Peak by Roland Smith is a story about a fourteen-year-old boy named Peak Marcello. After Peak is arrested for scaling a New York City skyscraper, he is left with two choices. He can either go into Juvenile Detention or he can go live with his long-lost father, Josh Wood, who runs a climbing company in Thailand. Peak decides to take his father's offer, but he quickly learns that the request came with a few strings attached. Josh Woods wants Peak to be the youngest person to climb to the top of Mount Everest. Peak then meets a Buddhist monk, Zopa, who will join him on his climb along with his grandson Sun-jo. Peak soon discovers that Sun-jo is around the same age as him, so if either one of them climbs to the top, they would still be the youngest person to summit Mount Everest. The book follows the journey of the group hiking Mount Everest. They overcome many obstacles to keep their climb going. When they are about to reach the summit, Peak decides to let Sun-jo reach the top first because he knows that Sun-jo needs the fame more than he does.
I would rate this book 4 stars because it had a very interesting story. The book kept me on edge most of the time. I was always waiting to find out what would happen next. I really enjoyed seeing character relationships build and also experiencing character transformations. I would recommend Peak to anyone who is interested in reading adventure books.