Booklist Reviews
Teenage mountain climber Peak Marcello (Peak, 2008) is back, and this time he is off to the rugged, remote Pamir Mountains of Afghanistan. Peak, reluctant to find himself in the spotlight again after nearly becoming the youngest climber to summit Everest, has nonetheless agreed to join young climbers from all over the world to make a "Peace Climb," bankrolled by one of the world's richest men, for a documentary that is to air Christmas Day. Surprises await Peak as soon as the helicopter touches down at base camp: an inexperienced and autocratic director; a beautiful French climber; and Zopa, an otherworldly Tibetan Sherpa who guided Peak on Everest. Peak will need all the help he can get when the adventure abruptly turns violent—he is lucky Zopa is there, as well as his multilingual mother. Peak is developing intellectual and emotional skills to match his formidable physical ones; his powers of observation here are exercised almost as much as his quadriceps. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.
Horn Book Guide Reviews
Fifteen-year-old Peak (Peak) agrees to participate in a Peace Climb--climbers assigned to mountains around the world for a television special. But once he arrives in war-torn Afghanistan to tackle the Pamirs, most of the party is kidnapped. An exciting tale ensues as Peak tracks down the kidnappers. Present-tense journal entries interspersed with the past-tense main narrative create an interesting dual storyline.
Horn Book Magazine Reviews
Fifteen-year-old Peak Marcello, whose earlier adventure (Peak, rev. 5/07) saw him attempting Mount Everest, agrees to participate in a Peace Climb—two hundred climbers assigned to mountains all over the world for a Christmas television special. He's an accomplished climber, but from the moment he arrives in war-torn Afghanistan, prepared to tackle the Pamirs, things go poorly. As his Sherpa friend Zopa says, "Something violent is going to happen here." Sure enough, most of the climbing party, including Peak's mom, are kidnapped, and several climbers are killed; in true Roland Smith fashion, an exciting tale ensues as Peak tracks down the kidnappers. A cagey monk, rifle-toting murderers, treacherous cliffs, a mysterious snow leopard, bald eagles on the attack, and Josette (a pretty French girl with whom Peak is enamored) heighten the action. Italicized first-person present-tense journal entries (an assignment from Peak's English teacher) are sprinkled through the main narrative (also first person but in the past tense), creating an interesting dual storyline. This sequel easily stands by itself, though readers new to Peak's world are likely to be so enthralled by the mountain-climbing action that they will go back to the previous book to tackle Everest with Peak as well. dean schneide Copyright 2014 Horn Book Magazine.
Kirkus Reviews
Only months after an aborted attempt to summit Everest (Peak, 2007), 15-year-old Peak Marcello travels with his mother and a crew of videographers to Afghanistan to participate in an international peace climb.With 200 climbers from all over the world, climbing in multiple locations around the globe, there are bound to be problems. But for Peak and his fellow climbers, the stakes are particularly high. Even though Afghanistan is not officially at war, its various factions are always at odds and looking for ways to use high-profile events to draw attention to their separate causes. A group of ruthless mercenaries kidnaps several of the climbers, including Peak's mother, and kills many of them. Peak, with guidance from Zopa, the Buddhist monk and climbing master, and Ethan, a fellow climber and daredevil, must track the kidnappers through the desert and rescue the captives before anyone else is killed. While the climbing details are interesting and the setting in Afghanistan is a suitably dangerous and stark backdrop, the story is far from riveting. Awkward pacing, one-dimensional characters, and long stretches of exposition designed to educate readers in climbing minutiae and Afghan history further slow the action. Fails to summit. (Adventure. 12-16) Copyright Kirkus 2015 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved.
PW Annex Reviews
Eight years have passed since readers met Peak Marcello, the 15-year-old son of famous mountaineers, in Peak, about the Manhattan teen's quest to become the youngest person to scale Mount Everest. In this equally action-packed (but more violent) sequel, Peak has been home from Tibet for just a few months when he joins an even riskier expedition. A secretive billionaire is planning an "International Peace Ascent," involving hundreds of teens simultaneously climbing mountains around the world, with film crews on hand. Peak's group is sent to Afghanistan, and though the narrative is loaded with information about the mechanics of climbing, the specialized gear, and the nuances of the terrain, falling into a crevasse turns out to be the least of Peak's worries. When a fellow climber attracts dangerous, criminal attention, Peak and another climber must engineer a daring rescue mission, a harrowing escape, and, finally, the symbolic ascent that was the reason for their trip. Readers familiar with the first book and newcomers alike will enjoy this trek. Ages 12–up. Agent: Barbara Kouts, Barbara Kouts Agency. (Oct.)
