Shusterman has been a favorite author of mine for years. I love his unforgettable stories and his unique way of telling them. The last few books I've read by him, however, have been somewhat disappointing. So I picked this one up out of a sense of obligation rather than a real desire to read it and I wasn't sure I'd enjoy it at all.
I was very pleasantly shocked.
"Challenger Deep" tells the story of Caden Bosch, who bounces between the psych ward he's in and a ship with a mystical crew and a terrifying captain. The beginning of the book was somewhat confusing, but the further I got into it, the clearer things became and soon, I was hooked.
This book resonated with me in a big way because I work at a facility similar to the one Caden experiences. It was fascinating and heartbreaking to be on "the other side of the glass," as Caden says.
Mr. Shusterman is definitely back to being one of my favorites.