Fourteen-year-old Peak Marcello is a rebellious teenager who doesn’t care about anything because his father left when he was little. Lately, however he has been attracting a lot of attention for climbing New York City skyscrapers and being arrested for it.

After his last climb he is sent to a juvenile detention center, but his father returns and persuades the authorities to let Peak live in Nepal and attend school there.

Josh, his father, was a professional climber and owned his own climbing company on Mt. Everest. Although Josh told the judge Peak would be attending school, instead they were about to climb Mt. Everest. If successful, Peak would be the youngest climber to ever reach the summit.

Throughout the book Smith talks about the planning and training that one has to do to accomplish such a goal. Peak goes through physical and emotional issues that drives him to push himself even harder.

Teens who read the novel will learn what physical and emotional will power can do for a person to accomplish a goal. “Peak” is recommended for older teens because of graphic scenes.