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Peak

(Peak #1)

Roland Smith

3.98 · Rating details · 16,267 ratings · 2,357 reviews

The only thing you’ll find on the summit of Mount Everest is a divine view. The things that really matter lie far below. – Peak Marcello

After fourteen-year-old Peak Marcello is 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 company in Thailand. But Pea ...more

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Hardcover, 246 pages

Published May 1st 2007 by HMH Books for Young Readers (first published January 1st 2007)

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3.98 ·

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· 16,267 ratings · 2,357 reviews

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Nov 04, 2010 karen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: and-so-this-is-grad-school, why-yes-i-ya

everest is a giant mountain that people climb when they want to die. there is no other reason to climb it. is there a mac-and-cheese restaurant at the top?? no. is tamerlane up there?? nope. do you get free rent for life if you succeed? no way. so what's the allure??

the thrill of danger?? throw a rock at a bear. it will take less time and you are less likely to freeze to death. a sense of achievement? run a marathon - you will probably not lose any toes. wanting to be among an elite group of smu everest is a giant mountain that people climb when they want to die. there is no other reason to climb it. is there a mac-and-cheese restaurant at the top?? no. is tamerlane up there?? nope. do you get free rent for life if you succeed? no way. so what's the allure??

the thrill of danger?? throw a rock at a bear. it will take less time and you are less likely to freeze to death. a sense of achievement? run a marathon - you will probably not lose any toes. wanting to be among an elite group of smug people? eat a lot of hot dogs, really fast - you will probably not asphyxiate. unless you aspirate one of 'em. try not to.

really - mountain climbing, who needs it?? everest does not want you to climb it, otherwise why would it be so big?? why would it be so hard to breathe up there?? to successfully climb everest, you have to clamber up a ways, then rest, then GO BACK DOWN so your blood doesn't explode or whatever, and then go back up to the same place you just were and somehow try to breathe the fake air that's up there, and you incrementally make progress, and maybe you get pneumonia or HAPE (where your lungs get all sloshy with liquid - awesome) or you lose some toes or other extremeties, maybe you run out of food, maybe you fall down a crevasse and hopefully die instantly, maybe your rock crumbles beneath you or your rope fails and you tumble down forever, maybe a boulder falls on you or an avalanche buries you or a yak eats you. the only thing that could make this scarier is zombies. and that is only a matter of time - there are zombies everywhere else these days.

so despite all my feelings about people who would opt to lose fingers and toes (FINGERS AND TOES!! YOU NEED THEM!!), i loved this book. from the beginning, i knew i was going to love this book.it is purely awesome the whole way through.

peak,the son of two once-famous, now separated mountain climbers, gets caught scaling a skyscraper in manhattan and tagging the very top of it. this is not the first one he has done, but the first one they catch him at. after a copycat dies in his own attempt, peak cuts a deal and gets shipped off to live with his dad in thailand, but dad has a little surprise. instead of going fishing, like normal safe people, he takes his son to tibet climb everest (with a secret agenda to make peak the youngest american ever to reach the top,also conveniently getting publicity for his climbing business)

and the rest is all climbing. and danger. and friendship and personal growth and some really wonderfully touching scenes and a perfectly appropriate ending. i strongly recommend this book, to y/a and other audiences. this is both a great adventure book and a great coming-of-age novel.

and now i see he has a book called sasquatch. this author is my new best friend.

come to my blog! ...more

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Sep 06, 2017 Shelby *trains flying monkeys* rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2017, netgalley, young-adult

Peak Marcello is fourteen years old and like most fourteen year old boys (that I have encountered) he is kinda dumb. He has been climbing skyscrapers in New York City because I guess he is bored. He gets busted after climbing one of them and is given a choice..go to Juvenile Detention or go live with his dad. Peak doesn't really have the typical type of parents..back in the day his mom and dad were known as rock rats..they would climb any mountain. Mom calmed down after she broke her back climbi ...more

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Jul 27, 2015 Dianne rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 1-in-series, ages-12-up, ya, coming-of-age, dysfunctional-families, good-boy-read, personal-growth, netgalley, own

Roland Smith has captured the ever elusive thoughts and feelings of a teenaged boy who journals his thoughts, life and experiences on his climb up Mt. Everest and most importantly, his new found maturity and values as he braves frigid temperatures, a death-defying climb and the gritty side of human nature, as well as the best humanity has to offer. Welcome to the world of Peak, bundle up, grab some oxygen, and settle in for a breathtaking read for all ages!

