The Summit. (Everest Book Three). Gordon Korman. New York, NY: Scholastic (Distributed in Canada by Scholastic Canada), 2002. 154 pp., pbk., $6.99. ISBN 978-0-545-39234-1. Grades 3-7 / Ages 8-12. Review by Tanya Boudreau. *** /4

excerpt:

Perry regained consciousness to find himself staring up into a ring of bright lights. Two thoughts occurred to him: 1) I'm not dead and 2) I've stopped falling.

He heard strange voices around him. They were speaking another language… German?

The German expedition!
"Where am I?"

Stupid question! If you're alive, what difference does it make?

The Germans seemed amazed to see his eyes open. "You live?" said a heavily accented voice. "After such a fall?"

Perry looked at his watch. The altimeter read 26,718. He had slid and rolled the height of a fifty-story building! Now he lay on a narrow ledge of dark ice. Four inches to his left, the lower ramparts of the summit pyramid fell away into the Kangshung Face. Those few inches represented the difference between being here alive versus being eight thousand feet straight down in Tibet.

The Summit concludes the "Everest" trilogy (The Contest; The Climb). Korman has the SummitQuest team experience all the danger and excitement involved when climbing to the top of the tallest mountain in the world. After living through rescues, serious falls, and extreme weather conditions, some of the teens in the group reach the summit but one young alpinist's body remains on the mountain when everyone else goes home. Extreme adventure is the main theme of this story, but in this book, the teens show more of their emotional sides. Sammi breaks up with her boyfriend, Tilt's behavior makes him feel scared and guilty for the first time, Perry finds the courage to confront his uncle Joe with the truth about his reasons for being on the team, and Dominic learns what it takes to make dreams come true. By the end of the book, readers will see all the main characters for who they really are; people readers can relate to and hope to be like. Surprising events keep the climb interesting because the characters have to face different areas of the mountain under different conditions. Although the characters show they are skilled climbers, teamwork is what makes them successful. This reviewer's favourite parts of the book are when the SummitQuest team shares what they will be leaving on the top of the mountain and when Cap Cicero, team leader, decides he's going to keep a secret to protect the reputation of someone he's grown to care for, almost like a son, while on the expedition.

Recommended.

Tanya Boudreau is a librarian with the Cold Lake Public Library in Cold Lake, AB.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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