Friday, July 8, 2011

The Contest, by Gordon Korman, 2002

This started a bit slowly for me. It begins with a contest to climb Everest that Dominic Alexis is determined to win. The adventure is for a famous mountaineer to guide a team of teens to the top of Everest, the youngest climbing team ever. Dom's older brother, Chris has already been accepted into the training camp by virtue of his status as a climber. Dom wins inclusion in the camp by finding the letters spelling out EVEREST in a contest sponsored by a sports bar/drink manufacturer.

The first part of the book is all about picking the four teens who will climb from the initial pool of ten. Lots of drama, some climbing. But, when the finalists have training run in Alaska the adventure begins. I was reading sort of complacently--teen drama etc. I was planning to take a bit of a nap part way through.

Then I hit the Alaska climb. I don't know if Korman's descriptions of climbing strategies is accurate, but they sure are thrilling. I will be reading the next two books in the series.

Book one in Korman's Everest series. Lexile 690, Ages 9-12.

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