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Peak

4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 · rating details · 6,257 ratings · 1,155 reviews

After Peak Marcellois arrested for scaling a New York City skyscraper, he's left with two choices: wither away in Juvenile Detention or go live with his long-lost father, who runs a climbing companyin Thailand. But Peak quickly learns that his father's renewed interest in him has strings attached.Big strings. Hewants Peak to be the youngest person to reach the Everest summ...more

Hardcover, 246 pages

Published May 1st 2007 by Harcourt Children's Books

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May 29, 2012 J rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: middle school boys

Shelves: middle-school-boys, my-favs

"I have climbed my mountain, but I still must go back and live my life."----Tenzing Norgay on the summit of Mount Everest

Peak Marcello is a fourteen year old boy living in New York City who illegally climbs skyscrapers to satisfy his passion for climbing, handed down to him from both of his parents. Unfortunately, his last illegal climb of a skyscraper hands him a harsh sentence from a Judge who is trying to make an example of him. Peak's father steps in and offers to finish raising the boy half...more

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Oct 04, 2007 Alex rated it 5 of 5 stars

Named Peak by his obsessed by mountain climbing father, Peak finds himself in court about to be sent to juvenile detention cell, for climbing a skyscrapper. Peak is snapped away to China for an attempt on Mt Everest with his father. Peak can not decide if his father is there to use him or because he thinks Peak can make it. A gripping story with great characters, be sure to read this somewhere warm, because PEAK radiates an icy chill that settles into your bones.

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Aug 15, 2012 Mikitara rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone

Recommended to Mikitara by: Language Arts Teacher and Peers

Shelves: 2nd-place-favorites, bleh-ok, lostlit-classics-other

Peak Marcello lives with is mother and stepfather and twin sisters. Peak inherits his love to climb from both of his parents but is caught climbing up a skyscaper and putting his mark on it. He gets arrested and his long-lost-father comes and takes him into custody to get him out of trouble. In the process his father tells his he's going to climb up Everest with him. Will Peak make it to the top? Will anything stop him? What will his mother say?! Read Peak by Roland Smith to find out.

*Update- OM...more

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May 15, 2008 Donalyn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-realistic-fiction, lone-star-list-2008

I have several students who jokingly tell each other, "Climb high, sleep low," when they have a problem, great advice from Peak! This is definitely a book that adds to your schema for all things Everest. I learned so much from this book--the types of people drawn to mountain climbing, technical terms for gear and mountains, and the dangers of attempting to reach the summit.

A great coming of age story which parallels the mountain climb.

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Jan 14, 2013 Michael cook rated it 5 of 5 stars

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to climb Mt. Everest. Well red this book and find out. The main characters name is Peak. His parents are climbing geniuses. Peak was born and raised in New York so there are no mountains. Because of this, he had to scale skyscrapers. After he was caught and sent out of the country, his dad took him to Tibet to climb Everest. Telling a climber that they are going to Everest is like telling a football team that they are going to the super bowl. So it co...more

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Jun 05, 2008 Hazel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Peak is the story of a 14-year-old boy who with serious climbing addictions is caught climbing a sky scraper in New York, where he lives. During the trial he learns that the penalty is to serve a long form of detention in a juvenile school or to go live with his biological father ,whom he has rarely met , who runs a mountain climbing business in Thailand. What Peak does not realize is that he was rescued by his father ,from certain doom of boredom, so he could take him up to be the youngest per...more

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Apr 28, 2013 Laura Galindo rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviews

One of the most fascinating and informative books I have ever read. The retelling of the journey to the summit of Mount Everest had me completely immersed in research for weeks. I never thought I would become interested in the action type of literature, but this book proved me wrong in all aspects.

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Dec 14, 2008 Ashley rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: pre-teens and young teens; those interested in mountain climbing

Recommended to Ashley by: school bookclub

Shelves: for-book-club

In the beginning, fourteen year old Peak Marcello winds up getting arrested for illegally climbing skyscrapers in New York City. This leads him to his long-lost father and to a climb that changed everything- a climb on Mount Everest.

I learned three main things from this book...

