Call number
Collection
Genres
Publication
Description
Young Adult Fiction. Young Adult Literature. HTML: National Book Award * Golden Kite Award Winner * Six Starred Reviews A captivating novel about mental illness that lingers long beyond the last page, Challenger Deep is a heartfelt tour de force by New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman. Caden Bosch is on a ship that's headed for the deepest point on Earth: Challenger Deep, the southern part of the Marianas Trench. Caden Bosch is a brilliant high school student whose friends are starting to notice his odd behavior. Caden Bosch is designated the ship's artist in residence to document the journey with images. Caden Bosch pretends to join the school track team but spends his days walking for miles, absorbed by the thoughts in his head. Caden Bosch is split between his allegiance to the captain and the allure of mutiny. Caden Bosch is torn. Challenger Deep is a deeply powerful and personal novel from one of today's most admired writers for teens. Laurie Halse Anderson, award-winning author of Speak, calls Challenger Deep "a brilliant journey across the dark sea of the mind; frightening, sensitive, and powerful. Simply extraordinary.".… (more)
User reviews
Quick & Dirty: An incredibly moving story on the progression of a teenage boy’s mental illness and the thinning veil between reality and make believe.
Opening Sentence: There are two things you know. One: You were there. Two: You couldn’t have been there.
The
I have probably read more books on mental illnesses in the last few months than I have altogether! It’s not a conscience effort on my part, there just seems to be greater emphasis on such issues of late, and I’m glad of it because it brings to light a taboo subject. The problem with popular themes is that after a few books, they start to sound the same and become easily forgettable. However, I’m glad to note that Challenger Deep stands out from all the other reads, if not for anything else but for the unusual concept of using pirates to explain the story!
The story is told from Caden’s perspective, a smart 15-year old who spends an increasing amount of time in his fantasy world, where he is a crew member of a pirate ship on its way to Challenger Deep; the deepest known part of the earth’s seabed. The progression of his illness and how it affects his life before he is rehabilitated was scary to read. Caden’s condition deteriorates until he can’t tell the difference between what is in his head and what is reality.
They [the voices] linger there on the edge of your consciousness like the things you hear just as you’re walking up, before the dream collapses under the crushing weight of the real world. But what if the dream doesn’t go away when you wake up? And what if you lose the ability to tell the difference?
I particularly enjoyed the eccentricities of the pirate crew, especially since they were based on actual people in Caden’s life. For example, Calliope the mermaid figurehead of the ship is based on Callie, a girl Caden likes in his psychiatric unit. He helps set the mermaid free, just like he helps Callie to get better and leave the hospital. The links between his fantasy life and real life made his journey all the more interesting. Once I realised the crew was based on people Caden knew, it became a guessing game, although truth be told, everyone but the captain was easy to guess.
Challenger Deep is a thought-provoking book without being so intense that it becomes depressing. Despite the serious topic base, there was plenty of humour, especially from events on the pirate ship. The chapters were very short; only 1-2 pages long and I found that made it far easier to read.
Caden’s a fascinating character and surprisingly, I didn’t pity him like I probably should have. In fact, his smart and honest nature was more to be envied. Even in his medicated and drug induced state, his witty comebacks made me chuckle. His take on life opened my eyes, especially with comments like: ‘You don’t so much sleep as borrow eight hours from death.’
Overall, this was an excellently written book, with some bizarre characters and a most interesting take on coping with a mental illness.
Notable Scene:
You know the voices aren’t talking into your ears, but they’re not exactly in your head either. They seem to call to you from another place that you’ve accidentally tapped into, like a cell phone pulling in a conversation in some foreign language – yet somehow you understand it. They linger there on the edge of your consciousness like the things you hear just as you’re walking up, before the dream collapses under the crushing weight of the real world. But what if the dream doesn’t go away when you wake up? And what if you lose the ability to tell the difference?
Additional Notable Scene:
In addition to the occasional shot of Haldol, I now take four pills, twice a day. One to shut down my thoughts, another to shut down my actions. A third to address the side effects of the first two. And a fourth so the third doesn’t feel lonely. The result leaves my brain somewhere in orbit beyond Saturn, where it can’t bother anyone, especially me.
