MindWorks: An Uncanny Compendium of Short Fiction by Neal Shusterman is an anthology with clever and quirky stories. MindWorks is the title, and the anthology gives an insight into how Neal Shusterman’s mind works. The stories mostly feature teenagers, with the narratives balancing between middle-grade and young adult genres. Some of the stories feature inanimate items becoming real. The stories’ subjects include gun violence, abandonment, loneliness, isolation, fear, and the environment. Shusterman has a way of approaching topics in humorous and slightly off-kilter ways of viewing the world. Despite the humor and quirkiness of the approach, the stories do not talk down to the reader. They deal with real subject matter in a fun way. Shusterman is the creative mind behind the Scythe series and has two new short stories in that world. Other stories include a talking dolphin who runs for president. A teddy bear turns into a real bear. A cooked turkey becomes real. A haunted Christmas tree comes to life. Two kids jokingly sell a bag of wind, which happens to be real. The collection offers a wide range of stories. Some are short and only a page long. Others, however, are longer and nearly qualify as a novelette. I was able to read a shortened version of MindWorks featuring the first 24 short stories. The collection has 19 more stories, including the two new Scythe stories. I was able to read MindWorks early thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing. Mindworks by Neal Shusterman was published on November 18, 2025.

Why did I read MindWorks by Neal Shusterman? I’m a huge fan of Shusterman and his Arc of the Scythe series. So I jumped at the chance to read new stories in that series. I may have cried a little when they were not included in this copy. But Shusterman is a great writer who thinks outside of the box and is truly unique.

I read and ranked all 24 short stories included in this version of the collection. I wrote a brief description of the stories. I also made notes about what I liked and did not like about them. I have ranked all the stories from favorite to least favorite in categories of 5, 4, 3, and 2 stars.

5 Stars:

Presumed Destroyed with Brendan Shusterman is about the life of a handgun. At first, the gun is about to be destroyed, but then it is saved and illegally sold. It is sold and sold again, passing the hands of three individuals. The story is very powerful and looks at the heart of gun violence in America. The story reminded me of Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds. I like that the gun has a conscience and does not want violence.

Pea Soup is an interesting horror story. A family is on a road trip, and they keep seeing billboards for Pea Soup. It gets in their head that they need it, and when they taste it, they become addicted. It reminded me of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. But they wanted to rule the world with Pea Soup. This one gave Goosebumps vibes. The imagery is really good and a little scary.

Obsidian Sky is about a boy curious about bats, and a strange girl who knows where they come from. An investigation will change his life. This story is very metaphoric. The language and the imagery are written beautifully. The story dips into body horror. The ending was perfect for this story. I love the message of the story. The last line enforces the concept.

A Unity of (Purpose) is a political satire about electing a sentient dolphin as president. The title references a translation mix-up. Where the dolphin said, a unity of purpose, but the translator said a unity of porpoise. This gaffe hurts his election. The opposition party wants Ling-o the panda, who has just saved a child in a zoo, to run. The story is hilarious. I will not spoil who the potential running mate is. But it is hilarious. The story took me a second to figure out what was going on, but the writing is good. The story is very out of the box and fun. The humor is smart. The more serious the story gets, the funnier the story is. The political spin on the Ling-o the panda was great.

Ralphy Sherman’s Bag of Wind is about two kids who mess with another kid. The kids sell him a bag of wind through snickering grins. The kids don’t believe in the bag of wind, but the kid who bought it does. They are all about to feel the power of wind and belief. I loved this middle grade story. It reminds me of Sideways Stories from Wayside School. The story mixes the heart and the humor so well. The story was just fun, but also well-written.

Non-Player Character by Neal and Brendan Shusterman is about Darion. He is a boy who is ignored by his parents. They favor an interactive zombie video game over him. Darion hasn’t played the game even though his family bought him a headset. He watches them play and notices an NPC in the game looking at him. He decides to enter the game to talk to her. I really liked this story; it had me guessing the direction it was going. I like that it covered absentee parents and abandonment.

The In Crowd is about a loner, Alana, who has been in and out of foster homes. She feels like a loner and has decided to live her life like it. When she finds a boy crying, he goes to talk to him. He is a people person who can’t be around people. He was the last person seen when a group of kids went missing. Something is not making sense. She finds out his secret, but it might make her disappear.

Dawn Terminator is an apocalyptic story. It is about the sun going supernova. A family tries to make it to the Arctic. They go to the Arctic to escape the sun, since it is dark for 3 months. The destruction that is described is very effective. Poor San Francisco. The story is compelling. You can feel the desperation. It reminded me of the movie 2012. I liked Lauren and what she did with her artistic talent.

Bad Fortune at Richard Yee’s is about Robin and her family. They have a tradition of going to Richard Yee’s, a Chinese restaurant, and everyone reading the fortune out loud. Once Robin’s aunt read a fortune meant as a joke that predicted her aunt’s death. Since that day, Robin has not opened any cookies and instead has been reading ones she made herself. But something changed, and now she is haunted by fortune cookies. There’s a slight cosmic horror vibe to this story. The ending was great, one of my favorites in this collection. The premise gets a little ridiculous and repetitive, but it maintains its fun.

4 Stars:

Terrible Tannenbaum is about a family purchasing a haunted Christmas tree. The story was very clever. It was a very subtle horror, but it was effective. The tree doesn’t talk or anything, but is still a presence. The 3 siblings have good banter. The ending was quirky but worked.