Born to climb, born to parents who live Roland Smith has captured the ever elusive thoughts and feelings of a teenaged boy who journals his thoughts, life and experiences on his climb up Mt. Everest and most importantly, his new found maturity and values as he braves frigid temperatures, a death-defying climb and the gritty side of human nature, as well as the best humanity has to offer. Welcome to the world of Peak, bundle up, grab some oxygen, and settle in for a breathtaking read for all ages!

Born to climb, born to parents who lived for the thrill of the danger, the exhilaration and feeling of accomplishment in defying gravity, Peak was a natural. When a stunt in NYC lands him in the custody of his mountain climbing, absent father, he is caught between his own desire to make his mark in the world and his father’s single-minded selfish desires to use his son as a marketing tool to stroke his own ego and fill his pockets.

Enter the mind and thoughts of a teen who learns what is important in life as his eyes are opened to the world and the people around him. Roland Smith has given us adventure, danger and tells it with the youthful voice of young Peak. Magnetic, adventurous, young readers will feel the highs, the lows and the awe of this adventure as if they were there. An amazing journey filled with the heart of a young boy, the brutality of an ancient mountain and the narcissist egos of the adults around him who seem to forget there is no “I” in TEAM when lives are always ON THE LINE and there is no room for the phrase, “Every man for himself.” Eye-opening, realistic, enough to fuel younger readers’ minds with the power of reaching for the sky, while learning to stay well-grounded in life. Highly recommended for ALL ages, classrooms, libraries, everywhere!

I received this copy from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Book Group in exchange for my honest review.

Series: Peak - Book 1
Publication Date: August 1, 2008
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
ISBN 9780547417172
Genre: YA Adventure - Great reading for boys
Print Length: 257 pages
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Reviewed for: http://tometender.blogspot.com

...more

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May 28, 2012 J rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: middle school boys

Shelves: my-favs, middle-school-boys

"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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Jan 26, 2008 Donalyn rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya-realistic-fiction

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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Jul 28, 2015 Sherwood Smith added it

Copy provided by NetGalley:

Peak Marcello is fourteen, and at the start of the novel he's clambering at the side of a New York skyscrapers, which he has climbed using his mountaineering training in order to tag. He's arrested and the authorities want to throw the book at him for maximum sentence as a warning.

So his absent mountain climber dad swoops in for the first time in Peak's life. Helps out, promising to whisk Peak off to Tibet and private school, until the notoriety dies down. But what his ...more

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Oct 31, 2008 Ashley rated it liked it

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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Jun 29, 2013 Duffy Pratt rated it liked it

Shelves: childrens

Asked why he wanted to climb Everest in 1023, George Mallory quipped "Because it's there." The mountain killed him soon thereafter. He was last spotted 800 feet from the summit, and disappeared after that. Seventy five years later they found his body, and from the examinations that were done on it, it sounds like it was mostly intact, basically frozen for eternity or until discovered. There's still some debate over whether Mallory got to the summit, and if he did, whether that counts as the firs Asked why he wanted to climb Everest in 1023, George Mallory quipped "Because it's there." The mountain killed him soon thereafter. He was last spotted 800 feet from the summit, and disappeared after that. Seventy five years later they found his body, and from the examinations that were done on it, it sounds like it was mostly intact, basically frozen for eternity or until discovered. There's still some debate over whether Mallory got to the summit, and if he did, whether that counts as the first "ascent" of Everest, or whether the laurels should still go to Sir Edmund Hillary.