FTC Advisory: HarperTeen provided me with a copy of Challenger Deep. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
Caden Bosch has problems. He is unable to tell the difference between what is real in the world around him and the world that is happening in his mind where he is on a journey toward the
A look at treatment, hospitalization, and the toll mental illness takes on family.
The book is peppered with drawings created by Shusterman's son done while he was dealing with his own bouts of schizophrenia.
Tweet Review: (okay, okay, it would really be two tweets, forgive me?)
Intense dive into one young man's battle with
My question to
The author has personally known
however, as the story went on, things became more
This book is a must read for anyone who is suffering from or has a loved one who struggles with mental illness. Being someone who does have loved ones struggling with mental illness, I felt that this book really gave me a better way to understand them and what they are going through, though it never really gets less scary for them or the people who care about them.
We listen to Caden's story as he falls deeper and deeper into psychosis. He hallucinates a world on a pirate ship and experiences paranoia
Caden is a brilliant, funny young man and it was a real treat to follow his progress through this ordeal.
With the help of my son, I've tried to capture what that descent was like...."
Caden's experience, his humor, his relationships with the other patients, his fears, are all wonderfully captured by Mr. Shusterman. It's a father's tell to tell, but the inclusion of his son's drawings make it even more personal. I appreciate the effort taken by these two to bring to light one person's struggle through mental illness.
Some good lines:
There are times I feel like I’m the kid screaming at the bottom of the well, and my dog runs off to pee on trees instead of getting help.
There are many ways in which the “check brain” light illuminates, but here’s the screwed-up part: the driver can’t see it. It’s like the light is positioned in the backseat cup holder, beneath an empty can of soda that’s been there for a month. No one sees it but the passengers—and only if they’re really looking for it, or when the light gets so bright and so hot that it melts the can, and sets the whole car on fire.
The deal with the devil is done. The lady with the cheeks and small glasses looks at you with a gaze of false but practiced kindness.
Then the poison they put in your ass reaches your brain, and your mind spreads thin like an oil slick on the surface of an ocean.
“I used to be afraid of dying. Now I’m afraid of not living. There’s a difference. We go through life planning for a future, but sometimes that future never comes.”
This was one of the hardest books I've ever read. I spent about three weeks on it, because I had
"Schizophrenia, schizoaffective, bipolar I, bipolar II, major depression, psychotic depression, obsessive/compulsive, and on, and on. The labels mean nothing, because no two cases are ever exactly alike. Everyone presents differently, and responds to meds differently, and no prognosis can truly be predicted."
The premise of the book, the idea and the message were fantastic. I also really recommend reading the footnote by the author, Neil Shusterman, as he explains how the topic of his book and his family are intimately related. That brought a whole new level of depth to the book.
So why only 3.5 stars? The book was great - there were so many amazing and quotable moments, if this wasn't a library copy, I'd have been highlighting the crap out of it. But where it was full of emotions it lacked in plot (for me at least). I found myself losing attention at the metaphoric parts and wanting to get to the real life parts. Later on in the book they merge and connect, but prior to that I have to admit, it was a bit confusing.
“You see demons in the eyes of the world, and the world sees a bottomless pit in yours.”
The book also deals with prejudice and wrong accusations. How people see somebody who is different and immediately assume that person is a drug addict. And when they realize what's happening it is often way too late.
I believe that this book will help many people - it will show them that they are not alone, that no matter what they might be feeling, no matter how ludicrous it may be, there is somebody out there who had felt the same way, or still is.
But I also believe that this book might trigger many others. The emotions in the book were so real you can feel them dripping off the pages. Caden's fears and his paranoia are contagious, and if you are not careful enough it will get you. It didn't help that I am already a hypochondriac and an ocd (self diagnosed, of course, but these things you just know). I kept thinking - am I going to spiral down one day? I have some symptoms, so is it a challenger deep for me too?
Nobody ever likes to feel powerless, but when I read Challenger Deep I felt it - inability to help Caden, or others like Caiden - because only they can help themselves. Sure, doctors and nurses and medicine stabilize people, but in the end the journey is only that person's to take.
Challenger Deep also gave me a new perspective on brain altering medicine. I still don't exactly know how I feel about it, but I do realize now that sometimes that is all doctors have - their best is just a guess, and sometimes that guess works and sometimes it doesn't.
