Review Detail

4.2 7

Peak

Young Adult Fiction 1004

Smith Climbs to the Top with "Peak"

August 13, 2009 (Updated: June 24, 2026)

Overall rating

4.0

Plot

4.0

Characters

N/A

Writing Style

N/A

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

N/A

Reader reviewed by Mari

Peak Marcellos future looks bleak when the 14-year-old is arrested for climbing New York City skyscrapers. The judge is ready to make an example of him by sentencing him to Juvenile Detention. Out of the blue, Peaks estranged father, renowned mountain climber Joshua Wood, offers to take his son to live with him in Thailand, where he owns a climbing company. But before the pair arrives in Thailand, they have one stop to make - Mt. Everest. Excited by the opportunity to climb, Peak is also painfully aware that his father has ulterior motives for taking him in.

I was not familiar with Roland Smiths work before reading Peak. I realized quickly that I had overlooked a fantastic author! The story was intelligent, engaging, suspenseful, and well researched. The characters were multi-dimensional and real. Smith did such a tremendous job of describing the setting and the challenges Peak faced in his attempt to summit Everest that when I finished the novel, I almost felt as if I had been there to witness Peaks struggles.

Guest

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