Monday 13 April 2015

Review: Challenger Deep by 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.

A captivating and powerful novel that lingers long beyond the last page, Challenger Deep is a heartfelt tour de force by one of today's most admired writers for teens.


Kindle Edition, 320 pages
Expected publication: April 21st 2015 by HarperCollins

Terri's Thoughts

**I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher HarperCollins via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.  The expected publication date is April 21st 2015**

I have never in all my life read a book that pitted my objective side so far at odds with my emotional side.  My emotional side will tell you that I did not like this book at all however my objective side will rave about the genius of capturing the topic at hand, mental illness, within its pages.

Let me address my emotional view.  While I really get what Shusterman was trying to achieve with the plot, and acknowledge its brilliance, it did not capture my imagination.  I literally had to stop myself from skipping ahead during all passages about the ship and the captain.  Maybe my imagination is lacking or maybe my thinking is so linear that I couldn't embrace what was being done with the story.  Regardless this made the story very dull for me

BUT...

On the other hand, the parallel between "real life" and Caden's mind were very intelligent.  It described how one can slip in to mental illness and how reality can be distorted.  In my case I appreciated this more after the fact than while reading.  As a very relevant issue within our society I feel it is important to shed awareness on all types of mental illness.  This story highlighted it from an insiders perspective.

To summarize I am no less conflicted than when I first started typing this review.  The actual plot was difficult for me to get in to and I found the story much longer than the 320 pages it claims to be.  On the flip side the fact that it was a difficult read for me would suggest that it accomplished what it set out.  Wouldn't it?  This is one of those stories that I suggest people form their own opinion as opposed to taking the word of others.



About the Author

Award-winning author Neal Shusterman grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where he began writing at an early age. After spending his junior and senior years of high school at the American School of Mexico City, Neal went on to UC Irvine, where he made his mark on the UCI swim team, and wrote a successful humor column. Within a year of graduating, he had his first book deal, and was hired to write a movie script.

In the years since, Neal has made his mark as a successful novelist, screenwriter, and television writer. As a full-time writer, he claims to be his own hardest task-master, always at work creating new stories to tell. His books have received many awards from organizations such as the International Reading Association, and the American Library Association, as well as garnering a myriad of state and local awards across the country. Neal's talents range from film directing (two short films he directed won him the coveted CINE Golden Eagle Awards) to writing music and stage plays – including book and lyrical contributions to “American Twistory,” which is currently playing in Boston. He has even tried his hand at creating Games, having developed three successful "How to Host a Mystery" game for teens, as well as seven "How to Host a Murder" games.

As a screen and TV writer, Neal has written for the "Goosebumps" and “Animorphs” TV series, and wrote the Disney Channel Original Movie “Pixel Perfect”. Currently Neal is adapting his novel Everlost as a feature film for Universal Studios.

Wherever Neal goes, he quickly earns a reputation as a storyteller and dynamic speaker. Much of his fiction is traceable back to stories he tells to large audiences of children and teenagers -- such as his novel The Eyes of Kid Midas. As a speaker, Neal is in constant demand at schools and conferences. Degrees in both psychology and drama give Neal a unique approach to writing. Neal's novels always deal with topics that appeal to adults as well as teens, weaving true-to-life characters into sensitive and riveting issues, and binding it all together with a unique and entertaining sense of humor.

Of Everlost, School Library Journal wrote: “Shusterman has reimagined what happens after death and questions power and the meaning of charity. While all this is going on, he has also managed to write a rip-roaring adventure…”

Of What Daddy Did, Voice of Youth Advocates wrote; "This is a compelling, spell-binding story... A stunning novel, impossible to put down once begun.

Of The Schwa Was Here, School Library Journal wrote: “Shusterman's characters–reminiscent of those crafted by E. L. Konigsburg and Jerry Spinelli–are infused with the kind of controlled, precocious improbability that magically vivifies the finest children's classics.

Of Scorpion Shards, Publisher's Weekly wrote: "Shusterman takes an outlandish comic-book concept, and, through the sheer audacity and breadth of his imagination makes it stunningly believable. A spellbinder."

And of The Eyes of Kid Midas, The Midwest Book Review wrote "This wins our vote as one of the best young-adult titles of the year" and was called "Inspired and hypnotically readable" by School Library Journal.

Neal Shusterman lives in Southern California with his children Brendan, Jarrod, Joelle, and Erin, who are a constant source of inspiration.


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