By CAILIN REID.
When author Neal Shusterman arrived at Daniel Pearl Magnet High School (DPMHS), shock and excitement electrified the crowd of students who were about to have all their burning questions answered.
Shusterman’s visit was organized by school librarian Tammie Celi as a treat for the Lunch Bunch, a group of students that all share the common hobby of reading. A crowd of about 40 plus students gathered in the teacher’s lounge during lunch and fifth period and waited for Shusterman to arrive on Nov. 14.
Shusterman won the 2011 Nutmeg Book Award for his book “Unwind,” which has become a true phenomenon among teenagers over the past couple of years.
Shusterman has also written 27 other books, some of them a part of separate series.
“He’s here,” said senior Leah Marinos. “That’s him!”
Suddenly, all of the side conversations stopped and everyone was quiet for a moment. As they started up again, the conversation completely shifted. Every student was talking about Shusterman’s books. The noise level was uncontrollable due to the excitement of the students to get started and ask him the questions that ran through their heads every since they read the first page.
Shusterman immediately opened it up to questions, stating that he wanted his visit to be like a conversation, to make student feel comfortable and willing to talk to him. So the students jumped right in, and there were about ten hands waving in the air.
Shusterman shared what inspired him to write “Unwind.” He was moved by three different real-life topics that are apparent in our society today: an article about rebellious teenagers that terrorized neighborhoods in England, a news report that spoke about the extremely controversial topic of abortion and its effects on the election, and another article on transplant technology that states that soon all parts of the human body will be useable for transplants.
In this novel, parents have the option to “unwind” their children between the ages of 13 and 18 if they don’t like the way they are turning out, and prefer to save their organs for transplants.
Shusterman has always strived to send messages to his readers through the books he writes and make them see the bigger picture.
“I want my readers to think about or question how society makes decisions, rise above the politics and just look at the world in a holistic manner,” Shusterman said.
At another one of his talks, Shusterman said he didn’t realize that one of the students was raising his hand the whole time. He said that he must have been camouflaged and that that student was the human version of the sound schwa. That happened to be the inspiration for his next book, “The Schwa Was Here.”
“Unwind” and “The Schwa Was Here” were not the only components of his writing that are based off of what Shusterman finds in everyday life, he also names his characters after his fans. He posts a status on Facebook asking if anyone would like a character to be named after him or her. It’s a fun way for him to interact with his readers and become inspired.
A few students that aspire to be writers asked Shusterman how he overcomes writers block.
“I don’t believe in it,” Shusterman said. “For me, it is simply a writer’s cliff. How do you get over a cliff? You build a bridge. It may take time and effort and weeks of research but it is what will help you make your story even better,” Shusterman said.
Shusterman shared the unexpected story of how he was inspired to become a writer.
“When I was 18 year old, I became a camp counselor,” Shusterman said. “My job was to get the children in my cabin to go to sleep.”
Instead of yelling at them, as others would do, he told them stories. The first was about a pair of sunglasses, but not just any sunglasses, these were magical ones found at the top of a mountain that helped the person who wore them control the world. Instead of there being limits to what you can wish for, he created a story that had no limits at all and where you have to deal with the consequences instead.
Shusterman ended the gathering at DPMHS by giving aspiring authors four tips they can use.
“One, if you want to be a writer, you have to write. Two, you have to rewrite. Three, you have to be a reader and read all genres and write out of your comfort zone. And four, you have to be a preserver,” Shusterman said.
This advice really stuck with sophomore Dylan Goldstein.
“I learned some really good advice on how to become a professional writer,” Goldstein said.
The event concluded with the students from the Lunch Bunch taking a group picture with Shusterman and giving their book, “Everlost”, to him to be signed.
“I think everything went really well. All of the students were genuinely engaged and enjoyed themselves. So all of the hard work paid off,” Celi said.