1) "...what makes a story unique is not necessarily the information in the story but what the writer chooses to put in or leave out. (pg. 146-147)"

2)"You don't have to be alone to feel alone. (pg. 154)"

3) Sacrifice. Thin...more

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Mar 19, 2009 Juan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Peak is a great action/adventure book! Its a heart pumping, skin splitting, gut busting action/ adventure book. This book is about a 14-year old teenage boy named Peak who lives in New York City. He loves to scale buildings illegaly. He gets sentenced to three years of probation. Luckily his famous mountain climber Father Joshua Wood takes him in and Peak now has to spend the next three years with Father in Thailand. Just as Peak thinks everthings going wrong his Father presents him with the cha...more

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Jan 30, 2009 Agnes rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya

From the top of a New York skyscraper to the top of Mount Everest, Peak, the hero and protagonist of this fictional story takes the readers to the most dangerous edge of the Earth. Josh, his estranged father and famous climber comes to his rescue from punishment for illegal climbing. They travel to the highest point of the Himalayas so that Peak can make a summit attempt in hopes of becoming the youngest to ever climb Everest. Peak Experience – Josh’s climbing adventure business, would never fun...more

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May 15, 2013 Patrick rated it 5 of 5 stars

Peak by Roland Smith is one of those books that whatever age you are, it is hard to put down. The book Peak is based on a 14 year old boy named Peak Marcellois, who loved to climb. He got this craving to climb after his first climb with his parents, who at the time, were both avid climbers. Peak grew up a bit and started climbing skyscrapers in his home town of New York City. He got caught one day and was put into juvenile prison. After some time talking with the judge, he was allowed to move in...more

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May 09, 2013 Andrew rated it 4 of 5 stars

Peak Marcello is given two choices after climbing a skyscraper. 1, go to the Juvenile Detention Center, or 2, go to Thailand with his divorced Father. After the decision to go with his Father, Peak learns that he’s climbing Mt. Everest. Even though it’s for the selfish purpose of gaining publicity for his Dad’s failing climbing company, Peak, as a climber, decides to still climb, though the cost could be his own life. Through his experience of climbing Everest, he realizes the things that really...more

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Apr 26, 2013 Jay G******************* rated it 4 of 5 stars

Peak by Roland Smith, Peak tries to climb Mount Everest. They are at New York and The Himalayans. Peak, Josh, Zopa, and Sun-jo are the main characters in this book. You will have to read the book to find out what happens. Being nice to others pays off in the end, my favorite character in this book is Peak.

First, Being nice to others pays off in the end. “Zopa nodded, then looked at me and said thank you”(202). Peak was being nice and saved Sun-jo even though he had a grudge against him. “Your fu...more

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Apr 24, 2013 Galahr rated it 4 of 5 stars

Peak by Roland Smith is a story about a fourteen year old boy named Peak who gets into some law trouble for climbing the Woolworth building. He is taken to the local police station and has to go to court. Joshua Wood, Peak’s father, shows up to the courthouse and offers to take Peak to come stay with him in Thailand. The court agrees, and Peak goes to Thailand to try to become the youngest person to climb Everest. He leaves his family in New York to go with his dad. They land in Thailand and cli...more Peak by Roland Smith is a story about a fourteen year old boy named Peak who gets into some law trouble for climbing the Woolworth building. He is taken to the local police station and has to go to court. Joshua Wood, Peak’s father, shows up to the courthouse and offers to take Peak to come stay with him in Thailand. The court agrees, and Peak goes to Thailand to try to become the youngest person to climb Everest. He leaves his family in New York to go with his dad. They land in Thailand and climb the challenging Mt. Everest. Peak is forced to leave due to how the climbers feel about what Josh is doing to summit the top of the world. But Josh still finds a different way to get Peak, Sun Jo, and a few others to the top of Everest. It may be surprising who makes it to the summit and who doesn’t. There are several reasons that make this book stand out, the theme from the text and my personal favorite character, which was Peak Marcello, the main character.

