Challenger Deep: Chapters 33–64

by Neal Shusterman
This powerful novel explores mental illness through the perspective of Caden Bosch, a teenager with schizophrenia.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–32, Chapters 33–64, Chapters 65–98, Chapters 99–129, Chapters 130–161

Here are links to our lists for other works by Neal Shusterman: Scythe, Dry
40 words 17 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. camaraderie
    the quality of affording easy familiarity and sociability
    Lately there’s this subway-like bubble of isolation around me, and when I’m in a place filled with camaraderie, like on a team, it’s only worse.
  2. mettle
    the courage to carry on
    “Caden, I have fer you a challenge,” the captain says, “to prove whether or not you have the mettle for the mission.”
  3. odious
    extremely repulsive or unpleasant
    Then, gauging my continued reluctance, he snarls, “You’ve been to the crow’s nest, haven’t you? You’ve been partaking of its odious libations. I can see it in your eyes!”
  4. libation
    a serving of an alcoholic beverage
    Then, gauging my continued reluctance, he snarls, “You’ve been to the crow’s nest, haven’t you? You’ve been partaking of its odious libations. I can see it in your eyes!”
  5. barnacle
    marine crustacean with feathery food-catching appendages
    I am to shimmy out to the very tip of the pole with no protection but my balance to keep me from plunging into the sea, where I would be taken down beneath the ship, and shredded by its barnacle-encrusted hull.
  6. reminiscent
    serving to bring to mind
    And her face—it’s not so much familiar as it is reminiscent of girls I’ve seen in secret fantasies.
  7. lore
    knowledge gained through tradition or anecdote
    “Very good,” says the captain. “Well-spoken! You know your lore.”
    “Lore-master,” says the parrot. “Make him Lore-master.”
    “A clear choice,” the captain agrees. “You shall be our designated expert on lore.”
  8. unabridged
    not shortened by condensing or rewriting
    “Then learn.” The captain reaches to a shelf I didn’t know was there a moment ago, grabs a volume the size of an unabridged dictionary, and slams it down on the table in front of the poor kid.
  9. dearth
    an insufficient quantity or number
    “So who is the challenger?” asks the kid with a dearth of cheekbones.
  10. anachronistic
    chronologically misplaced
    The captain folds his arms. “How very anachronistic of you,” he says.
  11. idle
    without a basis in reason or fact
    The prophet snickers, the lore-master groans, and everyone else waits to see whether or not it’s an idle threat.
  12. insolent
    marked by casual disrespect
    “You are all dismissed,” the captain says. “All except for our insolent F.”
  13. bulkhead
    a partition that divides a ship or plane into compartments
    Two of the nameless ship’s officers hold me against the bulkhead, and although I fight, I can’t get free.
  14. rile
    disturb, especially by minor irritations
    “This is all the parrot’s fault,” the captain tells me. “And Carlyle’s. The two of them put ideas in your head, and get you all riled up when I’m not around.”
  15. proboscis
    a long flexible snout as of an elephant
    “Ah, here’s the proboscis!” he says.
    “What’s that?” I ask, realizing too late that it’s a word I’d rather not have defined.
    “Its stinger. The sting is the only pain you’ll feel. Then you’ll drift off as easily as falling asleep.”
  16. manifest
    a document listing the contents put on a ship or plane
    The girl with blue hair is made Mistress of the Treasury and is given a trunkful of manifests from sunken ships.
  17. dismal
    causing dejection
    The choker-girl is in charge of morale—odd because she’s always so dismal.
    “We’re all gonna die, and it’s going to be painful,” she’s said several times, although she always finds a different way of saying basically the same thing. So much for morale.
  18. roiling
    (of a liquid) agitated vigorously; in a state of turbulence
    When I look at the roiling sea long enough, I see things in the randomness of the waves.
  19. disdain
    lack of respect accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike
    In spite of the captain’s disdain of the crow’s nest, I still make the climb twice a day to have my cocktail, and commune with my fellow crewmen—although few of them are social once their potion is in hand.
