Teachers will want to pair this with Mark Pfetzer’s Within Reach: My Everest Story (1998). This and other elements such as the return of the long-lost father, bite-size chunks of information about climbing and altitude, an all-male cast, competition and suspense (can Peak be the youngest ever to summit Everest, and can he beat out a 14-year-old Nepalese boy who accompanies him?) creates the tough stuff of a “boys read.” The narrative offers enough of a bumpy ride to satisfy thrill seekers, while Peak’s softer reflective quality lends depth and some-but not too much-emotional resonance. Peak must learn to navigate the extreme and exotic terrain but negotiate a code of ethics among men. To save him, his long-lost Everest-trekking dad appears with a plan for the duo to make a life in Katmandu-a smokescreen to make Peak become the youngest person in history to summit Mount Everest.

12-15)ĭare-devil mountain-climber Peak Marcello (14), decides to scale the Woolworth Building and lands in jail. Fans of Greek mythology will enjoy several tales of gods, warriors, and nymphs woven throughout, but it’s the timeless, entrancing love story-the heartache, the triumph, and the bittersweet ending-that grabs the heartstrings. The sensual narrative celebrates land and sea with stinging detail-from Sirena’s intense love and physical longing to her quiet, clever island survival with Philoctetes. Slowly, Napoli unfurls a glorious story of love, as Sirena reaches immortality while understanding the consequences of her love and exploring brand new feelings such as desertion, desperation, and jealousy.

Sirena is drawn to him, but afraid for him at the same time’she does not want him to suffer the same fate as the men before him. To her lonely home comes Philoctetes, abandoned by his shipmates after he was bitten by a serpent. Sirena soon realizes that their calls lead many men to their deaths (there is no fresh water for the men, or they drown, etc.) this knowledge so devastates her that she banishes herself to life alone, and without songs, on the island of Lemnos. When ships pass on their way to battle in Troy, the mermaid sisters lure the warriors with their songs. Sirena and her sisters are hybrids (half-human, half-fish), or mermaids, yearning for the touch and love of men, who will thereby bring them immortality.

Sirena by donna jo napoli