How to Dive to the Deepest Place on Earth

Sullivan—who has been to outer space and the ocean floor—teams up with Rosen for this conversational scientific travelogue that recounts her journey to the deepest place on Earth, Challenger Deep. The book opens with personal history delivered in a friendly tone, then invites readers to accompany the speaker on an expedition to take pressure measurements. Along the way, text engages with prompts for reflection (“Which would you choose: astronaut or... aquanaut?”). Given a textbook-like layout with ample photos and occasional doodle-like charcoal drawings by Rosen, the dense account is frequently quantitative: “The pressure is crushing (almost 400 times more than at the surface) but we are safe in our sphere.” While a graph paper backdrop lends the vibe of a field notebook, interrogative subheadings and sidebars offer a mixture of science instruction and oceanography history (“Why is a sphere the right shape for a submersible?”). It’s a companionable guide to the ocean’s depths as well as to opportunities, “fueled by imagination,” that expanded Sullivan’s world. Background figures portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 7–9. (June)