A major theme from the novel Peak was to be willing to give something up for you in order to help others. “Tomorrow is your birthday. You have a reason to be here Sun-Jo. An important reason. Your future and your sister’s future. I don’t have a reason to be here. I’m heading back down the North side” (230). This citation shows that Peak was willing to give the title of being the youngest person to reach Mount Everest, to Sun-Jo in order to try to help his family. “It had been a question in my mind since Zopa had announced that he was not taking us there himself” (214). This citation shows that Zopa was willing to give up his goal of reaching the summit because he knows that endangering his life is not worth the summit.

The second thing that makes this book stand out is the main character, Peak Marcello. “Josh stepped out of the mess tent and waved goodbye, I returned the wave with a gesture of my own” (195). This is a funny citation to me and it really shows how Peak felt towards his Josh when he told him that he was not going to summit. But Peak does not know that it is a scam to get everyone to believe that Peak was not going to summit. “A Face!” Mine was anchored to the wall like a bolt, and a portion of it stayed on there when I gathered enough resolve to tear it loose”(5). To me this is a funny quote and it shows that Peak was determined to reach the top and in the process he had to tear a portion of his face off and leave it stuck to the building.

If I were going to give this book a rating between 1 and 5, it would receive around the range of a 4.5 because there were lots of boring parts to it and whole chapters that talked about nothing but how the climbing party went from camp to camp. Those parts were not very eventful. But if I could recommend this book to someone I would recommend it to someone who likes the outdoors and or someone who likes to climb, especially mountains. But in conclusion, there were two things that stood out to me and those two things were the theme, to be willing to give up something great so someone else can have it, and the character Peak. This novel would be recommended to all readers who enjoy adventure and the great outdoors.
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Apr 18, 2013 Cheyanneg gehrke rated it 2 of 5 stars

The book peak written by Roland Smith. I thought the book was good but then agin i think it could have been better. the two parts when peak was in jail and he was trying to climb the walls of his cell and the gaurds had to keep yelling at him for it. My 2 favorit part was that when they were climbing Mount Everest peak never gave up even nowing that he was soooo tired and could barley breath. The one thing i didnt like was that when Peak and Sunjo were ten feet from the top of the world that Pe...more

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Apr 18, 2013 Colin F rated it 3 of 5 stars

Peak, by Roland Smith, is about a boy named Peak who wants to be the youngest character to ever reach the summit of Mt. Everest. He has to overcome obstacles in his paths and a reoccurring argument with his father. Peak makes many trips up the mountain getting used to the mountain climate. (view spoiler)It has interesting and diverse characters from Nepalese monks to twin piano...more Peak, by Roland Smith, is about a boy named Peak who wants to be the youngest character to ever reach the summit of Mt. Everest. He has to overcome obstacles in his paths and a reoccurring argument with his father. Peak makes many trips up the mountain getting used to the mountain climate. (view spoiler)It has interesting and diverse characters from Nepalese monks to twin piano playing six-year-olds. The book also has an interesting message; “The only thing you’ll find on the summit of Mount Everest is a divine view. The things that really matter lie far below” (246).The qualities that make Peak a unique book is the characters and the writing style.

The characters in Peak are all unique, but my favorite character in the book was Zopa. I liked Zopa because he was a mysterious person who really liked helping people. No one in the book really knew Zopa or his motives for doing what he did; “When I asked Sun-jo about it he just shrugged and said that Zopa had his own way of doing things” (58). Zopa had reasons for being mysterious, for example, he didn’t want people telling the Chinese soldiers about his plans. One of these plans was to help the Tibetan monks by bringing them food; “The monks were grateful for the food, supplies, and gossip Zopa and the Sherpas brought” (66). Overall, Zopa was a very mysterious character, but he had good reasons for doing what he did.

Peak had a very unique writing style. The main character was actually writing the book while all this was happening; “Instead I decided to finish Moleskine #1 (which you are reading)” (123). It gets kind of confusing sometimes, and it really just gets in the way of the story. He also uses a lot of parentheses in the story. He uses them sometimes when it just didn’t make any sense to have them; “my life is (parenthetical)” (1). The parentheses distract from the plot and make the book hard to read. For the most part, the writing style of the book was pretty good, but at times it made the book hard to read.

