Peak by Roland Smith

 

 Peak Marcello has a strange hobby; he scales skyscrapers.Yet one day he's caught and trialed in court. His father, a famous mountain climber named Joshua Wood, flies from Thailand to save the day. As payment for his crimes Peak must leave his family in New York to live in Thailand with his dad. However, Joshua Wood has a different idea;Peak will scale Mt. Everest. Joshua's climbing business, Peak Experience, would gain publicity by placing the youngest climber on Everest's summit. On the secret climb, Peak meets a very lucky or psychic Sherpa, Zopa, and his grandson, Sun-Jo. Halfway through acclimatization the climbers must find a new route to the summit because because of, Captain Shek, a Chinese military official enforcing climbing permits, which Peak does not have. In the end, Sun-Jo reaches the summit in time, yet Peak gives up the chance to top the world to keep Sun-Jo safe.

Peak is the person all teenagers wish they could be. His physical appearance is nothing special, but his decisions and skills are what everyone wants to become. His family loves him, his education is top notch and he is amazing at one thing. Peak also has many opportunities many people never get. His father's work made it so he could top the world's tallest mountain. He could've taken those last steps to the top, but he thought about someone else instead. His mind set is of the perfect human. Many teenagers as well as other readers would be and are jealous of this fictional character's situation.

One of the themes I observed in this book was perseverance. Peak gave everything to risk the climb on Mt. Everest. He risked being caught by Captain Shek. He risked his health and his life by not taking the extra time to acclimatize. Peak pushed through all the emotional and physical pain to reach his goal. He pushed through; he showed perseverance.

Another theme I noticed was the affects of jealousy on friendship. When Peak became jealous of Sun-Jo, he stopped caring for him. Peak stopped checking on Sun-Jo when he was sick, he stopped helping him climb because Sun-Jo wanted to climb. Sun-Jo deserved the chance just like Peak did. Jealousy caused Peak and Sun-Jo's friendship to fall apart.

This book was perfect. That is also what I didn't like about it. Peak was the perfect depiction of a teenager, climbing Everest was the perfect setting and it had the perfect ending. However, its perfection was also shown in its predictable events. It was not surprising at all and the book's events were bland. A little bit of drama, a little bit of conflict, and a lot of success; the perfect kid, the new friend, the awesome parent, and the  weird family friend all create the over done book plot. This book was so similar to many other books I've read that I found myself having to reread the pages because I dosed off. This book was too slow for me even if I enjoyed it in the end.

The picture is from: http://www.mountainmadness.com/adventures/expeditions/asia/nepal/everest#trip-overview/description