The Bob Squad is about Bobby. He awakes from a dream with 7 strangers in business suits and clipboards staring at him. The strangers can do incredible things like walk through walls and pull objects out of nothing. The story has a great twist that I will not reveal here. The story is very fun and quirky. It made me chuckle a couple of times. This story reminded me of Goosebumps a lot. Especially the final twist.

Boy on a Stoop is about a young teenager who has no friends. She finds a handsome boy on the stoop in a row of condemned buildings. She sees him every day on her way to school, where he will smile and enjoy the sun. She gets up the courage to talk to him and finds they have a lot in common. He sees her and wants to show her his place, which is deep in the condemned buildings. This story is about trusting strangers. The story is also about teen loneliness and what you would do for a friend. This is a horror story with scary and creepy moments. This story is more YA than some others. The beginning is a little slow. The imagery is good, and I did like the ending.

Midnight Michelangelo is about a graffiti artist who calls himself the Midnight Michelangelo. His art is horror or futuristic. He watches his art, the Martians change from happy face to angry, and they get painted over. He started painting more horrific imagery than he had in mind. His art has started coming alive, taunting him. I like the way the story slowly ramps up the horror. The horror felt Lovecraftian. The ending was good. I like the way he fought back. And what was behind the horror in his head.

The Shit on Our Shoes is about Lowell, an orphaned boy on the spaceship Primodius. The vessel is for colonists to secure the new planet. Lowell is made fun of for his bad odor. He is a farmer and does not want to waste the water. The new planet is less than a month away. What Lowell can’t figure out is how the water supply is low. This question leads him to discover what the real purpose of the colony is. The story was good, but a little too slow. It builds up to an exciting ending, but the story is a bit of a slow burn. I like the character of Mr. Beausoleil, the only living first-generation colonist. The conspiracy was good, and how Lowell figured it out. And what he now has to do to survive it. The story reminded me of Wool by Hugh Howey.

Ralphy Sherman’s Jacuzzi of Wonders is a humorous story. It involves a brother and sister who have to share a hot tub with their father’s new girlfriend. The brother and sister clearly do not like her. They reveal various family secrets. These secrets can’t be true. Or can they? The story was a great use of sarcasm. I liked the story. Shusterman flips the already odd moment on its head. The siblings reminded me of the kids on Bob’s Burgers.

Butterball is a flash fiction about a cooked turkey escaping the oven and more. The story is 1 page long. It is humorous and a good idea. I wanted it to continue a little more. The end line was okay, and could have been better.

Number Two is a flash fiction piece that is a page long. The twist is at the end, and it was good. This reminded me a lot of a digital called Life of Pumpkin. I was confused on this one, trying to figure it out until the end, where I chuckled. The story has some great personification.

The Living Place is about a family moving into a new house. They discover a place in their backyard that cures illness. The story is kind of a take on The Secret Garden. But the story takes a turn when this place full of life becomes effective. The story could be a metaphor for pollution. I thought this story had the best prose. There are some beautiful descriptions. The story was a little too predictable and easy to figure out where it was going.

3 Stars:

Fear-for-All is about Seth, who is fearless but obsessed with fear since he is not afraid of anything. He gets accepted into Oakheart Academy, where every student has an irrational fear but him. But he has a purpose, and one he might fear the results of. This story was interesting. The ending was okay for me; I wanted more explanation for how the end turned out for Seth. The fears were interesting.

Opabinia is about Myles. He keeps being visited by time travelers set to give him a message. However, they keep appearing in walls and other things. One finally makes contact and says he is destined to watch prehistoric sea creatures at the Burgess Shale. He receives a time machine. The time traveler tells him he is destined to push the button to travel 5000 years into the past. The story is a little mixed.

I, of the Storm is about a family trip to a Mexico City museum. The museum is filled with Aztec and Inca statues of Gods. Aishia is responsible for her baby brother Karson, who likes to run and hide. He stands in an area where he is not allowed to be, a place reserved for a new statue. Aishia finds him, and he runs away, but this time she can’t find him at all. The family stayed in Mexico for weeks, and couldn’t find him.

Smells Like Kafka is about a young girl who can not seem to fit in. Her parents aren’t really there. She was raised by her aunt. When her parents arrive, they give extravagant gifts, like a teddy bear that is life-sized. She wishes her life were better, and the Teddy Bear named Kafka becomes real. The story had an interesting take on dependency. I liked the resolution with the parents and what it means for the future. The story was thoughtful and an interesting take on stuffed animals becoming real.
The writing was okay. The story didn’t really grab me.

Special Deliverance is about a delivery boy who has to make a special delivery to hell. The story is short. It is quirky, but it did not always land. I thought the story idea was okay. I like the ending, but I hated the final line. This story was just okay.

2 Stars:

Majority Rules is about a person who is a fulcrum in arguments of the world. Is the Earth round or Flat? When the fulcrum is the tie breaker, our reality shifts in that direction. The fulcrum has to decide once again. The story is okay. It is a good idea, but I was not a fan of the way this story was told.

Recommendation: Since I did not read the full copy, I can not give a recommendation.

Rating: MindWorks by Neal Shusterman. I will not rate yet. I have rated 24 out of the 43 stories so far.