YA Book Review: Challenger Deep and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Hello! Books that I am reviewing this week are “Challenger Deep” by Neal Shusterman and “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian” by Sherman Alexie. Both books are YA Books, told from a high school boy’s perspective, and are National Book Award Winners. Both of these reviews are a bit longer than my usual posts. “Challenger Deep” is more of a difficult read with its narratives, different characters, and Caden’s mental illness. “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” also tackles challenging topics that are not discussed enough today for more positive affirmative action to be taken on Native American Reservations. 

Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman 

The book was interesting because it was a braided narrative between Caden’s real life and his imaginary world where he is on a pirate ship. The book had the themes of mental illness, growing up, and Caden’s personal battle between imagination vs. reality. Overall, I liked the book, the plot moved quickly, the braided sections were interesting in their own ways. The pirate ship narrative had many quirky characters and strange events that happened. 

Caden is a sarcastic- witty character who feels misunderstood and does a poor job at standing up for himself. Caden is in high school, but then he is admitted to a mental health clinic, where he is treated for depression, anxiety, and hallucinations. His symptoms start off slow and gradually become worse throughout the book. Although the doctors do not specifically give Caden the diagnosis of schizophrenia until later on in the book, his hallucinations of being on a pirate ship start at the beginning of the novel. 

Even though Caden’s symptoms get worse like him being grumpy and confusing imaginary places for reality, one notable characteristic about Caden is that he pays attention to others around him and expresses empathy for others. Caden speaks up during group talk at the clinic, and sometimes his opinions and thoughts are extremely blunt and hurtful. At times, I wish a therapist in the book would have challenged Caden’s bitterness to help him see different perspectives. Although Caden is blunt for most of his conversations with others, he is an honest character. 

Throughout the book, Caden is aboard a pirate ship sailing through the pacific ocean to the Marina Trench, the deepest part of the ocean. The Captain has pirate related tasks for Caden to do on the ship, and life on the ship isn’t pleasant for Caden because he is lonely and many of the other characters on the pirate ship are seen as super valuable to the Captain or unimportant. 

Caden finds a girlfriend in the mental health clinic, but their relationship is short lived because she also never writes to Caden after her release. She is also not able to conceptualize being in a relationship with Caden once she is back released from the clinic. 

One part that I found confusing was when the Captain branded Caden with the letter “F” on his forehead. The only time this event was brought up in the text is on page 63. The Captain brands Caden because he thinks Caden is boasting about receiving an A on a school project, and the Captain isn’t happy. Throughout the book the reader sees the Captain being delusional and sometimes his plans are more vengeful rather than heroic. 

The Captain turns out to be a character Caden created in his mind, a homeless man in New York City by the subway station is Caden’s inspiration. Many of the other characters are from Caden’s real life, some having the same name others having different pirate ship names. A lot of them are minor characters and can be confusing for a reader to understand without taking notes. 

The climax of the book is slightly unrealistic because Caden goes down into the Challenger Deep, the deepest part of the ocean, and there is a hurricane happening so he is able to touch the ocean floor, just by standing without scuba gear. The parrot who Caden kills comes back to life, and helps Caden at the end of story with encouraging words. In real time, he is released from the mental health clinic, and he goes back to live with his family. 

The ending of the book shows Caden has matured emotionally and socially as a character  because the Captain has a new life where he is younger and is on a yacht with many pretty women. He asks Caden if he wants to join. Caden says no, and then turns away.  

Caden’s story is sad, and when is in the hospital he is mediated for mental illness. I think the book and Caden as a character would have done better if Caden was questioned by a therapist with some different perspectives to help him see his outlook/ perspective on life a little better. I wish the book had more information about schizophrenia because although the illness is mentioned, along with schizoaffective disorder, bipolar, depression, and anxiety, there isn’t much information explaining the symptoms and treatments of the illnesses. 

When Caden ends up in group therapy, it is eye opening and shocking to him because there are patients his age that have had traumatic events happen to them. I think this part is important in the book because it shows Caden’s age as a sophomore in high school- still young and centered on himself but also shows he is growing up as a character by hearing and empathizing about events that have happened to young adolescents his age. His personal symptoms  include  hallucinations (which start in the hospital), zoning out, a bitter, sarcastic attitude, and not paying attention in class. On page 104, Caden admits to having voices in his head that aren’t his. His symptoms and personal issues are never discussed in group therapy, rather it’s his attitude toward the day and him defending/ questioning other high school students in therapy. I’m not sure if group therapy was the best option for Caden, but it helped him see other perspectives. 

