Challenger Deep: Chapters 65–98

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 11 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. viscous
    having a relatively high resistance to flow
    A clawing, needy tar that pulls you down. You drown but you don’t. It turns you to lead so you sink faster in its viscous embrace.
  2. crude
    a dark oil consisting mainly of hydrocarbons
    It makes you think you’ve always felt like this, and there’s no place to go but down, where it slowly, ravenously digests your will, distilling it into the ebony crude of nightmares.
  3. hyperventilate
    breathe excessively hard and fast
    The lore-master protests, beginning to hyperventilate at the suggestion, then the parrot flaps out of nowhere to the captain’s shoulder.
  4. indolence
    inactivity resulting from a dislike of work
    “Do as you will,” he says. “As long as the boy suffers for his indolence.”
  5. sheer
    complete and without restriction
    You are the antigravity lever of the world. As wonderful as knowing this is, the sheer awe of it is terrifying because of the power you have.
  6. galley
    the area for food preparation on a ship
    Last I saw, the parrot was down in the galley, hopping from shoulder to shoulder, peering in sailors’ ears to make sure they still had brains.
  7. chaff
    material consisting of seed coverings and pieces of stem
    “The trials I put you through are to burn away the chaff. To purify you. Make no mistake, boy, you are the brightest hope for this mission. All of my hopes are on you.”
  8. sedition
    an illegal action inciting resistance to lawful authority
    “That mutinous fowl! He sows seeds of sedition among the crew even as he sits on my shoulder.”
  9. befall
    become of; happen to
    Sure, we can’t change what happened, but if we can string together enough clues, we can prove that whatever nightmare has befallen us, we could have stopped it, if only we had been smart enough.
  10. gibberish
    unintelligible talking
    The voices are still speaking, but they haven’t slept either, so now they just grumble nonsense. You pick up the feelings behind their gibberish, though.
  11. foreboding
    a feeling of evil to come
    Those feelings are not good. They brim with foreboding, bitter warnings, and hints at your importance in the universe.
  12. mutiny
    open rebellion against constituted authority
    I am trapped in a conspiracy of conspiracies. On one side, the parrot and I plot mutiny.
  13. clandestine
    conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods
    Not so much with words, but with glances. Nods. Clandestine winks of his single seeing eye.
  14. festoon
    decorate or adorn
    Happy tourists walk away festooned in silver and gold, their new jewelry jingling like Christmas bells with every step.
  15. carnal
    marked by the appetites and passions of the body
    In this place, there is no kitchen except for an outdoor grill serving up shrimp further along the beach. The aroma is pleasing; a carnal incense like burnt offerings to the God of Infinite Vacation.
  16. zephyr
    a slight wind
    In this place there is no ship but the sleek racing yacht sailing out of the bay, blown by a custom-made zephyr, sending it off to points even more exotic than this.
  17. supernova
    a star that explodes and becomes luminous in the process
    It’s as if the interface between being asleep and being awake has gone supernova, exploding and swallowing everything around it with cosmic shrapnel.
  18. abiding
    unceasing
    Nothing survives but an abiding sense of being elsewhere.
  19. billowing
    characterized by great swelling waves or surges
    And other times you’re certain that you’ve been sewn to the billowing sails of a ship.
  20. nemesis
    a personal foe or rival that cannot be easily defeated
    I consider pointing out that nemesi might not actually be the plural of nemesis, but I figure I’ll quit while I’m ahead.
  21. affinity
    a natural attraction or feeling of kinship
    “Their beasts, however, found no such affinity for each other.”
  22. seemly
    according with custom or propriety
    The whale, on the other hand, was all sense and seemliness. Its great echolocating brain could calculate dimension and distance.
  23. gale
    a strong wind moving 34–40 knots
    The captain takes a deep breath and empties his lungs in an exasperated sigh that I can feel like a gale.
  24. elucidate
    make free from confusion or ambiguity; make clear
    “Elucidate,” the captain growls. I know it’s a warning, but it’s one that I refuse to heed.
  25. claustrophobic
    uncomfortably closed or hemmed in
    I am pushed headfirst into the mouth of the cannon, sliding down its cold, rough throat. Tight. Claustrophobic. I can barely breathe.
  26. disembodied
    not having a material form
    “I have a brain tumor,” you tell a disembodied mask with a clipboard hovering beside it.
  27. mired
    entangled or hindered
    The only thing you can clearly identify is Jell-O. There’s lots of it. Little bits of peaches or pineapple are mired within it, suspended in red jiggling transparency.
  28. corral
    collect or gather
    Three times a day, for an hour at a time, they corral you into a circle and force you to listen to things that are so awful you can’t purge them from your mind.
  29. facilitator
    someone who makes progress easier
    A new “facilitator” takes over the therapy group to help rein things in, and keep the therapy rodeo from being overly traumatic to impressionable young minds.
  30. subversive
    in opposition to an established system or government
    “The dreams you’re having trouble me,” the captain says. “They reek of malevolence and subversive intent.”
  31. acrid
    strong and sharp, as a taste or smell
    The captain leans closer, the acrid smoke of his pipe stinging my eyes.
  32. sterile
    free of pathological microorganisms
    I wonder if the parrot has suffered the same fate as his father, and has had an unwanted visit to the galley, which is nowhere near as sterile and bright as my dream-kitchen.
  33. paranoia
    a mental disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
    You come to know the pattern of your particular chemical bombardment. The numbness, the lack of focus, the artificial sense of peace when the meds first hit your system. The growing paranoia and anxiety as they wane.
  34. scour
    examine minutely
    Finally he looks up at you with the same intensity with which he scoured the map.
  35. pilfer
    make off with belongings of others
    Hal arrives with an overstuffed portfolio of maps torn from atlases and pilfered from AAA.
  36. profundity
    intellectual depth; penetrating knowledge
    And he orates random thoughts of profundity with such authority that you want to write them down and hang them on the wall, but they only allow writing instruments in the rec room.
  37. quandary
    state of uncertainty in a choice between unfavorable options
    I try to pose the quandary to Carlyle but, not knowing where his true loyalty lies, I must couch my question so it doesn’t give him reason for suspicion.
  38. pathological
    caused by or evidencing a mentally disturbed condition
    The only thing you have for measuring what’s real is your mind...so what happens when your mind becomes a pathological liar?
  39. monolith
    a single great stone, often in the form of a column
    The girl is almost always there. She stands like a monolith looking out of the giant window. A dark silhouette against the bright outside world, staring forever forward.
  40. irredeemable
    not capable of or subject to reform or remedy
    The fear of not living is a deep, abiding dread of watching your own potential decompose into irredeemable disappointment when “should be” gets crushed by what is.
Created on Mon Aug 27 02:22:41 EDT 2018 (updated Fri Jan 04 10:14:22 EST 2019)

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