The Liberation of Gabriel King by K. L. Going

Poor Gabriel. He's just finished 4th grade and fears going into 5th grade. He's so afraid of 5th grade that he's trying to convince his best friend Frita to stay in 4th grade. Why is he afraid of 5th grade? It's because he's being bullied for his smaller size. What would a best friend do? Frita has an answer. She plans to help Gabe face each of his fears during the summer months so he'll be ready to face 5th grade when school starts again and liberated from those fears - and he has a long list of them.

The setting for this story is 1976 in Georgia. Frita is the only African American student in Gabriel's 4th grade classroom of white students. So as she's helping him face fears such as spiders, alligators, and bullies we learn that Frita also has fears that are much more serious - the Ku Klux Klan. Frita and her parents with Gabe and his parents speak up for the rights of all people at a rally that shows us, the readers of The Liberation of Gabriel King, that friendship and family can help us to be brave and face our fears.

Peak by Roland Smith

Peak is about to do something no 14 year old has ever done before - climb Mt. Everest! Yes, Peak is his name. He tells us that it could have been worse. His parents could have named him Abyss or Glacier. You see, his parents are mountain climbers which helps to understand why Peak is a natural-born mountain climber too. Peak lives in New York City with his mother where he climbs tall buildings, which is against the law. He is arrested for scaling the Woolworth Building and taken to jail. Instead of sending him to the juvenile facility, the judge agrees to let Peak's father take him back to Nepal where he is a well-known mountain climber arranging expeditions to the top of Mt. Everest for his wealthy clients. Peak hasn't seen his father in many years but he agrees to the plan. He doesn't know that his father has another motive for wanting to have Peak live with him.

This book is a chilling (brrr) adventure. You will experience the danger, hard work, bitter cold weather, and the thrill of climbing Mt. Everest with Peak if you read Peak by Roland Smith. Don't wait until this summer to read this story. Read it now, in the cold month of February, while you listen to our Michigan winds howling outside the window and you see the snow blowing and swirling in the yard. Then you'll have a bit of an idea what it is like for all those people who try the ultimate adventure - climbing to the top of Mt. Everest!