I rated Peak 3/5, but I would recommend it to people. The only real reason I rated the book down was because the writing style made it hard to read and distracted from the major plot. However, the book did have good characters and a fairly good plot line. The book was actually really good, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes adventure novels.(less)

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Apr 19, 2013 Jacob O rated it 4 of 5 stars

Peak by Roland Smith is about a New Yorker who gets his life changed drastically. His name is Peak. Peak climbed the Woolworth Building, at a staggering Seven-hundred and ninety-two foot building; he made it to the top. He was caught and sent to china to be with his father and that’s when he wanted to be the youngest climber to reach the peak of Everest. The theme is shone mostly at the end of the book, being nice to others can bring something better in return. The author’s unique textual ways a...more

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Apr 18, 2013 Nick Schuler rated it 4 of 5 stars

Nick Schuler

Peak: Book Review

In the book Peak by Roland Smith, Fourteen-year-old Peak Marcello is in a lot of trouble. And I mean A LOT of trouble if you call scaling a skyscraper illegal. But when Peak’s long-lost father ventures to take him to Mount Everest, Peak can’t say no. He might even be the youngest person ever to summit. But on top of Mount Everest, everything changes.

My favorite character from the book was definitely Zopa. Zopa is a monk and grandfather to also fourteen-year-old Sun-J...more Nick Schuler

Peak: Book Review

In the book Peak by Roland Smith, Fourteen-year-old Peak Marcello is in a lot of trouble. And I mean A LOT of trouble if you call scaling a skyscraper illegal. But when Peak’s long-lost father ventures to take him to Mount Everest, Peak can’t say no. He might even be the youngest person ever to summit. But on top of Mount Everest, everything changes.

My favorite character from the book was definitely Zopa. Zopa is a monk and grandfather to also fourteen-year-old Sun-Jo who climbs with Peak. I really like him because he is a silent, get-to-it type of guy. He knows the answer to just about any question you ask him. His trademark is his shrug. That’s how he answers questions, but he really does know the answer. “’It was a sad day when he retired, I can tell you that. He’s been on the summit of Everest more than any other human being. At least that’s the rumor. Zopa says he can’t remember how many times he’s reached the top, but I think he knows exactly how many times it’s been. He speaks perfect English, and although he doesn’t talk very much, when he does you need to listen very carefully to what he’s saying. The Sherpas do. A lot of them drop by the temple before they climb to have him do a reading. If he tells them not to go, they won’t go up, no matter how much money we offer them”’ (Smith 50). This shows that Zopa is very active and has control over people which means he is respected.

I also believe that if I were Roland Smith, I definitely would’ve had Peak go to the summit. “’I don’t have a reason for being here. I’m heading back down the north side.”’ This shows that Peak didn’t make it to the summit. Basically making it to the summit was the whole point of putting him on the mountain. So that was definitely a twist. But it was all for the good of the cause.

I give this book a four out of five and strongly recommend it to people who love climbing or adventure. The chapters left really great cliff hangers and even in the middle of the chapters there were cliff hangers, literally. Peak is exciting and adventurous. It was very easy to stay focused on reading it because it is a very good book and it pulled you in. Everything on Mount Everest can change. But you’ll have to read to find out.

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Mar 07, 2013 Shahe rated it 5 of 5 stars

I chose this book because the cover looked interesting. The book is about a 14-year-old boy named Peak Marcello (Marcello is his mothers maiden name) and his family. Peak is arrested for scaling the Woolworth Building in Manhattan New York and spraypainting his sign 3 blue mountains on the top. While in the court room, the judge decides to let Peak go on one requirement he must go with his father out of the country to Tibet.When Peak Marcello and Joshua Wood, his biological father, a famous moun...more

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Feb 25, 2013 Leighton A. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Peak is written for a person who loves adventure books. I loved the book and I give it a 5 our of 5. It was awesome! I'm not a climber so I didn't really relate to the story that much, but that's why I liked it. The author made it so you never knew what was going to happen next. The ending was completely different than I expected. I think the ending made the whole story 10 times better. I felt bad for the main character, Peak, because his dad acted like friend to him and didn't care about him th...more

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Nov 25, 2012 Patrickg rated it 4 of 5 stars

