Book Reviews and More: The Summit - Gordon Korman

The Summit

Everest Book 3

Scholastic Canada

ISBN 9780545392341

eISBN 9780545666411

ASIN B00E9BJ8MM

The Summit - Gordon Korman - Everest Book 2

This book was originally published in 2002 and was last published in 2013. Though there are a couple different versions of the cover of book one, one in brown and the current in blue. According to Goodreads there are 25 editions of the first volume in this series, including editions in English, French, Dutch, Italian, and Spanish editions listed. My introduction to Korman’s works was the 39 Clues back in 2009. Since then I have read over 90 of his books including this volume, a few of them more than once. I set the goal of reading all his books about 2020. I am over half way thorough his canon, and have completed all the stand alone books and am now just working my way through the remaining series. Not counting omnibus editions I believe that as of the summer of 2025 Korman has published 109 books. With each that I read I am entertained and often challenged, and I am always entertained. My son, who is 17 often, reads these books to me or with me, and he still loves them.

One description of this volume states:

“A thrilling adventure trilogy from Gordon Korman that follows a group of young climbers to the top of Mt. Everest!

The height of the world. Four kids are prepared to go into thin air. Each one of them could break a record if they reach the top. And each one of them knows that standing at the summit is only half the battle-they'll still have to come back down to earth. None of them is prepared for the challenges that await them as they get closer to the summit. Conditions are extreme. Supplies are low. The temperature is far below zero. And one of the kids is trying to sabotage the others. And then the storm hits...”

another states:

“Four kids. One mountain.

Four kids are prepared to go into thin air in order to become the youngest person ever to climb Everest. But they are not prepared for the challenges that await them as they get closer to the summit. Supplies are low. Conditions are extreme. One of the kids is trying to sabotage the others...”

The story begins with a prologue. That prologue begins with:

“The wind pounced on them above twenty-five thousand feet.

As the youngest expedition in Everest history scrambled up the Geneva Spur, the onslaught began — overpowering, unpredictable gusts that threatened to pluck the climbers off the mountain and hurl them into space.

Amazingly, this was nothing new to them. This was the second time the team had stood atop the Spur, a mammoth club of decaying black rock in the infamous Death Zone high on Everest. Their last summit bid had been scuttled when they’d been called away to perform a daring high-altitude rescue. For two very long weeks, the SummitQuest climbers had waited at Base Camp, begging fate for the weather to offer a second chance at the peak.

Now they had it. And, as team leader Cap Cicero put it, “We’re not going to let a little breeze get in our way.”.”

It concludes with:

“Cicero’s confident stance belied an inner concern: If the blow’s this bad here, it’s bound to be murderous higher up.

Normally, conditions like this would have sent a team back to Base Camp to wait for better weather. But it was the twenty-first of May, very late in the climbing season. Any day, Everest’s summer monsoon could begin, effectively shutting down the mountain. They climbed now because they could not be sure they would get another chance.

The team leader had no way of knowing that summer would come late that year. Nor could he have foreseen that, before Everest slipped into the monsoon, it would claim the life of one of his young climbers.”

From the very beginning of book one we know this is a tragic tale, and we are reminded again with the prologue of the first two instalments. This story is a hard read. Korman delves deeper into human nature than a lot of his works. It is true a team member is playing a game against them all. He is doing it to get the glory for himself and set himself up for life. But when things go sideways he grows a conscience and puts himself at great risk to try and reverse his earlier mistake.

The main events in this instalment of the series are various attempts to summit Everest, the issues encountered and the conflict within the team and across teams. It becomes a fight for survival with 5 people out on the mountain after dark and a killer storm rushing in, visibility is down, temperatures have dropped and 1 team is trying an unknown route down, 1 team is searching and the fifth is lost after his own solo attempted search.

It is a strong conclusion to the story in the adventure story of the four young climbers that young readers will love. I am in my mid-fifties and I am loved it. This series is published as three short works; it is also published in an omnibus edition with all three stories in 1 volume. Unfortunately that 3 in1 edition is out of print and it looks like it was never released as an eBook. What I like about the shorter versions, is they are great for the classroom, or reluctant readers. This volume is another short read, it really grabs your attention, and draws you in, and it leaves you desperate for the final piece of the story. As mentioned this is one of a few series written around the same time, in a similar format. If you love it check out The Dive, Island, or Titanic series as well.

A great read from Korman’s masterful pen.

I still have 15 books from series left to read to have completed the canon of Korman’s works. I am grateful I finally gave this series a read; I look forward to the final offering in the trilogy, and finishing the other 3 trilogies as well. It is an intense read in an exciting series!

Books by Gordon Korman:

MacDonald Hall Series:

This Can't Be Happening at Macdonald Hall (1978)

Go Jump in the Pool (1979)

Beware the Fish! (1980)

The Wizzle War (1982)

(formerly The War With Mr. Wizzle)

The Zucchini Warriors (1988)

Light’s Camera, Disaster (1991)

(aka Macdonald Hall Goes Hollywood)

The Jokes on Us (1995)

(formerly Something Fishy at Macdonald Hall)