman's lengthy bibliography, he also does a lot of public-speaking as a part of his job. He often goes to schools, libraries, and conferences across the world to speak about his career and various aspects of it. He is constantly on-the-go; once he publishes a book, he is always thinking of what to do next and brainstorming ideas for other books.