Peak by Roland Smith

Peak by Roland Smith.  Harcourt: 2007, 246 pages. 

Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12

Recommended for: Ages 10-12 and up

One-line summary: Fourteen-year-old Peak Marcello’s adventures on Mt. Everest make compelling reading for middle-graders on up.

When we first meet Peak Marcello, he’s clinging to a sheer surface, making his way slowly up its rock face in the teeth of an arctic wind.  Obviously no amateur rock climber, he’s struggling toward a goal he’s set for himself: to “tag” this particular summit with his distinctive blue-mountain signature.  The last thirty feet are torture, especially after one side of his face freezes to the surface.  With an effort of supreme will, he tears it off and makes his mark.  But before he can take any pride in the accomplishment, a light blinds him and the rotor blades of an NYPD helicopter nearly blow him off the wall–the wall of the Woolworth building.

Not your standard-issue troubled teen, the fourteen-year-old title character nonetheless has some ambivalent feelings toward his mother and stepfather.  Toward his world-famous rock-climbing father, he hardly knows what to feel, since he hasn’t heard from the man since he was six.  But now that he’s looking at three years in juvenile detention, Peak is stunned to see Joshua Wood show up his preliminary hearing.  Not only that, his dad offers to take him out of the country in exchange for clearing his record.  Peak thinks he’s going to Thailand.  Where he ends up is Mt. Everest, part of Josh’s plan to “summit” the youngest climber ever and score invaluable publicity for his guide service, Peak Experience.  While recognizing his father’s mixed motives, Peak is not immune to the lure of the ultimate climb.  But complications develop with the Chinese army, an overbearing celebrity journalist, and a young Tibetan who seems like a friend but turns out to be a rival.

If you’ve ever thought about scaling Everest yourself, this story will give you a sense of what it might be like.  The author has done his research, and the details shiver with authenticity.  The process of a typical Everest climb creates some problems for the story, as there’s a lot of moving about between elevation camps in order to become acclimatized, and some of it gets confusing (at least for this reader) when trying to remember why we’re going down instead of up at a given point.  Also the two major Tibetan characters seem to lose their distinctiveness as the story progresses–or perhaps the mountain just mashes nationality and distinction into a freezing pulp.  Those are small quibbles, however; Peak is a great adventure, and certainly not the first by this author.

Overall rating: 4 (out of 5)

• Worldview/moral value: 3.75
• Artistic value: 4

Cautions: Worldview (some Buddhist philosophy)

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