Chew on This

Peak by Roland Smith

Fourteen-year-old New Yorker Peak Marcello hones his climbing skills by scaling skyscrapers. After Peak is caught climbing the Woolworth Building, an angry judge gives him probation, with an understanding that Peak will leave New York and live with his famous mountaineer father in Thailand. Peak soon learns, however, that his father has other plans for him; he hopes that Peak will become the youngest person to climb Mt. Everest. Peak is whisked off to Tibet and finds himself in the complex world of an Everest base camp, where large amounts of money are at stake and climbing operations offer people an often-deadly shot at the summit. This is a thrilling, multifaceted adventure story. Smith includes plenty of mountaineering facts told in vivid detail (particularly creepy is his description of the frozen corpses that litter the mountain). But he also explores other issues, such as the selfishness that nearly always accompanies the intensely single-minded.

*Review from Booklist

I haven't read this one yet, but it has been recommended by several students. I'll dig in and then post a comment. Let me know what you think about the book. ~Mrs. G

Knuffle Bunny Too by Mo Williams

Trixie is excited to take her one-of-a-kind Knuffle Bunny to school, but when she gets there she is surprised to learn that another girl in her class has a Knuffle Bunny too. The two bunnies cause too many distractions in the class and are confiscated by the teacher. At the end of the school day the bunnies are returned to the girls and they go happily on their way . . . until, at 2:30 in the morning, Trixie realizes she has the WRONG bunny! I don't want to give away the ending so you will have to check this out to see what happens.

As a big fan of the first Knuffle Bunny book by Mo Williams, I was eager to get my hands on this book. I was not disappointed and I can't wait for others to read it so we can discuss all the details. Please post a comment and let me know what you think. ~Mrs. G