Since then, an additional 216 people have died trying to climb Everest. If you like stats, that's 4.6 deaths for every 100 successful attempts at the summit. Of those, over a quarter of the people who died actually reached the summit, and then died on the way down.

Peak is about a 14 year old whose father wants him to climb to the summit. His father runs a commercial climbing company, and it would be a big boon to business to lead the youngest climber to ever reach the summit. Peak, however, does not have many of his own reasons. He can't even say that he's climbing it "because it's there."

At the start of the book, Peak is both a climber and a graffiti artist. He illegally climbs skyscrapers in Manhattan to tag them with his mark. During the book, he is simultaneously climbing Everest and keeping a journal about it (the book we get to read). So which is he? A climber, or a graffiti artist/ournal keeper. In a strange way, that's what this book is about. Peak is in search of motivation, and on Everest he finds it.

And that would be a great story, except that I didn't buy the ending of the book at all. At first, it looked like this book would be a bonding story between Peak and his estranged father. But Smith thankfully avoids that aspect, at least for the most part, and that relationship never becomes cloying. But the book ends up with Peak making an arbitrary choice and decision, and the more I think about what happens, the more arbitrary and unconvincing it seems to me. (view spoiler)

The book did a wonderful job of detailing the pain and boredom of acclimating to extreme high altitude. It dod a less good job of conveying the wonder of climbing. Instead, it stressed the concentrated focus of doing things one step at a time and repeating the process. Between the pain, the boredom, the repetition, the illness, and the dead bodies littering the trail, it convincingly makes one wonder why anyone would want to climb Everest at all. And if it had had a more satisfying conclusion (and there's part of me that doubts the reliability of the narrative at the end), I would have liked it much better.

Oh, and if you think the idea of a 14 year old kid climbing Everest is a preposterous premise, the current record for youngest to reach the summit is 13 years old, set in 2010, three years after the publication of Peak. There are also records for first blind person, first amputee, etc... ...more

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Dec 30, 2017 Allison Tebo rated it it was amazing

Shelves: contemporary, favorite-cover, own

Once in a while, there is a piece of YA fiction with a style that is borderline genius – and that would undoubtedly be Peak. An incredibly strong style and voice utterly captivated me – more specifically I was utterly captivated by it’s narrator – Peak, a fourteen year old climber. From the very first sentence, I was instantly transported into this boy’s smart mind, hurting heart, and incredible integrity and strength. Peak was the first person this year to join my Hall of Favorite Characters an ...more

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Nov 26, 2015 Lex rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016-march-reads, 4-stars, 2016-reads, easy-reads, i-want-it-in-movie-form, first-in-series, young-adult, childrens-mg, reviewed, could-reread

There are good books and then there are books you cannot put down. Peak was one of those books for me. I took it with me everywhere. I read it during every spare moment I had - even during boring parts of a movie I "watched" with my sister. I was, quite literally, on the edge of my seat through the whole thing.

In first person, written as a story for a school assignment, Peak tells the story of, well, Peak. A fourteen, almost fifteen, year old boy who loves climbing. Because he lives in New York There are good books and then there are books you cannot put down. Peak was one of those books for me. I took it with me everywhere. I read it during every spare moment I had - even during boring parts of a movie I "watched" with my sister. I was, quite literally, on the edge of my seat through the whole thing.

In first person, written as a story for a school assignment, Peak tells the story of, well, Peak. A fourteen, almost fifteen, year old boy who loves climbing. Because he lives in New York, he resorts to - illegally - climbing skyscrapers and tagging blue mountains in inconspicuous places. When he gets caught, it seems he's set to spend the next three years in JV until his father shows up with an alternative. Peak will spend the next three years with his father. One thing quickly leads to another and next thing we know, Peak is preparing to be the youngest person ever to set foot on the summit of Mount Everest.

