Publisher’s Weekly
Here's the perfect antidote for a kid who thinks books are boring. In his latest, Smith (Cryptid Hunters) introduces 14-year-old Peak Marcello (named by his mountaineering parents) as he's arrested for scaling Manhattan's Woolworth Building, in an attempt to graffiti his tag-a blue mountain peak-high on the side of it. Peak is headed for a long stint in juvie when his estranged father swoops into the courtroom with a solution that will get the media's newest darling-the papers have dubbed Peak "Spider Boy"-immediately and far out of sight. Before the trek to China, where Peak's father runs a commercial climbing operation on the Tibetan side of Mount Everest, Peak's English teacher, Vincent, gives him two notebooks to fill, which will complete his requirements for the school year. This conceit allows Peak to tell his story in his own wry voice and to share lots of Vincent's advice. "A good writer should draw the reader in by starting in the middle of the story with a hook," Peak recalls. "I guess Vincent thinks readers are fish." The hook here is irresistible-Peak will try to become the youngest person ever to scale Everest-overcoming Chinese bureaucrats, resentment of his father, rivalry with a Nepalese teen who has the same goal, avalanches, icy crevasses, howling winds, searing cold and many, many frozen corpses to reach the 29,028-foot summit. The nifty plotting, gripping story line and Peak's assured delivery give those who join this expedition much to savor. Ages 12-up. (May)
Booklist
Fourteen-year-old New Yorker Peak ("It could have been worse. My parents could have named me Glacier, or Abyss, or Crampon.") Marcello hones his climbing skills by scaling skyscrapers. After Peak is caught climbing the Woolworth Building, an angry judge gives him probation, with an understanding that Peak will leave New York and live with his famous mountaineer father in Thailand. Peak soon learns, however, that his father has other plans for him; he hopes that Peak will become the youngest person to climb Mt. Everest. Peak is whisked off to Tibet and finds himself in the complex world of an Everest base camp, where large amounts of money are at stake and climbing operations offer people an often-deadly shot at the summit. This is a thrilling, multifaceted adventure story. Smith includes plenty of mountaineering facts told in vivid detail (particularly creepy is his description of the frozen corpses that litter the mountain). But he also explores other issues, such as the selfishness that nearly always accompanies the intensely single-minded. A winner at every level.
KLIATT
When Peak scales a Manhattan skyscraper in order to tag it, he's caught and arrested. He escapes being sentenced to Juvenile Detention when he agrees to go live with his long-absent father, who runs a climbing company in Thailand. However, it turns out that Peak's father has a special reason for rescuing his son: he wants Peak, age 14, to be the youngest person to scale Everest, because the publicity could help save his struggling company. Reaching Everest's summit is every climber's dream, but can Peak survive the trip? Altitude, illness, bad weather, and a hostile Chinese army official all pose problems, not to mention the film crew focused on Peak's every move. And will a younger Tibetan Sherpa reach the top before him? Lots of convincing detail about the rigors of mountain climbing and the political situation in Tibet add to the realism in this tale of a boy testing himself against the elements, struggling with his relationship with his father, and making difficult moral decisions. Readers will enjoy Peak's daring, the exotic setting and the suspense
VOYA
Met at the top of the Woolworth Building in New York City by a SWAT team, fourteen-year-old Peak Marcello faces years of jail time as a result of his evening climb to tag the top of the building. But his long-absent father swoops in and negotiates to take Peak out of the country long enough to let the publicity die down. When Peak learns that his father's motives are self-serving, aimed at garnering advertising for his Thailand-based climbing company, Peak has choices to make, ultimately opting for the opportunity to be the youngest climber to summit Everest, even if it means serving his father's purpose. In an attempt to deflect attention, Josh-Peak's father doesn't like to be called "Dad"-puts Peak in the care of Zopa, a former head Sherpa-turned-Buddhist monk. Zopa and Peak are joined by Sun-jo, a young Nepalese boy whose Sherpa father died saving Josh's life. This book is Peak's story about what really happens on the mountain, including coming to terms with his relationship with his father as well as with his mother and stepfather, twin sisters, and above all, with himself. The first-person narrative is presented as a school-credit writing assignment done throughout the journey, adding an element that serves to tether the story to some more mundane realities. Deftly developed characters who matter and a gritty story line packed with the intrigue and challenge of serious mountain climbing for serious stakes make this book a riveting read for reluctant and experienced readers alike.
