Gordon Korman has written so many good books that it’s always been hard for me to decide which one is my favorite. Sometimes I’d think it was Swindle, sometimes MacDonald Hall, and other times Everest.
Korman did three action trilogies (each book is about 150 pages, so they’re quick reads): Island, Dive, and Everest. In Island, a group of kids gets stuck on an island. In Dive, kids discover a conspiracy going on with an underground treasure. And in Everest, several kids try to peak Mount Everest. It is one of my favorite action works by Korman, and a gut-wrenching, exciting read.
Summary
The first book is called The Contest. That’s because a team of four kids are setting off to try to summit the highest peak in the world. They start out with a bunch of interesting kids, but in the end only four can remain.
Originally the plan was to take some of the more experienced climbers, along with Ethan Zaph, a sixteen year-old who is the youngest ever to peak Everest. However, Ethan joins another climbing team and they decide to take a risk and go with some younger people.
The main character of the story is thirteen year-old Dominic. Even though he’s small and his brother (not him) is renowned as a world-class climber, he is chosen to be a member of the four because of his inventiveness and hard work.
Tilt is another one of the four. Unfortunately, Tilt is very self-centered and a bully. It costs him later as he pays a very high price. Samantha is a fearless climber, and Perry’s uncle is rich and paying for the whole expedition. Cap is their expedition leader and naturally pushes the group very hard.
The second book is called The Climb. In this book we cover the challenges of getting from to base-camp, adjusting to the altitude, and all of that exciting stuff. Unfortunately, Dominic gets altitude sickness and very nearly misses the expedition.
There are also starting to be rivalries within the group, as Tilt is causing all sorts of problems. We learn that Perry doesn’t even actually want to climb, and much more.
Finally in The Summit, we get to see the teens make a push for the peak. This is by far the best book in the trilogy. It’s hard to say because so much happens, but basically there’s a small window they have where the weather is good enough to go for it…unfortunately, there’s a massive storm.
Things get crazy as Dominic and Tilt use their willpower to try to get to the top against all possible odds; including the government. Who will become the youngest person to summit Everest?
The very beginning of the series was a funeral. One of the climbers is going to die on Everest. There is only one question: Who?
Review
Like I said, Everest is great. Korman obviously put a lot of effort into writing this one, and it shines through loud and clear. The character development is not as good as in some of Korman’s other books, but combined with the intense action their adventures really hit hard.
Although Korman uses a lot of descriptive terminology about the climb, and though he explains a lot of the technical stuff, we really never get a very good picture of what climbing Everest would really be like. That’s okay though; it’s not the purpose of the book. I’d guess it would be pretty hard to get a good grasp on it without being an experienced climber yourself.
I would for sure recommend reading this book because the action and suspense is great, and the writing is just spectacular. It leads us into a new and exciting world up on the mountains the we can dream of, escape to, and feel with. Everest reaches the highest summit for boys aged nine to thirteen.