Customer Reviews

Peak

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

Peak's parents are divorced. He hasn't heard from his father for years. Suddenly, after being arrested for illegally climbing a skyscraper, Peak finds himself on his way to Kathmandu to join his dad, famous climber, Joshua Wood.

Forced to leave his mother, stepfather, and half-sisters behind, Peak has mixed feelings about the trip. It means spending time in some of the best climbing territory in the world. It also means spending time with a man who never answered his letters or bothered to get to know his own son.

Once Peak arrives in the neighborhood of Mt. Everest, the real plan becomes evident. Joshua Wood runs an adventure/expedition company struggling to make ends meet. Taking the youngest ever person to the summit of Mt. Everest would assure the continued success of his company. Peak is just the fourteen year old for the job. Can he survive the brutal conditions and make it to the top? Will his father be able to protect him from the foreign authorities who have other ideas about who should be allowed to climb in their country?

Peak Marcello is about to have the adventure of a lifetime. His mental as well as physical strength will be tested, and what is truly important in life will be revealed.

Roland Smith, well-known for his adventure books, provides another great story for his fans. The struggle to survive on Mt. Everest, in addition to the thrilling attempt to reach its summit, makes for some fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat reading. I recommend PEAK for any teen collection.

Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"

In the book Peak, Roland Smith tells a realistic fiction story about a fourteen-year-old boy who gets a chance to summit Mt. Everest. But, when Peak gets up to Base Camp he discovers the good and bad sides to this climb.
The story begins with Peak at home in New York where he attends a special school called GSS. They don't specialize in climbing though. Eventually, he discovers another talent, writing. So his new English teacher gives him an assignment to write in moleskin journals about anything interesting in his life. Then his desire to climb gets him into a lot of trouble with the law. So his mom and step dad, make a bargain with the law, which includes going to live with his father who is a well-known professional climber. So he sets off to Nepal with his dad, and learns more about climbing, family history and to appreciate his step dad and sisters.
Also on this thrilling adventure, he gets to know many people other than his dad Sun jo a Nepalese boy who's grandfather Zopa is accompanying them up to Base Camp. Another climber, Holly Anglo who is a reporter who wants to tell the story bout the youngest person ever to summit Everest. Which if everything goes okay then that will be Peak.
Zopa is trying to hide Sun jo on the Tibetan side of the mountain with a crazy Captain Shek who is after illegal climbers. Shek is constantly trying to find Sun jo and deport him to Nepal.
On top of all his discoveries there are so many obstacles on the mountain itself than Peak can imagine. He and Sun jo must help each other make it to the top. Their biggest problem though is the oxygen. There isn't any. The higher they go there is less oxygen and more breath taking obstacles and sights there are.

Peak
Roland Smith
Schoolastic
realistic fiction

Do you like books that keep you screaming for more?Than the book Peak by
Roland Smith is a book for you. This book is about a boy named Peak who is a mountain climber in training. It all starts when Peak gets sent to a juvenile detention center. Then his father has to come in to the courtroom and see what Peak is in trouble this time. The judge tells Peak and his dad that Peak is sentenced to stay with his father in Thailand to make sure he don't get in any more trouble. "You have got to read this book, it drew me in from the start."

Josh a.k.a Peak's dad,is a mountain climber himself that has more experience than Peak. Josh owns a company in Thailand and since Peak has to stay with his dad Peak is dragged along with his dad at Thailand. Josh is a important character to this book because allot of the action comes from him, and if he was never in this this story than Peak and his dad would never get so close. Ralph is Peaks step dad and Peak does not like him one bit!

Peak is a book full of heart stopping events, and good details. What I about this book is that it has good characters, interesting events like when Peak broke the law by climbing up that skyscraper, and he had to pay the price and go to a courtroom to settle everything and when it's all settled in the courtroom Peak is sentenced to stay with his father in Thailand. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes heart stopping books. This book is a must read for any age.

The book Peak by Roland Smith was a wonderful book, which made me comprehend why bravery comes with danger. This book supported courage, trust and persistance. I loved this book so I gave it a 5 out of 5 stars. I think that all sorts of people would enjoy this book. I think that you should read this book. The genre is adverterous fiction. In the book, Peak, who is the main charater, wants to get up to the summit on Mount Everest. Will he make ut up the icy slopes, or will the cold get the best of him??

B.G.

My 10-year-old son bought this book at a book fair at his school. I was doubtful that he would ever read it, since it has no illustrations (except for a map of the mountain) and has nothing to do with basketball or baseball, my son's usual interests. However, he loved it and read it all quite quickly. He recommended it to me, so I read it too. It is an excellent book for anyone over age 9 or so, adult or kid.

I really enjoyed this book and would have given it 5 stars if I didn't have concerns about 3 paragraphs that I think are inappropriate for the age group this book is written for. Aside from the fact that the main character, Peak, is clearly an illegitimate child the author also includes a short section of adult content material that I feel is inappropriate for young readers. Basically a super condensed version is... an adult climber wants to sneak into Peak's father's tent at night but was advised "I don't think that's included in the permit fee." If we as a society really want to reduce unwanted teenage pregnancy, why do writers continue to write about casual relations in books for pre-teens and teens?

About a year ago i had to read this book for my middle school battle of the books competion. After no one else on my team volunteered to read it i said i would. I was instantly thrown into a gripping world of the people that are inspired to climb. if you ever wondered why people risk their lives to get to the top of a moutatin this book is for you. Even if this does not seem like your type of book you should still try it because i did not think i was going to like it either. This book is for everyone with hopes and dreams. I highly recomend it.

I really like this book! I read it for one of my book projects for school and got a A+++!

This book opened me up to the dangerous world of climbing Mount Everest.

This book taught me a lesson about sharing the glory and to never climb skyscrapers and to watch what you do because other people might use you as a role model and do something dangerous just like you did and end up killing or injurying themselves, not that i a saying a role model is bad,you just have to stop and think is this something that i want some other person maybe younger than me or even a kid try to do.

And i think that it was a very sweet decision that when he was almost at the top he gave up his fame and fortune and told sunjo to go to the top without him so that way he could pay for his sisters tuition for bording school.

I personaly think that his father could have been around more in his life.Just imagine going through life only seeing your father once every three monthes that has to be hard.And i came to relize that was probably one of the reasons that she filed for divorse.

I think they should make an movie and i hope it would be as epic as the book.

I recomend this book for anyone who wants to imagine climbing desires to climb Mount Everest.

This book is truly and positively the most EPIC Mount Everest book EVER!!!!

Right from the beginning, I was sucked into this book. You follow Peak, a fourteen year old boy who has an obsession with climbing. And for good reason, his parents were avid rock climbers when he was a child, and his dad still is. But when Peak gets arrested for scaling a skyscraper in the middle of New York City, he is given 2 choices. Stay in New York and go to juvenile prison, or go with his father who he hasn't seen or spoken to in years to Nepal. From then on it's a fight for glory on the top of the tallest mountain in the world, Mount Everest! Peak meets some new people on the way, and discovers a what it actually means to climb Everest.