Horn Book
Peak, as his name might indicate, is a natural-born climber. When he's apprehended four feet from the top of the Woolworth Building, he's rescued from juvie by his estranged father, a noted climber who has set himself up as an expedition leader specializing in taking the very wealthy up Everest -- and he sees the prospect of making his son the youngest ever to summit the great peak as the surest way of cementing his business success. Smith takes classic plot elements -- kid in trouble, extreme physical challenge, rocky relationship with ambitious parent -- and plays them perfectly. He introduces the teenage son of a Sherpa who died rescuing Peak's father two years ago, a former mountain guide turned Buddhist monk who for reasons of his own has come out of retirement for this expedition, and the media team brought along to document Peak's record-breaking attempt; he also introduces geopolitical concerns, as the military superintendent at the Tibetan Base Camp works to regulate the various expeditions to the Chinese government's best advantage. The severe conditions lay bare the various personalities and their competing agendas, which, seen through Peak's first-person narration, evolve into a gripping story that pulls no punches about the toll Everest exacts on body and psyche alike. v.s.
Kirkus
Dare-devil mountain-climber, Peak Marcello (14), decides to scale the Woolworth Building and lands in jail. To save him, his long-lost Everest-trekking dad appears with a plan for the duo to make a life in Katmandu—a smokescreen to make Peak become the youngest person in history to summit Mount Everest. Peak must learn to navigate the extreme and exotic terrain but negotiate a code of ethics among men. This and other elements such as the return of the long-lost father, bite-size chunks of information about climbing and altitude, an all-male cast, competition and suspense (can Peak be the youngest ever to summit Everest, and can he beat out a 14-year-old Nepalese boy who accompanies him?) creates the tough stuff of a “boys read.” The narrative offers enough of a bumpy ride to satisfy thrill seekers while Peak’s softer reflective quality lends depth and some—but not too much—emotional resonance.
Teens Read Too
Have you ever wondered what inspires people to climb mountains? What drives some to the highest peaks? Fourteen-
year-old Peak Marcello was born to climb. Born to a couple of dedicated "rock rats," Peak has climbing in his blood. (full review)
School Library Journal
In this high-altitude adventure, 14-year-old Peak Marcello's passion for climbing is clearly in the genes, but when he is arrested for scaling tall buildings, his mom and stepdad make a deal with the judge to ship him out of the country to live with her ex-husband and squelch the media attention that might inspire "Spider Boy" copycats. The teen's father, Josh, and his Himalayan expedition company are preparing teams to climb Mount Everest and suddenly Peak is faced with the possibility of becoming the youngest climber to reach the summit. Excited about the adventure, he learns that Josh may have less-than-fatherly motives involving publicity and financial gain for his company, at the expense of his paying customers. Peak is handed off to his father's head Sherpa for training and altitude acclimation with a Nepalese boy his own age, named Sun-jo. At the same time, a media crew gathers at base camp to witness the climb, and an overzealous Chinese police captain doggedly searches for passport violations and underage climbers. Facts about Mount Everest, base camps, and the dangers of climbing are plentiful, depicting an international culture made up of individuals who are often self-absorbed and indifferent to the Tibetan Sherpas, who risk their lives for them. Peak's empathy for Sun-jo helps him make a critical decision as they near the summit, revealing his emotional growth and maturity..—Vicki Reutter, Cazenovia High School, NY
The Catholic Review
…action, conflict and friendship will keep young readers turning pages as Peak learns what is really important in life.
Chicago Tribune
With a name like Peak and a famous mountaineering father, isn't the boy destined for great heights? Officials, his mother and stepfather aren't laughing, though, when the 14-year-old is arrested for scaling a skyscraper in his hometown, New York City. Just when it seems Peak is about to be thrown into juvenile detention, his estranged father shows up and appeases the judge by offering to whisk the teen off to Thailand for school. Once the journey is under way, Peak realizes he's in for a major detour: His fame-seeking father plans to make his son the youngest climber ever to reach the top of Mt. Everest.
This adrenaline-laced novel is told in Peak's voice as he chronicles his harrowing efforts to climb beyond the brutal base camps, past the frozen corpses of those who never made it, to the top of the forbidding mountain. His struggles with lack of oxygen, frozen fingers and icy steeps are just the beginning. Peak also faces a nosy journalist, an angry mob of climbers who'd rather he didn't succeed and a father whose motives may not always be in his son's best interests.
Despite nailing the mountaineering details that make this tale ring true, author Roland Smith, once an amateur climber, has tried to summit Everest only in his mind. "Unlike real summiteers, my Everest attempt took me five years rather than the normal two to three months," he said in an e-mail to the Tribune. "I've lost track of how many times I fell during the writing of the novel. But I was always able to get back up and inch myself further up the story."
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