I picked this up because this book is probably the closest I'll ever get to climbing Mount Everest myself. I am addicted to books about survival, life and death. Airplane passengers stranded on islands, swimmers in shark infested waters, fourteen year old's climbing five feet above sea-level. (I live in the mile high city; I can't tell you how many out of towners have trouble breathing here.) It fascinates me. I can't look away. The book would have to be horrendously written for me to give up on it.

Fortunately, Peak didn't disappoint. It wasn't a mind blowing read. It wasn't difficult, and in fact I'd probably recommend it to middle school age kids, maybe even advanced readers younger than that. Peak keeps you hooked till the very end with surprises at every turn. It's not just a story about survival. It's a story about family and friendship and growing up. And I liked that things didn't turn out all cookie cutter, cheesy, everyone-lives-happily-ever-after. (Ooops, spoiler?)

:P

(view spoiler) ...more

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Oct 04, 2007 Alex rated it it was amazing

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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May 03, 2009 Thomas rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Fans of not just climbing, but fiction about family as well

Shelves: own-physical, young-adult, realistic-fiction

"Peak" is about fourteen-year-old Peak Marcello who has just been arrested for climbing a skyscraper in the center of New York City. He has the choice of rotting away in juvy, or escaping with his father to climb Everest (although he doesn't know it at the time). It's no wonder he decides to go with his neglectful father, who wants Peak to call him Josh. The rest of the book is about Peak's adventure climbing the legendary mountain, including Josh's incentive and motivation to get his son up the ...more

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Jan 02, 2018 nova ryder ☼ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: first-in-a-series, series-low-priority, 4-stars, reviewed-or-ish, get-the-popcorn, on-my-bookshelf, poc, survival, young-adult, childrens-mg

i have nothing to say except this was a great book and i have no complaints (view spoiler) maybe the ending was a little rushed but i think it worked. but i love reading books like this because it's probably as close as i'll get to ever actually climbing mt. everest. or any mountain of significance for that matter.

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Dec 06, 2013 Abbey rated it really liked it

Have you ever wondered how climbing is really like? What kind of things happen while people are climbing and how long it takes to climb to get to your destination? Peak gives you all of the information about it. And including a story line to go with it, not just facts on climbing. Being the kind of reader I am (reading mysteries and crimes and such), this book is actually fascinating. It actually caught me onto some spots in the book where there was a twist and it got me more into it and wonder ...more

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Jul 30, 2008 Heather rated it really liked it

Shelves: lonestars-08-09

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 halfway around the world. His father gives Peak the opportunity to climb Mount Everest in order to be the youngest climber to ...more

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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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Feb 05, 2014 Cameron Paynter rated it really liked it

Shelves: term-2

This book was a bout a boy Peak and his life, it took place mostly at Mount Everest. found this book very interesting because it was cool to see what peak did in his life because he is the same age as us. This is about Peaks life it first took place in the city living with his Mom,but peak got in deep trouble and and his dad took him to mount Everest. Peaks Dad is a famous mountain climber and Peak is trying to be the youngest kid to climb to the summit of Mount Everest. Read this book to find o ...more

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Oct 02, 2015 Simon rated it it was amazing

Peak is the kind of book that you will never read because the title looks boring, But i actually pick up the book and read it. It is a very inspirational where it teaches to never give up even when things go bad. You would never think anything about the ending. Another great book by Roland Smith

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Apr 14, 2013 Laura Galindo rated it really liked it

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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Nov 05, 2015 Julia Lopez rated it it was amazing

One of the best books ever! Luv it

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Mar 28, 2018 Valerie McEnroe rated it it was amazing

Shelves: middle-grade, adventure, survival

How does this book not have well over 4 stars, and how has it taken me so long to read it? This is without a doubt one of the two best children's books about survival and adventure. The other is Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. Seriously, I can't see any kid, especially boys, not devouring this book. Now that so much about Mt. Everest is on the internet, every kid who reads this is going to be searching the internet for pictures of dead bodies, trash, base camps, and the summit. It's just fascinating m ...more

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Jun 02, 2011 Gabriella Nestor rated it it was amazing

