Challenger Deep
FlumeAward – Challenger Deep Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman
This is a pretty hard book to follow. Not sure most kids have the where-with-all to stick with it. The main character struggles with a serious mental health issue and it is not always easy to tell what is reality and what is going on inside his head. Definitely would not put this into a middle school collection. It is the kind of book that I would
really have to know the reader in order to recommend it. Love the darkness of most of Neal Shusterman’s work, sorry that I can’t share this with more readers.
Meg M
Conway El
Read this book if you are a Shusterman fan. But don’t expect this to be one of his typical books. They are good books, but this book surpasses them all. Read this book if you want to see how a metaphor/analogy can be extended through an entire book. And expect to be amazed at how wonderful Shusterman does this. Read this book if you want an honest, complex, sometimes confusing, but unbelievably insightful story of teen mental illness. You will find beauty in the horror, pain, and sadness, and you will appreciate the bravery it took to write this. Read this book for an experience you will never forgot. You will feel like you are in a surreal painting; that’s how masterful Shusterman writes this.
Just read this book. And don’t be like me and read it too quickly (unless you plan to read it again). Read it slowly and savor it. Despite my rave reviews for this book, I’m worried that some will find it difficult to follow and will not understand what Shusterman is doing in the story.
Kelly Budd, Keene High School
I agree with everything that Kelly said. This book is unlike any I’ve read before and Shusterman does it masterfully. But I found it difficult to follow at first and I’m not sure high school readers will be able ti stick with it.
Heidi Grant, Nashua High School North