Book One: The Contest...Everest

When I first started to decide which books to read for this semester I quickly glanced over this book, Everest, because I thought to myself, how good can a book about mountain climbing really be? Fortunately I wanted to experience a book from the adventure genre and I found out just how thrilling and intense a book about mountain climbing can be. To me mountain climbing is just an activity, but to the characters in this book, mountain climbing is their life. This book was an easy read and would be great for middle school students or even reluctant readers in high school. While parts of this book were a little bit on the corny side, I think there are many great themes and lessons to be learned from reading this short book containing few challenging vocabulary words.

This book kept me in suspense because even in the training environment, these teenagers are risking their health and even their lives by all of the intense climbing they do. One wrong move can mean an injury or even death. I enjoyed this novel partly because it did a great job of showing the role politics plays in life. There is one climber who is not very good and does not love climbing. However, his uncle is a major sponsor and his uncle wants his nephew to be on the team to climb Mount Everest, so his nephew, Perry, takes one of the coveted spots on the team. This spot should be reserved for a serious climber who is passionate about the sport, not for a rich kid who is not even interested in climbing at all. I think students need to learn that unfair things happen all of the time in life. They need to be made aware that these kinds of things happen so they can then question whether or not the system is broken and perhaps find a solution to make things work better. Teenagers are often kept in the dark about the realities of the world. I think this book does a great job of shedding some light on a topic that is often ignored in schools.

I also like the character of Dominic. It kind of reminds me of the movie Rudy. Rudy is a student at Notre Dame who has had this lifelong dream of playing college football for the Irish. He is told he is too small and that he isn't good enough the entire time he is there, until one day he finally gets his chance after working with the football team for over three years. He put in his time and eventually he got his opportunity. Like the main character in the movie, Dominic is told he is too small to ever be anything more than a casual climber. Even thought he is smallest in physical size at the competition, he has the largest heart, the largest passion for climbing. I have always been one to cheer for the underdog. I think in our society we need people like Dominic to remind us that the biggest or the wealthiest person does not always come out on top. Often times that is the case, but I think we need that ray of hope to remind us that even the little guy always has a chance. It is important to always have dreams and to keep your dreams alive. If our hopes are dashed then there is really nothing much to live for. In my life I think I actually enjoy chasing the dream more than the act of actually achieving the dream itself.

This book is a great read for students at all reading levels. I also think that the lessons learned can be applied to middle school and high school students. This book is also great for reluctant readers because of the easy vocabulary and the short length of the book. I think students who read the first book in this series will be begging for you to give them the next book in the series.