  20. metronome
    clicking pendulum indicating the tempo of a piece of music
    Today the sea is a roller coaster, doing everything short of corkscrews and loops, and the ship’s rolling motion is always worst in the crow’s nest, which pitches to and fro atop the mainmast like the weighted tip of a metronome.
  21. seasoned
    rendered competent through trial and experience
    “It’s alive, you know,” says the master-at-arms—a seasoned crewman in charge of the cannon, with unpleasant tattoos up and down his arms.
  22. caulk
    a waterproof filler and sealant used in building and repair
    “It’s just caulking,” I tell it, and that makes all the other skulls begin to laugh.
  23. discernible
    capable of being seen or noticed
    Then the no-collarbones guy gets to spend the rest of his life feeling there was a reason he was born with no discernible shoulders, and the rescued kid gets to pass his genetic material on to future generations.
  24. petrify
    change into stone
    Instead of smooth plates—which you might expect on a metal ship—it’s still made of grooved planks, but they seem to have changed at the molecular level, like wood that has petrified into copper.
  25. reclusive
    withdrawn from society; seeking solitude
    The thing is, they’re shy spiders. They don’t bite easily; they’d rather just be left alone. Very reclusive.
  26. cheeky
    offensively bold
    “No. My question is why? And where do you go after school? What have you been doing?”
    “That’s three questions.”
    “Don’t be cheeky.”
  27. inquisition
    a severe interrogation
    “What are you accusing me of?”
    “Nothing! This is not an inquisition!”
  28. careen
    move sideways or in an unsteady way
    He was distracted enough to miss a yellow light, and had to slam on the brakes to keep from careening into the intersection as the light turned red.
  29. intimate
    thoroughly acquainted through study or experience
    I didn’t get it at the time, but that feeling—knowing something is wrong, but not being able to pinpoint what it is—is a feeling I’ve come to know intimately.
  30. haphazard
    marked by great carelessness
    It’s getting toward “that time of year,” and my father sits at the kitchen table with his laptop, stressed and distracted by the new tax code, and some client’s haphazard collection of receipts.
  31. placate
    cause to be more favorably inclined
    They’re just going through the motions, to placate me. To make me feel like they’re on my side.
  32. feral
    wild and menacing
    “The damn things escape from sailors’ heads when they’re asleep, or when they’re not paying attention, and go feral.”
  33. atrophy
    undergo weakening or degeneration as through lack of use
    “If they’re brains from the crew, why are they so small?” I ask.
    Carlyle sighs sadly. “Either they didn’t use ’em and they atrophied—or they used them too much, and they burned out.”
  34. hapless
    unfortunate and deserving pity
    He dips his mop into his bucket of soapy water and sloshes it into dark corners, flushing the hapless brains out from their hiding places, and washing them out of the ship’s drainage holes into the sea.
  35. erratic
    liable to sudden unpredictable change
    Lightning illuminates the distant clouds in erratic bursts, but it’s still too far away to hear the thunder.
  36. impotent
    lacking power or ability
    “Hey!” yells a teacher, but it’s an incompetent, impotent protest. I’m out of there, and no one can stop me.
  37. trivial
    of little substance or significance
    As he does his rounds, he makes sure everyone is occupied with their particular trivial pursuits.
  38. maritime
    relating to ships or navigation
    “Journeys of discovery require more than just a working maritime knowledge,” the captain lectures. “They require intuition. Impulsiveness. Leaps of folly as often as leaps of faith. Do you catch my drift?”
  39. bluster
    be gusty, as of wind
    As I cling to the rope ladder, a chill goes through me that has nothing to do with the blustering wind.
  40. cadence
    a recurrent rhythmical series
    “I want you to feel you can talk to me about anything,” the talk-doctor says, speaking with a calmness to his voice, and a deliberately slow cadence—like a snail might, if snails could talk.
Created on Mon Aug 27 02:20:21 EDT 2018 (updated Fri Jan 04 10:14:14 EST 2019)

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