Themes
Summary
Roland Smith's novel Peak is about a 14 year old boy named Peak who is in a family of rock climbers. His father leaves when he is young to continue his rock climbing company, and Peak and his mother move away from their rural area to live in New York City. Peak gets bored of the climbing gyms in the NYC area, and starts to scale buildings leaving a little graffiti tag on each building he climbs. He eventually is caught and all the tags tell how many buildings he has scaled, so he is detained and has to go to court. In his court trial, his father comes to the rescue and pays bail, and the court reasons that Peak will live with his father in China until he is 18.
Expecting to go to China Peak is surprised when he wakes up from his plane ride in Kathmandu. After, meeting up with his father again he tells Peak that he is going to be the youngest person to scale Mount Everest. Peak is excited and gets his gear ready to climb to the highest point on the planet. He meets up with a sherpa and a young boy, and they all become friends as they travel to base camp.
After getting acclimated for a few days it is reviled that the Chinese government is looking for Tibetan people that are trying to get across borders. The boy that Peak met is one of the people who the government is looking for, but the boy is also six days younger than Peak. Peak is mad that the boy is there and becomes angry at him, but after a while he realizes the circumstances he lets the boy be the youngest to the top. Peak turns around while the boy goes over and down the opposite side of the mountain to safety. Peak then returns home with a new perspective about being unselfish.
Expecting to go to China Peak is surprised when he wakes up from his plane ride in Kathmandu. After, meeting up with his father again he tells Peak that he is going to be the youngest person to scale Mount Everest. Peak is excited and gets his gear ready to climb to the highest point on the planet. He meets up with a sherpa and a young boy, and they all become friends as they travel to base camp.
After getting acclimated for a few days it is reviled that the Chinese government is looking for Tibetan people that are trying to get across borders. The boy that Peak met is one of the people who the government is looking for, but the boy is also six days younger than Peak. Peak is mad that the boy is there and becomes angry at him, but after a while he realizes the circumstances he lets the boy be the youngest to the top. Peak turns around while the boy goes over and down the opposite side of the mountain to safety. Peak then returns home with a new perspective about being unselfish.
Favorite Quote
"Tomorrow's your birthday. You have a reason to be here, Sun-jo. An important reason. Your future and your sisters future. I don't have a reason to be here. I'm headed back down the North Side" (230).
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I like this quote because it shows how much Peak has learned through his experience on the mountain. He went from being a selfish young boy to a we experienced selfless man. He gives Sun-jo a chance to become famous for being the youngest up Everest because he has nothing. Peak even takes a picture of Sun-jo on the summit to prove it happened.
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Argument
All of the situations that Peak goes through in his journey allow him to climb and get over his own peak.