[Page ]. Copyright 2015 PWxyz LLCSchool Library Connection
In this title, Peak Marcello embarks on a team climbing adventure where danger comes from more than the mountain he is scaling. After failing to reach the top of Mt. Everest in Peak (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2007), the title character again boards a plane, this time headed to Afghanistan for a Peace climb. Peak is excited that his mother, a retired climber, will be joining him. The action escalates when Peak awakens from a nap to find himself alone; foul play is apparent. Peak searches and finds one injured team member who explains that everyone else has been kidnapped by what appear to be terrorists. Peak realizes it is up to him to go after his mother and the others. The action will satisfy any reader looking for adventure. - Grades 6-12 - Susan Anderson - Recommended
School Library Journal Reviews
Gr 6–10—Six months after a perilous attempt to summit Mount Everest in Peak (HMH, 2007), 15-year-old Peak Marcello and a film crew are off to climb the Pamir mountains of Afghanistan. Dubbed the Peace Climb, in which 200 international teens are climbing the world's various mountains simultaneously, the event offers Peak an opportunity to exercise his Spiderman-like skills on something other than the tall buildings in his native New York. Joined by his mother, Teri, an experienced climber who was known as The Fly in her day, and by Zopa, a respected Sherpa friend from Everest, Peak is more focused on the climb than on Afghanistan's outlaw factions, which pose more than a slight travel risk. When kidnappers kill the documentary director and two guides and take Teri, Zopa, and others in the middle of the night, Peak and ex-Marine climber Ethan set out to rescue them. A budding romantic interest in one of the teen hostages, French climber Josette, is one more reason Peak runs into the face of danger with no weapon, no means of communication, and temperature extremes that ensure an untimely death. All the while being tracked by a shen (snow leopard), the unlikely heroes pool their military and outdoor survival knowledge for a nail-biting rescue attempt that will have middle school and older reluctant readers turning pages. VERDICT Extreme sports meets ruthless killers in a survival-of-the-fittest chase.—Vicki Reutter, State University of New York at Cortland
[Page 88]. (c) Copyright 2015 Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.School Library Journal Reviews
Gr 6–10—Six months after a perilous attempt to summit Mount Everest in Peak (HMH, 2007), 15-year-old Peak Marcello and a film crew are off to climb the Pamir mountains of Afghanistan. Dubbed the Peace Climb, in which 200 international teens are climbing the world's various mountains simultaneously, the event offers Peak an opportunity to exercise his Spiderman-like skills on something other than the tall buildings in his native New York. Joined by his mother, Teri, an experienced climber who was known as The Fly in her day, and by Zopa, a respected Sherpa friend from Everest, Peak is more focused on the climb than on Afghanistan's outlaw factions, which pose more than a slight travel risk. When kidnappers kill the documentary director and two guides and take Teri, Zopa, and others in the middle of the night, Peak and ex-Marine climber Ethan set out to rescue them. A budding romantic interest in one of the teen hostages, French climber Josette, is one more reason Peak runs into the face of danger with no weapon, no means of communication, and temperature extremes that ensure an untimely death. All the while being tracked by a shen (snow leopard), the unlikely heroes pool their military and outdoor survival knowledge for a nail-biting rescue attempt that will have middle school and older reluctant readers turning pages. VERDICT Extreme sports meets ruthless killers in a survival-of-the-fittest chase.—Vicki Reutter, State University of New York at Cortland
[Page 88]. (c) Copyright 2015 Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.Voice of Youth Advocates Reviews
Fifteen-year-old Peak Marcello, son of famous mountain climbers, is himself a climber who climbed Mt. Everest. Having hung up his climbing gear for a bit, he is surprised to find the Everest film crew at his home one day with a proposition. Sebastian Plank, a billionaire, wants to sponsor an "International Peace Ascent," 230 international teens climbing peaks around the world at the exact same time. His first inclination is to say "No," but the hitch is if he declines, the film crew loses the job and there will be no United States representation. He reluctantly agrees and his mother decides to join him, although she has not climbed in a long while. The destination: Afghanistan. Upon arrival, Peak soon learns that there is more to deal with than steep cliffs and soaring peaks The Edge, a stand-alone sequel to Roland Smith's Peak (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2007/VOYA April 2007) is a fast paced story. It reunites Peak with Zopa, the Buddhist monk turned Sherpa on the Everest climb, who mysteriously predicts future events. There are hints of romance between Peak and Josette, the French delegate on the climb, as well as competition between Peak and the braggart Rafe, whose conceit exceeds his ability. The Shen, a snow leopard that constantly appears at key moments, adds a touch of mysticism. While the story and conclusion are somewhat improbable, The Edge is a fast and fun read for teens who like Will Hobbs and Gary Paulsen adventures.—Ed Goldberg 4Q 4P M J Copyright 2011 Voya Reviews.