Generally,В I was riveted while reading this book.В Even after my first read and when I already knew how it was going to end, I still enjoyed the ride and sat at the edge of my seat.В This book isВ veryВ character/emotion driven, and if youвЂ™re more of an action/plot person, this book may not be for you.В Challenger DeepВ is more about personal discoveries and emotional acceptance than anything else. Reading this book several years ago, and even now during this reread,В opened my eyes to the struggles others endure in their every-day lives.В ItвЂ™s heartbreaking that many mental illnesses are often dismissed because theyвЂ™re not as common as anxiety or depression, but books likeВ Challenger DeepВ are important because they highlight some aspects of mental health which would otherwise not be shared. For 14-year-old Caden Bosch, his gradual descent into schizophrenia is a quest to reach. Fantasy becomes reality in an exploration of mental illness based partly on the experiences of the author's son, who is also the bookвЂ™s illustrator. While the media seems to have gotten better with the way this is handled, itвЂ™s still not good enough, and not much better at all. by Neal Shusterman illustrated by Brendan Shusterman RELEASE DATE: April 21, 2015. Printz Honor bookand is in development with Universal Studios as a feature film. He won the 2015 National Book Award for Young PeopleвЂ™s Literature for Challenger Deepand his novel, Scythe, was a 2017 Michael L. Of course, everyone experiences mental illnesses differently.В But unfortunately, in todayвЂ™s world, a lot of people have no idea what to think about many mental illnesses.В IвЂ™m ashamed that I grew up thinking schizophrenia was synonymous with вЂњmultiple personality disorderвЂќ (which is now referred to as Dissociative Identity Disorder).В For some reason, the media often portrayed mental illnesses however they wanted and in a simplified manner, so that people like me were often sheltered from discovering what it was actually like to have those illnesses. About Neal Neal Shusterman is the New York Times best-selling author of over thirty novels for children, teens, and adults. Knowing this also helped me to understand the severity of this story, and how real it can be for some people. IвЂ™m usually hesitant about reading/talking about mental illness-related books, since some of them are not told by people who have experienced the mental illness themselves.В However,В Challenger DeepВ was heavily inspired by Neal ShustermanвЂ™s son, and his experiences with schizophrenia.

While the unique alternating realities are special, I also love that this story itself just feels so touching, heart-breakingly raw, and wildly separate from reality at the same time.В There are certain scenes in this book which may seem crazy and unrealistic, butвЂ¦В if you keep on reading, everything will eventually fall into place.В YouвЂ™ll begin to understand all of the strange happenings, and why Caden sees the world in the way that he does. Challenger DeepВ is told in an unusual way: the story unfolds through short, alternating chapters conveying the main character as both a regular teenage boy and a pirate on a ship.В While this may seem strange to some readers, this may have been one of the reasons why I loved it.

Book reviews for kids challenger deep