Peak was a book that Amazon.com had listed on my recommendations. It's book like this that make me pay attention when Amazon makes recommendations. All right, many of the books they recommend are crap and have no correlation to me or my taste in books; but Peak was a happy surprise. The story is told as an essay written by fourteen-year-old Peak Marcello for an assignment by his English teacher. It begins with him being caught at the top of a skyscraper he had just scaled and spray painted. So Peak is in trouble facing three + years in juvenile lockdown. Along comes his father who he hasn't seen for seen years and who comes up with a compromise that will satisfy the court and the media and keep Peak out of jail. They travel to Thailand but make a surprise stop in Kathmandu. Peak's father, Josh, owns a mountain climbing guide service and he plans to make Peak the youngest boy ever to scale Everest. I'm not terribly interested in mountain climbing, but this book held my interest from the get-go. Peak is a pretty amazing young teen in his climbing abilities, his tender feeling for his twin half-sisters; and his sensitivity to others. He is also pretty normal in that he has a hard time curbing his temper, gets impatient and jealous. Reading about the thrills and dangers of climbing Everest through Peak's eyes was a great experience and definitely the closest I'll ever get to that mountain. This was a fantastic young adult book that I heartily recommend.
Rating: 4.75
I love - love - love this book!
ReplyDeleteIt was actually a Sunshine State book (Florida) last year. I've never really been big into action adventure books, but try to read all of the SS books in order to do book talks. I couldn't put this one down.
I loved Peak, I loved his family dynamics and the growth in the characters. I love the adventures. Yay for someone else loving it as much as me.
Sometimes I really wonder about the recommendations Amazon comes up with for me. I am glad Amazon got it right for you this time.
ReplyDeleteThe format of the book sounds quite interesting as well as the story you've described. I'll have to look for this one. Thanks for the great review.