In Peak by Roland Smith, Josh wants peak to be the youngest person ever to summit Mount Everest,but Peak realizes that Sun-jo needs the money so he stops before the Summit and let Sun-jo get to the top,so he doesn't summit. First, on page 3, he uses personification to describe his troubles. “A gust of wind tried to peel me off the wall,but I dug my fingers onto the Terra Cotta until it passed.” This technique engages the reader by being much more vivid. Also it gives life to the wind. Next, on...more

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Oct 30, 2012 Antonio N. rated it 4 of 5 stars

The book peak is about a fourteen-year-old boy who attempts to be the youngest person to reach the top of Mount Everest. This is a good book for you if you are interested in climbing books and this book is non-fiction. The book was great the topics where very interesting it talked about how his father wanted him to be the youngest person to reach the Everest Summit. But the book needed a little more action to it to highly improve it like he needed to be under more pressure to make it like you ca...more

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Oct 24, 2012 Camdenb rated it 4 of 5 stars

By Roland Smith
Realistic Fiction
246 pages
Peak is a pretty amazing 14 year old kid. His parents were both once very good climbers and one still is. Peak goes GSS which is a really good school where a lot of prodigies and other talented people go to. The only reason Peak is at this school is because of his stepfather Rolf. when Peak gets caught climbing a skyscraper he goes to JDC. Then he has to go to court and thats where he sees his birth father. His birth father offers to take him back with hi...more

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Oct 17, 2012 David Sutton rated it 4 of 5 stars

In Peak a boy named Peak Marcello decides to climb a skyscraper in New York City. Little did he know that the mayor was holding a press conference in the building at the time. Peak got his name from his parents love for climbing. When Peak got to the top of the building, there was an officer waiting there for him, and he was arrested. after trial, Peak got sent to Tibet where his father, Joshua Wood, worked during the climbing season as an expedition leader on everest. his father saw this as a w...more

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Aug 30, 2012 cait rated it 3 of 5 stars

I finished Peak absolutely exhausted and feeling like I needed a long gulp of air (or, as they say in the book, some Os). I climbed Mount Everest! At least…it sure felt like it. The author removed me from my bedroom, took me through the snow and ice and lack of oxygen to the top of the highest mountain in the world. Quite an accomplishment. For both the author and me.

I had a great time reading Peak. The description has to rank as the best part. Written in first person, I felt like I was climbing...more I finished Peak absolutely exhausted and feeling like I needed a long gulp of air (or, as they say in the book, some Os). I climbed Mount Everest! At least…it sure felt like it. The author removed me from my bedroom, took me through the snow and ice and lack of oxygen to the top of the highest mountain in the world. Quite an accomplishment. For both the author and me.

I had a great time reading Peak. The description has to rank as the best part. Written in first person, I felt like I was climbing right alongside Peak (yes, that is also the name of our narrator), experiencing and noticing everything he saw. Peak narrates in a zippy, fresh voice, giving the novel a personalized angle and making it truly sound like a 14-year-old is writing. While the themes are serious (selfishness, commitment, truth and lies), the actual reading is easy.

There’s no lack of tension either! Man vs. nature. Man vs. man. Man vs. self. Man vs. jerky-dad-who-is-never-there-for-Peak-no-matter-what-situation-they’re-in. (And yes, that is separate to man vs. man. I think it holds a category of its own.) The action sweeps you off your feet from the second you open and see Peak dangling off a skyscraper and plastering it with his trademark graffiti, to his quick exit to Nepal and Tibet and Mount Everest. You won’t be bored reading.

But the characters do frustrate me. Half the time, that’s a good thing. The other half…not so good. I didn’t feel any real progression in anyone’s characterization, though there are enough twists and jerks between who’s nice and who’s not and who isn’t who you think he is. The book leaves you guessing, that’s for certain. Peak’s real dad, Joshua Wood, is confident and elusive and capable. The author does a fantastic job bringing out his character, his thoughts, his real intentions, and then relaying them through Peak’s eyes. It’s heartbreaking. Halfway through I’d made my hypothesis on who was a jerk and who might turn out better. Get to the end? Scramble everything I’d decided.

