If your parents were in love with gardening and flowers, your name might be Lily or Rose or even Hydrangea (my friend’s mother has that name). One of our local TV weathermen named his young son Storm (I am not kidding). In this book, our main character’s parents were heart and soul into mountain climbing and he himself tells us if they hadn’t chosen Peak as his name, it would have been Glacier or Abyss. Yes, Peak is the name of the 14-year-old boy who also loves mountain climbing so much so that he scales New York City skyscrapers (illegally), landing him in jail and very serious trouble with the police. A deal gets worked out and Peak’s long-absent real father, Josh, whisks him out-of-town.
Josh is a professional mountaineer leading high-paying clients on their hopeful ascents to Mount Everest. Peak gets pulled into this world and craves the summit opportunity as well, even though he knows his dad might be using him and taking advantage. The fantastic publicity would perk up Josh’s sagging business if his son made it to the top as the youngest person ever.
This coming-of-age adventure story is exciting, yet exhausting. It is a frost bite-by-frost bite, tortured breath-by-tortured breath, gut-wrenching story in Peak’s own words of all that happened on the dangerous climb to the top of the world. Friendship, sacrifice, family, risk, and knowing what really matters most in life are all rolled into this action-packed story for 5th grade and up.
Back in 1924 British climber George Mallory answered the question “Why are you climbing the mountain?” with the famous answer, “Because it’s there.” I would need more than that to entice me after reading of all the anguish, pain, diplomatic intrigue (China and Nepal), and grueling effort involved with a summit attempt. By reading this exciting fictional account, I experienced Peak’s climb vicariously – the only way to go.
Posted by: Fran D.
Ashley said,
January 27, 2009 @ 12:12 pm
This is a gret book.Good for any age.Absolutely a great book.great and up to date.