Neal Shusterman
Featured Book
Rising Thunder
In 2024, a group of teens debating the future in a chatroom unknowingly become part of a pivotal moment in human history, as two opposing artificial intelligences and a collapsing society struggle to determine humanity’s fate in a world on the brink of ending human mortality.
About This Event
Join Anderson’s Bookshop for an author event with Neal Shusterman, to celebrate the release of Rising Thunder: A Prequel to Scythe, on Tuesday, December 1st at 7:00 pm at Meiley-Swallow Hall on the campus of North Central College (31 S Ellsworth St, Naperville, IL 60540). Event FormatWe will begin checking you in approximately 60 minutes before the start time. After a presentation and Q&A with the author, the line will form in numbered order with the following guidelines:Posed photo with your camera taken by our staffThere is a limit of 2 books from home to be signed (unless otherwise stated)There is a limit of 1 personalization (unless otherwise stated) All events have open seating. Your ticket will feature the "seating assignment" you selected at check-out; this is actually your assigned group for the signing/photo line portion of the event. We will ask ticket holders to line up by assigned group, starting with Group A and proceeding alphabetically. If you cannot attend, you must pick up your book (if included with ticket) at the hosting store within 30 days of the event. We can ship that book to you for an additional charge of $9.99; please call the store to arrange that.Pre-registration is required for this event because space is limited.Event GuidelinesAnderson’s Bookshop reserves the right to change the format of this event at any time in coordination with the author and publisher. Anderson’s Bookshop assumes no responsibility or liability for any personal injury or other loss you may incur as a result of your decision to attend an event, including the transmission of Covid-19 or related illnesses. Failure to treat all participants and staff with courtesy and respect may result in your expulsion from the event. About the BookDiscover Thunderhead’s origin—the fragile moment before the world changes forever and the hidden forces that set the storm in motion—in this long-awaited prequel to the New York Times bestselling and Printz Honor–winning Arc of a Scythe series by Neal Shusterman.And of course, as every school child knows, December 2042 marks the end of the Age of Mortality.What no one has ever fully understood is how the world reached that moment.As death begins to seem optional, humanity looks for ways to bend the rules of existence. Twi-life centers begin storing the nearly-deceased, while eco-nihilists destroy civilization’s icons and threaten to end the human race entirely. Public opinion fractures. Systems strain. The world feels…unstable.Behind the scenes, two powerful and diametrically opposed artificial intelligences set out to optimize, stabilize, and protect—each with its own idea of what that means. But in a world already tipping toward transformation, the consequences could be catastrophic.Meanwhile, in an obscure online chatroom, a small group of teenagers from around the globe debate both the glorious and the terrifying prospects of the future, never realizing that they stand on a very literal cutting edge—and that their conversations, their choices, their very existence matter far more than they realize.Because when humanity stands on the brink of immortality, someone must decide what survives…and what must be cut away.
Featured Author
Shusterman, Neal
Neal Shusterman is the New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty award-winning books for children, teens, and adults, including the Unwind dystology, the Skinjacker trilogy, Downsiders, and Challenger Deep, which won the National Book Award. Scythe, the first book in his series Arc of a Scythe is a Michael L. Printz Honor Book. He also writes screenplays for motion pictures and television shows. Neal is the father of four, all of whom are talented writers and artists themselves. Visit Neal at StoryMan.com and Facebook.com/NealShusterman.
About the Venue
Meiley-Swallow Hall
Presented by Anderson's Bookshop - Naperville
31 South Ellsworth Street
Naperville, IL 60540
More at Anderson's Bookshop - Naperville
Rebecca Yarros
Join Anderson’s Bookshop for an author event with Rebecca Yarros, to celebrate the release of Peculiar Stars (Deluxe Limited Edition), on Thursday, November 19th at 7:00 pm at Pfeiffer Hall on the campus of North Central College. Yarros will be in conversation with her editor, Lauren Plude. Tickets will go on sale on Friday, October 23rd at 11:00 CDT. Event FormatWe will begin checking you in approximately 60 minutes before the start time. This event will consist of a moderated conversation and audience Q&A with the author. There will be no photo or signing line to follow. All books will be pre-signed.All events have open seating. If you cannot attend, you must pick up your book at the hosting store within 30 days of the event. We can ship that book to you for an additional charge of $9.99; please call the store to arrange that. Pre-registration is required for this event because space is limited.About the BookMore about Peculiar Stars (Deluxe Limited Edition): From #1 New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Yarros comes a slow-burn romance about love, family, and what it means to become the truest version of yourself.Callista Moran has spent a lifetime putting her own plans aside to care for other people. Once she and Darren Knight announce their engagement, she thinks her future is finally set. But when a routine sailing trip goes tragically wrong, a cyclone blows those carefully made plans away.Stranded on an island for the next eighteen months alongside the crew and her fiancé’s cousin, Callista discovers a strength she never knew she had. And begins to question the life she always thought she wanted. With Dominic, an ex–army medic, she finds true peace—and a version of herself that she doesn’t need to explain. They resist their connection at first, but as months wear on, and the hope of rescue fades, something real starts taking shape, built on who they are when everything else is stripped away.When they’re finally found, the world hasn’t changed. But they have. In the height of a modern media frenzy, learning to live as the people they’ve become will challenge not only their definition of survival, but love.
