Caden Bosch is a boy who is torn. A brilliant student with odd mannerisms, the resident artist on a ship bound for the deepest point on Earth in the Marianas Trench who vacillates between allegiance and mutiny, and a “pretend member” of the track team who’d prefer to take long walks while milling through the many convoluted thoughts in his head.
The author transports readers effortlessly into the tenuous psyche of this struggling teen. Brimming with heart-wrenching emotion and sprinkled with illustrations from Shusterman’s son Brendan, Challenger Deep is a frightening and powerful glimpse into a juvenile mind riddled with illness.