Everest Book 3: The Summit

I.                    TITLE OF THE NOVEL

Everest, Book 3: The Summit

II.                  AUTHOR

Gordon Korman (based on his homepage http://gordonsblog.weebly.com/ ) he was born in Montreal, Canada on October 23, 1963, and writes his first book at aged 12, by the time he graduated from high school, he had published five other novels and he writes over 75 books for children and young adults fiction books.  He received a BFA degree from New York University majoring in Dramatic Writing and a minor in Film and TV and has won awards:  Children's Choice awards, International Reading Association, 1986; American Library Association Editors' Choice, 1988; Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Award, 1992 and many others.

III.                SETTING

A.     PLACE

Mount Everest- obviously there is no need for further explanation in order to justify the authenticity of the location because the title of the story speaks for itself and every Alpinist ultimate dream is to set foot on that summit. Anyway this place will be seen on page 4.

Is the place authentic? Yes it is authentic. Mt. Everest is known as the Earth’s highest mountain. Its height is 29,029 ft. above sea level. It is located in Himalayas between Nepal and Tibet. Only the genre of the story is fiction.  

B.      TIME

According to Wikipedia this book was written in 2002 and this is the last book of the Everest Trilogy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Korman.

·         Is the setting relevant or suited?

Yes, there is relevance between the story and the setting especially the place because the title of the story in itself carries the name considered as setting, summit usually associated with mountain.

IV.               MAIN CHARACTERS

Dominic Alexis- is a thirteen years old summiteer. He has the most talent and skill of all the team members. (page 10) He is the friendliest and most liked in the team. Even Babu Sberpa the head guide, treats him like a younger brother (page 14).

Tilt Crowley is a 14-year old. He would do anything for his favor in the expense of other person. It costs him later as he pays a very high price. He leaks the information to the media just to get hold of the title as the youngest climber to conquer Mt, Everest but unfortunately he is 1 year older than another climber in his team by the name of Dominick. (ref page 7) He intently divulges the information thru secret Email  (page 12) so that people would clamor that Dominick will be pulled out from the expedition (pls refer to pp. 14­- 15). If this will happen,  Tilt would be the record holder, but everything does not go as Tilt planned.

·         How are the characters presented or introduced?

Dominic Alexis is tough but small and the youngest climber of the Summit Quest team (ref page 10).

Tilt Crowley is a self centered and a bully boy. Obsessed to be the youngest summiteer of Mt. Everest (ref page 14).

V.                  SUMMARY

When this team is about to reach the summit they are having problems because of the weather condition and Captain Cicero will be banned if they would reach the summit with Dominic as under age. It was found later that Tilt was the one who leaked the information about their illegal climb; Illegal because there are minors. Tilt also sabotaged Dominic’s gear when he was about to climb with Ethan Zaph that will cause Dominic to lose oxygen at 28000 feet; Perry had an accident and fell down in about the height of a 50 storey building that caused Captain Cicero and Samatha Moone to go back and get him.  Later after Tilt have returned from the summit he was eaten by his guilt and tried to find Dominic and Zaph because they are not still in the camp and they should be in the camp because they are out of oxygen thus his search brought him to his death as the saying goes he had paid the price. At last Dominic and Zaph reached the summit with them sharing in a one oxygen bottle and they had problems when they are about to descend and go back to the camp they ran out of oxygen and a heavy storm occurred; but in the end they have reached the camp and Dominic became famous.

VI.               CONFLICT

Their main problem is Tilt’s greed

·         ARE THERE MINOR PROBLEMS? ENUMERATE?

Yes

Ø  The weather

Ø  Perry’s fear

Ø  Dominic doesn’t want to continue anymore because Cap will be banned if he does

Ø  Samantha’s breakup with his boyfriend

Ø  Loss of Oxygen

Ø  Snow blindness of Pasang- the guide of Dominic

Ø  They are tired

Ø  Perry’s Fall

·         HOW WAS THE MAIN CONFLICT SOLVED?

They endured the consequences of Tilt’s actions and Dominic persisted to climb the mountain and he reached the summit even though Tilt sabotaged his gear.

·         HOW DID THE MAIN CONFLICT AFFECTED THE CHARACTERS

Dominic caught the attention of the Nepalese Police and he was separated from Captain Cicero’s team and he joined with Ethan and also Dominic had an oxygen loss together with Ethan.

VII.             THEME/MESSAGE

Extreme adventure is the main theme of this story. The characters experience all the danger and excitement involved when climbing to the roof of the Earth. After living through rescues, serious falls (reference page 13), and extreme weather conditions, howling gale, temperature -17°F-bone cracking (page 4), Death Zone (page 5), stiff cliff, altitude, thin air (page 66)  It is a horrifying reality. This adventure is not for the weak and unskilled. some of the teens in the group reach the summit but one young alpinist's body remains on the mountain when everyone else goes home. To climb Mt. Everest is only for the strong and sturdy.

·         What is the message of the story?

The message is, it is not easy when a person decides to join an expedition like of this kind. It takes a lot of preparation, will power, courage and strength and most importantly one should be physically and mentally fit in order to make it to the top, a lot of people start the climb, but few actually reach the summit.

·         Do you think the author was able to convey his message? Explain.

 Yes, because he gave it clearly and easy to see.

Korman obviously put a lot of effort into writing this one, and it shines through loud and clear. The character development is not as good as in some of Korman’s other books, but combined with the intense action their adventures really hit hard.

Although Korman uses a lot of descriptive terminology about the climb, and though he explains a lot of the technical stuff, we really never get a very good picture of what climbing Everest would really be like. That’s okay though; it’s not the purpose of the book. I’d guess it would be pretty hard to get a good grasp on it without being an experienced climber yourself.

VIII.           HIGHLIGHTS

·         Most Unforgettable Scene

When Dennis was prosecuted in the guidance office and has proven that he is guilty.

·         Most Personal Reaction/Reactions

I am happy after reading the novel, because I have acquired new learning experience and I have enjoyed it.

ENDING

Dominic and Ethan reached the summit but Tilt died while looking for Dominic that is not yet returned to camp. Tilt died, killed by his own guilt by following Dominic, caused by over fatigue he could no lonnger move and he became frozen and died.

·         HOW DID THE STORY END?

The story ended well. Dominic achieved his goal even they were experiencing tremendous challenges, oxygen deprivation and the death of Tilt.

·         IF YOU WERE THE AUTHOR WOULD YOU WRITE THE SAME ENDING?

Yes, because the ending shows us life’s lesson: who doesn’t give up on challenges will win. 

·         WHAT IS THE ENDING OF THE NOVEL?

Dominic became famous because of being the youngest climber who summited the Mount Everest. Tilt died, killed by his own guilt; his body was found and his family was mourning and blaming Dominic. Cap Cicero hid the truth “Tilt Crowley had been no angel. But what was to be gained by speaking the ill of the dead? The boy had paid for his crimes.” The line can be found at the Epilogue page 152.

PERSOAL RAECTION

I felt sad about what had happened to Tilt because he died while supposed to rescuing Dominic. Although it was Tilt’s fault in the first place for sabotaging Dominic’s oxygen tank but his pure intention was only to stop him from climbing in order to hold the record as the youngest alpinist. Tilt regretted the things he had done and did good things to Dominic in return but it costs him his own life.