I did find this book on my “what-to-read-if-you-loved-the-Hunger-Games” list. And when I finished, I couldn’t figure out for the life of me why it was on there. It’s not dystopian. It’s aimed at a significantly lower age bracket then The Hunger Games. The survival spin? I suppose, but I did find myself disappointed when I finished because Peak didn’t have the enthralling, deep, thought-provoking elements that usually come with a Young Adult action novel. It’s good, but it’s easy. It didn’t hook me in with complicated characters and suck me into a story of layers and complications. After finishing, I felt like the book had been written to show 12-year-old boys that reading is cool. Which is fine (good even!). Just not what I thought it was going to be.

While it lacked depth, Peak is an easy adventure novel that will keep you guessing and lacking oxygen as the author climbs you up the treacherous slopes of Mount Everest.

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Jul 17, 2012 Terri Proctor rated it 5 of 5 stars

Peak by Roland Smith is a fiction book that takes you into the world of a climber. You learn their mind set and culture as Roland leads you through a journey of a fourteen year old boy, Peak, deciding if he too wants to be obsessed with this trade or not. Published in 2007, the youngest climber of Mount Everest at this time was a sixteen year old.
The initial setting of this story is New York City, New York. Here Peak is caught scaling a building. He was found to be the culprit of several taggi...more Peak by Roland Smith is a fiction book that takes you into the world of a climber. You learn their mind set and culture as Roland leads you through a journey of a fourteen year old boy, Peak, deciding if he too wants to be obsessed with this trade or not. Published in 2007, the youngest climber of Mount Everest at this time was a sixteen year old.
The initial setting of this story is New York City, New York. Here Peak is caught scaling a building. He was found to be the culprit of several taggied buildings. In order to avoid the onslaught of media and potential jail time, Peak’s biological father, Josh, stops a climbing expedition and claims responsibility for Peak’s rearing; something he has had nothing to do with for around ten years. Josh takes Peak to Nepal, but does not tell him initially that he is going to climb Mt. Everest.
Roland Smith fully exposes the climbing culture on the mountain. He vivdly describes commercial climbing operations staked out on the physical mountain. At these camps are individual tents, mess hall tents, physicians, and camera crews. He explains the dangers that exist in these locations, and how climbers “climb high and sleep low” in order to acclimatize themselves. Being eager can cost a person their life.
Once on the mountain Josh introduces Peak to his own operation/business, Peak Experience, in which Peak feels some pride over. Josh has expeditions ready to go, and they are waiting on their leader to take them up the mountain. The name of this game is whichever expedition has the highest success rate, in numbers of climbers summiting and their health, will receive the greatest publicity and thus more expeditions in which people pay high dollars to experience. Peak puts it together that another publicity stunt would be him summiting Everest, making him the youngest person on top. Knowing this, he doesn’t know if his dad rescued him to save him or for his own business benefit. To make the event even more complicated their main Sherpa, Zopa, has a grandson, Shun-Jo, that is also fourteen and wants him to summit as well. Peak has to decide if he wants this bad enough and why. He has some time to think about this as they climb up the north side of the mountain. He listens to his mom’s advice, and makes an unselfish decision allowing Sun-Jo to summit and sends him returning to his true family in New York as soon as possible.
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May 10, 2012 NTE rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya, awarded, different, realistic-fiction

I'm not big into survivalist YA - I know I'm a literacy major, but Hatchet made me wish I had one & The Lord of the Flies just made me want to cry - so it's probably good that I opened this book without knowing what to expect.

