Peak

Fiction by Roland Smith
Reviewed by Jordan E.
Not in the NVHS collection as of this post


“This is it, I told myself. Fifteen more handholds and I've topped it. I reached up for the next seam and encountered a little snag. Well, a big snag really...

My right ear and cheek were frozen to the wall.”

14-year-old Peak Marcello's passion for climbing is in his genes. Both his mother and father climbed together before their divorce. His mother remarried and moved to New York City with her new husband. Peak has amazing climbing abilities and indoor rock climbing walls aren’t a challenge at all. He starts to climb New York’s sky-scrapers, tagging them with a blue mountain design. This is illegal; he is arrested and tried. The court comes to an agreement: Peak is to live with his father Josh Wood. Josh is no doubt one of the most famous mountaineers in the world.

Peak finds himself at the base of Mount Everest. Josh feels his son is ready for the trip to the summit. If he makes it he will be the world’s youngest climber to make it there. But that’s IF he makes it. Peak decides to take up his father’s offer at the deadly shot to the summit. You never know who the mountain will let up and who it won’t.

This thrilling book is told in vivid detail and it makes you feel as if you are a part of the story. You know what is at stake as you read through Peak’s adventure. I never wanted to put the book down. Toward the end it leaves your heart feeling warm and touched as you recognizes how much family and home mean (especially after putting your life on the edge). This book will is great to people with the love of rock climbing and who can relate, but I recommend it to everyone.