Introduction

The novel Peak is written by Roland Smith expressing the physical and emotional tolls on a fourteen year old boy Peak Marcello as he climbs to reach for Mount Everest. In the opening scene, Peak writes about his outrageous stunt in scaling the Woolworth building in New York City to tag his blue mountain on them. Nevertheless, his plans rapidly come to a complete end, as he is caught and arrested for vandalism, and climbing. His stunt goes public and Peak is in deep trouble and has to ...more

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Apr 15, 2019 MissStan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A great read. Peak is sent to live temporarily with his father who is a famous mountain climber after he gets in trouble scaling buildings in NYC. He doesn’t realise that he is being taken to climb Everest. This is a great page turner and it very clearly describes mountain climbing. The author obviously has mountain climbing experience, so it is very well described. Although I guessed it was a really tough sport, I had no idea about the constant acclimation that had to happen - climbing up and d ...more

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Jun 17, 2011 Elizabeth O rated it really liked it

Introduction
The book that I had just finish reading is called "Peak" written by Roland Smith.This book is about a 14 year old boy named Peak who had illegally tried to climb up the skyscrapers and gets in trouble with the police. He goes on trip to tibet with his father and climbs Mount Everest.If he gets to the top, he would be the youngest person to stand above 29,000 feet.But in order for this to this to happen, he can't get cought by the chinese.If he does get cought, he gets arrested.In
Introduction
The book that I had just finish reading is called "Peak" written by Roland Smith.This book is about a 14 year old boy named Peak who had illegally tried to climb up the skyscrapers and gets in trouble with the police. He goes on trip to tibet with his father and climbs Mount Everest.If he gets to the top, he would be the youngest person to stand above 29,000 feet.But in order for this to this to happen, he can't get cought by the chinese.If he does get cought, he gets arrested.In real life, the worlds most largest mountain in the world is Mount Everest which is located in Tibet which is a an area governed by the chinese. The youngest person to ever get to the top of the mountain is a chinese person who's about 20 year old person. Because of this, they have all the power and if a young american person who's below the age of the youngest climber who had reached the top of Mount Everest, the chinese will lose the power. On page 78 it states," The youngest Americans to Everest are a couple of 20 years old,' he explained. ' So your being 15 might have worked, but truthfully getting a 14 year old up there has more sex appeal, especially after your climb in New York".

Structure
One important word that I that confused me a little is the word crampons. Crampons are boots that are used for climbing and their very sharp on the bottom. Another word that also confused me a lot was the word sherpa which is a member of a Himalayan people living on the borders of Nepal and tibet and they are renowned for their skill in mountaineering. This book is written in 1st person because the narrator is the person who is speaking to you and uses the words i,we,my,me and ect.

The theme of this book is that when you make a huge mistake, you have to serve the consequences and you can get isolated from the people who you most love and that can hurt them and it can also hurt you. It can also provoke anger that can cause people to say things that make other people think what they're not. On page 9, it states, "I just talked with your mother. She said that I had her permission to beat you to death". The reason why Peak's mother said this was because of her anger about error that Peak made. Also, Peak had to leave new york and the people who he most love to fly to thailand to live with his father.Therefore because of his mistake, he was away from his proponents for a long time.

Peak is a very courageous character. The reason is that he took the risk of climbing one of the most tallest building in New York. Also, he knew that he had a high possibility of getting arrested but still took the risk. Then, he was tenacious when he decided to climb Mount Everest which is even worst than climbing a tall building. So from the beginning to the end, Peak starts to become more tenacious and takes larger risks.

In my opinion this is a very intresting book because since this book is written from a teenager, this book can give a lot messages to young adults about life and this can give other teenagers a lesson and make them learn from Peak's mistake. So, I would recommend this book to any teenager, high-schooler's, kids in middle school and children because by reading this book, it can give them a lesson about how life is. Since Peak had learn from his mistake, he becomes a different person and that changes his family and was welcomed when he came back from thailand.