(This comes from getting 99.99% of my books through PaperbackSwap & BookMooch - by the time they come, I have no recollection why they were added to the wishlist in the first place, and then, by the time I get around to reading them, I have usually no notion - besi...more

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Apr 26, 2012 Spencer H 8 Reading rated it 5 of 5 stars

I read Peak and thought it was very good. There was a boy named Peak who loved climbing. He illegally climbed skyscrapers in New York City and spraypainted a blue mountain on top of them. When he is climbing the Woolsworth building someone notices him and the cops find him. He has to go to court and his sentence is probation until he is eightteen. His real dad Josh, who lives in Kathmandu close to Mount Everest, wants to spend time with him and brings him to Kathmandu. Then once they get there...more I read Peak and thought it was very good. There was a boy named Peak who loved climbing. He illegally climbed skyscrapers in New York City and spraypainted a blue mountain on top of them. When he is climbing the Woolsworth building someone notices him and the cops find him. He has to go to court and his sentence is probation until he is eightteen. His real dad Josh, who lives in Kathmandu close to Mount Everest, wants to spend time with him and brings him to Kathmandu. Then once they get there he tells him they are going to climb Mount Everest. He is very suprised and realizes he could be the youngest person to ever make it to the summit if he makes it before his birthday. His dad buys him a ton of gear and they head for the mountain. His dad leads an expedition to the summit every year. He thinks it would help his business to have the youngest climber in the world to have made it under his expedition. They are on the mountain getting used to little oxygen for a long time. When Josh tells the other people on the expedition that Peak will be trying to make it to the summit they get very mad. They think their money is going to Peaks attempt at the summit. Then Peak, his friend Sun-Jo, and three sherpas act like they are leaving the mountain. They really stopped by a shortcut up the mountain and set up camp. His friend Sun-Jo is one week older than him and will be the youngest person to summit if Peak does not make it. They start climbing and think they are ready for the summit. They slowly head up the mountain day by day. Then they decide they will try for the summit that day. They are very close to the top and he stops to think. He thinks of Sun-Jo who is very poor and Sun-Jo's dad who died by saving Josh his dad. He decides it would be really nice to stop short of the summit and let Sun-Jo be the youngest to make it to the top. He tells Sun-Jo this and watches him get to the top. Then he turns around and heads back down. He tells everyone he ran out of steam and couldn't make it. Sun-Jo really appreciates this and is no longer poor. This was a very good act of kindess and selflessness by Peak.(less)

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Apr 07, 2012 Rebecca Weimert added it

Rebecca Weimert
Adventure

Peak Marcello was caught climbing the Woolworth Building in New York and is sentenced to live with his is biological father in China. Peak believes he will be attending a private school, but to his surprise his father has other plans. His father Josh owns a mountain climbing company and has decided to take Peak to the top of Everest so he will become the youngest person to climb up the entire mountain. At first Peak is upset with the idea, but just as he was getting excit...more

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Jan 08, 2012 Jerrod Peterson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Peak is about a boy named Peak Marcello who must overcome many obstacles to conquer the tallest peak in the world. Peak Marcello is boy whose parents were arguably the greatest mountaineers in the world. He plans to following in their footsteps. Peak lives in New York and spends his time either at school or climbing skyscapers and paint graffiti at the top. One day when Prak attempts to climb a skyscraper, he was arrested by the NYPD and was taken to the Juvenile Detention Center. He is taken to...more

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Do you think this book is confusing?	4	17	Mar 19, 2013 12:25pm
Peak: What do you think of Peak's family?	7	8	Oct 11, 2012 02:48pm
Peak: What did you think of the character Peak?	9	5	Oct 10, 2012 05:54pm
Peak By Roland Smith	6	25	Sep 19, 2012 05:48pm
Book Club/Troubles: Peak	3	5	Oct 02, 2011 08:53am

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Genres

Young Adult

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Adventure

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Realistic Fiction

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Adventure > Survival

34 users

Young Adult > Teen

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Sports And Games > Sports

26 users

Childrens > Middle Grade

20 users

Action

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Family

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Academic > School

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About Roland Smith

Roland Smith is an American author of young adult fiction as well as nonfiction books for children.
Smith was born in Portland, Oregon, and graduated from Portland State University and, following a part-time job at the Oregon Zoo in Portland, began a 20-year career as a zookeeper, both at the Oregon Zoo and the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma, Washington. After working to save wildlife following the E...more

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Trivia About Peak

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Quotes from Peak

“The only thing you'll find on the summit of Mount Everest is a divine view. The things that really matter lie far below.” — 42 people liked it

“You don't have to be alone to feel alone.” — 38 people liked it

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avg rating	preview: Peak Goodreads rating: 4.00 (6257 ratings)
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