Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman

[Jennifer]

An absolute stunner. Caden Bosch is living in two worlds. The first is where he obsessively tries to hide his paranoia, delusions and compulsions from his friends, family and teachers. He also lives on a ship with a captain, a parrot and other people on their way to Challenger Deep.

After his parents put him in a hospital and Caden begins receiving treatment for schizophrenia, the reader is taken back and forth between the lucidity and incoherence of Caden's mind.

The writing is excellent, and the sea chapters prove a worthy metaphor for Caden's situation. Shusterman's son provided the drawings in the book, and they add a depth to the story that illuminates Caden's struggle with what's real and what's not.

Definite Printz contender.