...more

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May 01, 2015 Peter Nicholson rated it it was amazing

I did like this book "Peak" by Roland Smith, because of how it was written and the plot caught my attention very well. Although I didn't like that the events where happening very slowly, and it wasn't action packed. I enjoyed reading this book a lot and would definitely read it again.

"Peak" was about a boy named Peak who loves to climb just like his parents did at his age. He lived in New York with his mom and stepdad, his real father is located on Mt.Everest climbing and running a business. Pe I did like this book "Peak" by Roland Smith, because of how it was written and the plot caught my attention very well. Although I didn't like that the events where happening very slowly, and it wasn't action packed. I enjoyed reading this book a lot and would definitely read it again.

"Peak" was about a boy named Peak who loves to climb just like his parents did at his age. He lived in New York with his mom and stepdad, his real father is located on Mt.Everest climbing and running a business. Peak had no mountains to climb in New York so he worked with what he could. One day he was caught climbing a skyscraper and faced jail time. The only way Peak could not get the sentencing was to leave the state, so he went to go live with his dad all the way across the Atlantic Ocean. Peak lived on Everest and he got to climb the mountain with another boy who is also there, Sun-Jo. If they made it to the top before Peaks birthday he would have been the youngest to ever do the climb. They finally reached the top when Peak lets Sun-Jo go first and Peak goes back down the mountain even though he only had ten more feet to go. Peak did this so Sun-Jo could live legally with his mom on the other side of the mountain known and Nepal. Peak then returns home for his siblings birthday party as he wanted to.

Peak was the main character in the book and he was a very nice young man who can think for himself. He would help someone out even when it endangers himself. Josh is Peak's dad who works on Everest and Peak had not seen Josh in a very long time. Josh was a nice guy who loves to climb and runs a company for it. Josh was kind and caring but also will enforce the rules when they need to be enforced.

The setting for this book was on Mount Everest in the spring months. If the setting was different the book wouldn't exist because it takes a long time to climb Mount Everest. The book could have changed if something happened to the mountain such as the weather warming up and causing an avalanche.

This was a very good book I liked it a lot and would definitely recommend this to one of my friends. I think this book would be good for boys and girls of a eighth grade reading level or higher. ...more

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Sep 12, 2012 Jonah 713 added it

Shelves: 7th-grade

I really enjoyed the book Peak by Roland Smith. I found the characters to be interesting and very thought out as well as realistic, Especially the protagonist, Peak, a 14-year-old climber and his father, Joshua Wood. The story tells the tale of a boy, Peak, who makes an attempt to reach the summit of the tallest mountain in the world, Everest. The plot was that if peak reached the summit, he would be the youngest climber ever to conquer Everest.
This book really kept Josh’s and Peaks relationsh ...more

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May 10, 2012 NTE rated it really liked it

Shelves: realistic-fiction, awarded, ya, different

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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Jul 29, 2015 Sarah Monsma rated it it was amazing

Fourteen-year-old Peak Marcello is nearly two-thirds of the way through his secret goal when he gets nabbed, hauled by police onto the top of his latest skyscraper, even before he'd had a chance to tag it. Before Peak knows it he's been arrested, appeared in court before a judge, and he's headed out of the country in his father's custody, the father he hasn't even heard from in the past seven years. The worst part of it is, Peak's dad has an agenda—an agenda that Peak's both excited about and sc ...more

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May 11, 2008 Jennifer Wardrip rated it really liked it

Shelves: trt-posted-reviews

Reviewed by Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com

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 ...more

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Feb 20, 2010 paula rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult

I really enjoyed Smith's Cryptid Hunters, a page-turning, funny adventure story of two siblings and their globe-trotting uncle (father). Featuring nefarious villains and their henchmen, resourceful young people who confront their fears, and guest appearances by mokele-mbembe and Sasquatch, Cryptid Hunters pretty much hit all my buttons.

Reading the jacket copy for Peak, I expected much of the same. Peak is a teenager in New York City who is a born mountain climber. The city is not his natural hab ...more

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About Roland Smith

Roland Smith

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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