A Little Background on Challenger Deep:

The title was one he stumbled on when helping his son with a school project about the Mariana Trench. Challenger Deep is the ‘very cool’ name given to the deepest part of the ocean. The name appealed to Shusterman, but he didn’t have a story to go along with it, so he used it as a placeholder title whenever he signed a contract for which he didn’t yet have a book idea.

And then his eldest son began to experience anxiety so severe that he believed his thoughts were responsible for causing earthquakes and other natural disasters. He was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. As he began to emerge from this crisis at around 20, Shusterman asked him what it had felt like when he was in the grips of his mental illness. His son said it was like being at the bottom of the ocean, screaming, but nobody could hear you.

That was when Shusterman knew what CHALLENGER DEEP would be about. With his son’s permission, he began to write a fantasy about a pirate ship in which the main character realizes his journey is nothing but a delusion and has to force his way back from the bottom of the ocean to the surface.

Excerpts from an interview with Neal Shuster about writing Bruiser.

Bruiser alternates among four points of view: Brontë, Tennyson, Brewster and Cody, Brewster’s brother. Why did you tell the story in this way?
I’m always looking for new ways of telling stories—or at least ways that I haven’t tried before. I liked the challenge of coming up with four distinct voices that combined into a coherent whole.

The chapters narrated by Brewster are in verse, mixing up the rhythm of the book and providing a strong visual shift on the page. What do you hope this style conveys about the character’s thoughts and personality?
I wanted to show the contrast between the way he’s perceived vs. who he really is—his outward vs. his inner life. I felt that the verse was a way of making his character not only unique, but rich in ways we never expected.

Tennyson notes that pain is “rightfully ours, because everyone must feel their own pain—and as awful as that is, it’s also wonderful.” Can you elaborate on that statement? Do you think teens recognize the truth in the oxymoron?

Things can only be defined in relation to their opposite. The idea of being “happy” 24/7 is ridiculous. How would we even know what “happy” is, if we haven’t experienced unhappiness? How would we ever be able to appreciate joy, if we’ve never been in emotional pain? Our society is so much about either hiding or denying emotional “bad stuff,” I wanted to point out that it is our experiencing of the full range of human emotions that makes us complete human beings. So often teenagers feel that, when they go through dark times, it’s the end of the world. I want to remind them that “this too shall pass,” and if there’s something that brings you pain, always remember that it is merely setting the stage for something else that will bring you joy.