Overall I enjoyed the book. I used sticky notes again for this book to understand the characters a little better and to help locate where in the book the plot event happens. Because Caden is a likeable character, it would be interesting if there was a sequel to the novel to show if he still has schizophrenia or if the mediation helped him live a normal life. Shusterman does a good job adding details to describe the plot and characters on the pirate ship. The narrative of the pirate ship paints a picture inside the reader’s mind, and helps the reader see how schizophrenia is affecting Caden. 

The Absolutely True Diary of Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie 

I technically read this one over the summer, but I didn’t know if I wanted to make a post about this book. Although it is a National Book Winner and brings awareness to many modern day issues on Native American reservations, the main character acts younger than most of the YA books I have read, and the plot moves fast with lots of events that happen from the beginning to the end.  

The main character’s name in this book is Junior. He is on an Indian reservation, and he transfers to the upper middle class white school because there aren't enough opportunities or educational resources for Junior at the school on reservation. The book follows his early high school months with the drama and issues that happen to him and his family. His grandmother passes away, his dad’s best friend passes away, his older sister gets married to a guy she randomly met at the Casino, Junior makes the basketball team, and he gets the chance to play against the team on reservation. The book also details the fights and arguments that Junior gets into. Junior threw a book across the classroom on reservation and then he argued with the teacher because the books were old and outdated. Junior also has issues fitting in with his new classmates at Reardan high school. 

“The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” deals with issues such as bullying, racism, and hardships for Native Americans living on a reservation. Although the internet states that the book is set in the year 2006, the book with its themes and issues seems to have almost been set in the 90's. The book touches on an important conversation of alcoholism and its detriment to the Native American culture. It also demonstrates how painful it can be to one community, a single family, and the effects it has on the individuals living with a culture of alcoholism. The book explains the disadvantages of living on the reservation without much potential for new careers or great education. There is also guilt about leaving the reservation because the person is missing their family and traditions. There are still Native American Reservations in the US today in 2025. 

Alexie’s writing style is more direct and simple compared to other YA books. There is a large portion of dialogue in the book, and it helps create the plot, and it shows the importance of conservation in the novel. Junior’s voice in the book is witty, sarcastic, and optimistic even though bad things keep happening to him. The book includes comic strip drawings of the events that are happening, and the artist is Junior who helps illustrate to the reader about how he feels about certain events. Most of the comic strips show some type of extreme emotion or an exaggeration on how Junior feels about a situation. Some of the book and captions of the comics are dry humor and pokes fun at whatever major problem the character is facing.  

Junior enjoys the sport basketball and makes the high school team. He is one the coach’s main players because although he's short, he is still quicker than most of team. Junior also has a disability with water on his brain, and is small for his age. His height and disability don't  interfere with much, but he got bullied when he was on reservation, and he was mocked when he transferred to the public school. Junior transferring schools helps him have the opportunity to play basketball which he might not have had on reservation.  

The climax of the book is a basketball game between Reardan’s high school and Spokane Indian Reservation’s high school. Junior’s team wins the game with Junior scoring points for his team and ultimately becoming a star. There is an argument between him and his best friend Rowdy (who plays for the Spokane’s team) which gets resolved by the end of the book, but the boys’ friendship is put to the test with the basketball competition.  

Friendships and relative relationships are important to Junior throughout the book which is why the book is a difficult read. The apparent issues on reservation lead to Junior getting into trouble at school and there are also issues in his home life too. There isn’t much guidance that Junior can seek out like a school counselor or a responsible adult to tell him there are a lot of issues happening in his life and how to address them. Junior does his best by switching schools, trying to get good grades, making new friends, keeping his old ones, and joining the basketball team. He also does a good job of grieving the loss of his family members, questioning his sister’s impulsive choices, and listening to adults in his life with life wisdom to share.

In conclusion, Alexie does a good job on illustrating real life issues that are happening on Native American reservations and does a good job illustrating how a young male high school student would face those issues. It’s difficult because in the text it states that both Junior’s parents are smart, they just haven’t had the opportunities to be able to create a normal life. They both should have higher paying jobs but don't because there aren’t any high paying jobs on reservation. The book was a good read, and eye opening that there still are issues on Native American reservations. 

Thank you for reading!