Everest series by Gordon Korman
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Filched these from the Christmas stash of one of my kiddos and figured they’d provide a nice break from the sometimes tedious Anna Karenina…always wanted to read them, so here goes 🙂

Everest Book One: The Contest

Not bad. This one is based on a competition between a group of teens trying to win a spot to climb Mount Everest. The company sponsoring the contest is trying to send the youngest kid to the summit for publicity purposes, so there is a bit of a conflict between safety and advertising. Too many of the potential kids in the contest seem underdeveloped but they are mostly eliminated fast, and it is easy to see early on who is going to be important, but I still enjoyed this one. A training run up a smaller mountain ends disastrously and this sets up Book Two but still provides closure for this as a stand-alone book. No cliffhangers, (pun intended), yay!

Everest Book Two: The Climb

Ooh, I liked this one better. It includes details of actual climbs, altitude sicknesses, and other crises that can occur in these remote parts of the world. The drama really kicks up here too as the various teammates sabotage and save one another in their quest to become the youngest climber to summit Everest. This novel includes a detour up a different mountain with nearly disastrous consequences. I know this can’t end well and it’s not a spoiler if the front page of Book One tells us someone dies…

Everest Book Three: The Summit

Wow, so that was depressing. The expected happily-ever-after of the group actually reaching the world’s highest peak is of course tainted when a kid DIES on the expedition. Also as the group always traveled together at the beginning, the idea of pairs or even individuals venturing out on their own seemed reckless all around. And even though I knew the death of one of the team members was coming, I still wasn’t prepared for it; I guess I hadn’t expected it to be quite so wrenching since I didn’t even LIKE the character. Realistic fiction for kids at its finest, right here. I think I’ll try the Shipwreck series next…

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