Book Meets World - Danielle Fishel, Rider Strong, and Will Friedle
Join Anderson’s Bookshop for an author event with Danielle Fishel, Rider Strong, and Will Friedle, to celebrate the release of Book Meets World: The Definitive Inside Story of the Hit Sitcom Boy Meets World, on Friday, November 20th at 7:00 pm in Pfeiffer Hall on the campus of North Central College.Event FormatWe will begin checking you in approximately 60 minutes before the start time. After a presentation and Q&A with the authors, the signing line will form in numbered order with the following guidelines: No posed photos allowed.Authors will sign and personalize 1 copy of the new book. The authors will not sign any memorabilia or photos. All events have open seating. The “Order Line Number” on your pdf ticket is your reserved place in the signing line. You will line up to meet the authors based on that number.If you cannot attend, you must pick up your book at the hosting store within 30 days of the event. We can ship that book to you for an additional charge of $9.99; please call the store to arrange that.Pre-registration is required for this event because space is limited. More about Book Meets World: "I know Mr. Feeny would've given this book an A+. Good job, kids. Class dismissed " --William Daniels, Mr. FeenyThe actors who played Topanga, Shawn, and Eric on Boy Meets World expand on their hit podcast, Pod Meets World, in a nostalgic behind-the-scenes history of the much-loved 90s sitcom, featuring untold stories and never-before-seen photos.Boy Meets World ran from 1993 to 2000, ushering its audience of tweens and teens into the new millennium. Over the course of its seven seasons, viewers fell in love with Cory Matthews and his friends and family--rooting for Topanga and Cory, brooding with Shawn, learning from Mr. Feeny, and laughing at the increasingly over-the-top character that was Eric. Today, the show continues to evoke warm feelings of nostalgia over a quarter of a century after it ended.Building on their incredibly successful podcast, Pod Meets World, Danielle Fishel, Rider Strong, and Will Friedle are here to share what it was like behind the scenes of the hit sitcom. The three podcast co-hosts and former cast members revisited the show they grew up on by watching the episodes (most of them for the first time ever) and interviewing dozens of the people who worked on Boy Meets World. And now they've written down all the memories--from hidden lobsters to prank wars to on-set notes sessions to castings that almost happened, and so much more.Reading Book Meets World is a glimpse behind the curtain from three friends who were there when it all happened, just as warm and funny an experience as watching the show for the very first time. Behind-the-Scenes Stories: From inside jokes that showed up on screen to epic notes sessions to laughter and tears on set, rediscover this fan-favorite sitcom with inside stories pulled from Pod Meets World interviews of the cast and crew, as well as brand-new interviews exclusive to this book.Never-Before-Seen Photos: Through dozens of personal photos from the set, including some that have never been shared before, get a nostalgic and candid look behind the scenes.Heartwarming Nostalgia: These three friends starred on Boy Meets World but only recently watched every episode for the first time. Their journey through the series they helped make is one of laughter, sweet memories, and even some tears. Join them as they rediscover and embrace the 90s sitcom so many love.About the Author: DANIELLE FISHEL is best known for her iconic role as Topanga on the ‘90s TGIF staple, Boy Meets World. She’d later reprise the role for Girl Meets World, a millennial reboot that ran for 3 seasons on the Disney Channel. Since 2017, Danielle has moved behind the camera, directing over fifty episodes of multi-camera television including Disney Channel's Wizards Beyond Waverly Place & Raven’s Home (for which she was nominated for 2 Emmy’s), ABC’s Shifting Gears and NBC’s Lopez vs Lopez. She co-hosts the hit iHeart Podcast, Pod Meets World, alongside her best friends and former costars, Will Friedle and Rider Strong – and hosts her own interview show, Teen Beat with Danielle Fishel. She most recently competed in the 34th season of Dancing with the Stars and it changed her life. No biggie. After being cast as Gavroche in Les Miserables at nine years old, RIDER STRONG began his career as an actor, becoming best known for his roles on Boy Meets World and the cult horror film, Cabin Fever. Moving behind the camera, Rider wrote and directed short films that have played over 60 festivals worldwide. He returned to his roots, this time as a director, for three seasons of the Emmy-nominated Girl Meets World. In addition to his screenwriting, Rider’s writing has appeared in The Believer, Bullet Magazine, Shondaland, and more. His play Never Ever Land premiered at Theatre Unleashed in the fall of 2019. He is the creator and co-host of the podcasts Literary Disco and Pod Meet World. In 2026, iHeart will release The Red Weather, an eight-part audio crime series written, directed, and starring Rider. WILL FRIEDLE’s extensive career has spanned three decades in sitcoms, movies, animated series and video games. He is best known as the underachieving older brother Eric Matthews on the classic TGIF staple Boy Meets World. Will also starred in classic movies such as Trojan War, My Date with the President’s Daughter and H.E. Double Hockey Sticks. Will is also a prolific VO actor having done hundreds of animated projects, starting in the mid-nineties as Batman for a new generation in the now iconic Batman Beyond. Other roles include Bumblebee in Transformers: Prime, Deadpool in Ultimate Spider-Man and Star-Lord in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. But to a generation of Disney fans, he’ll always be Ron Stoppable, sidekick to hero Kim Possible. Will can currently be heard as the co-host of the iHeart podcasts Pod Meets World, with Danielle Fishel and Rider Strong, and Magical Rewind with Sabrina Bryan.