“The fear of not living is a deep, abiding dread of watching your own potential decompose into irredeemable disappointment when 'should be' gets crushed by what is. Sometimes I think it would be easier to die than to face that, because 'what could have been' is much more highly regarded than 'what should have been.' Dead kids are put on pedestals, but mentally ill kids get hidden under the rug.”
I'd definitely recommend this book, but I will also say - be ready, this is not the easiest journey you will ever read through. And it will stay with you forever.
One of the most striking things about “Challenger Deep” is how Shusterman frames it, in that it’s a very disorienting read for the reader, giving him or her a sense of what constant disorientation may feel like for those who are struggling with mental illness. Shusterman is careful to not put any kind of mental disorder into a box, and does take care to mention that this one experience that Caden is having is not necessarily universal to all people who suffer from schizophrenia. The story is all from Caden’s perspective, but you do kind of get insight into what those who are around him may be feeling based on their reactions and the decisions that they make. The parallels between what is going on in Caden’s ‘reality’ and what is going on on ‘the ship’ was very interesting to see, and it was powerful to be able to see the glimpses of reality within the hallucinations (the captain, the figurehead, etc).
I also liked that Shusterman never felt condescending or cloying in his storytelling, and never got preachy about what Caden should or shouldn’t do, or should or shouldn’t feel. He presents a situation and lets the reader decide for themselves what conclusions to draw. He also doesn’t wrap everything up in a neat little bow; you get the sense that things aren’t over for Caden and that he will always have these struggles. As hard as that is to accept, it’s also very realistic, as mental illness is for many people something they are going to have their entire lives, degrees of seriousness changing all the time. It’s a realistic take, but it doesn’t feel bleak or nihilistic. Given that this book is so personal for Shusterman and his family, I’m not surprised that he didn’t approach it with easy answers or cut and dry solutions. I think that it’s very important that teens can see this kind of story, so that they can either see themselves in a book, or they can gain some insight into something that those close to them may be dealing with.
“Challenger Deep” is a poignant and powerful novel, and I’m pleased that we kicked off our B-Sides Book Club Theme with it!
-----
I had never read anything by Shusterman until I picked up “Scythe” last summer. So all I knew was that I liked him as a dystopian, YA author. Tackling a tough subject like mental illness is another thing all together! But I should have had faith, as Shusterman once again blew me away with his sensitive, unflinching yet compassionate, tale.
As Kate already touched on, one of the strongest aspects of this story is the subtle manner in which Shusterman depicts the slow, almost unnoticeable, descent into confusion and paranoia that Caden slips into. The reader, too, is unsure of what is happening, not only with the events on the ship, but the timeline between one section and another. It isn’t until halfway through the story that I was able to begin to piece together these two disparate storylines. This perfectly aligns with the point at which Caden, too, begins to gain a bit of clarity, though he is by no means out of the woods.
The ship itself, obviously, is an extensive metaphorical look into the world that Caden has projected around himself. However, for readers looking to gain more insight into what loved ones experiencing mental health challenges are going through, the author also sprinkles in some shockingly simple but apt comparisons that I found incredibly insightful and helpful. In this way, the book speaks not only to an “own experience” reader looking to see themselves and their challenges on the page, but also as a perfect portal for friends and family to understand a bit better what could be going on. As Kate said, Shusterman is careful to never imply that this is by any means a road map for all mental health experiences and that even any given diagnosis is not the same for every individual experiencing it.
It is clear that Shusterman was writing from a very real place, having been the parent of a teenage boy who struggled with mental health. His son not only provided insights to help direct the creation of this story, but there are also images sprinkled throughout the story that Shusterman’s son drew in the midst of his own crisis. Every time a new image appeared, I found myself taking quite a bit of time looking at it. Most were unclear, scribble-like creations that, while not clearly depicting a scene or object, spoke quite strongly to the swirl of emotions that its creator felt. Caden’s own art and his use of it to not only express himself but what he sees in others was also a great lens through which to read his experiences. His family and friends first begin to note changes in him by the changes in his art, and Caden uses his artistic ability to get at deep truths of the other teens he meets who have their own struggles.
I absolutely adored this story, and it was a great start to our new season of bookclub!