Readers will be at the edge of their seats reading this story of a 12-year-old determined to carry out his promise to his grandfather: to climb Mt. Rainier.
The last thing Mark suffers from is self-pity. He was diagnosed with cancer at age five, it went into remission, but now it's back. His best friend, Jessica Rodriguez, has stuck by him through it all, and this platonic, enduring friendship at the center of the story buoys both Mark and readers. Mark's first-person narrative alternates with the third-person account from Jessie's perspective. "The mountain was calling me," Mark begins. "I had to run away." At first, readers don't know how urgent Mark's quest is. He packs up his dog, Beau, and some supplies and heads off toward Seattle. Debut novelist Gemeinhart puts forth no romantic notions of going it alone: Mark gets beaten up and robbed, sleeps on the streets and gets kicked off a bus on which he stows away. And all along his illness drags him. But strangers also show him kindness, Beau's loyalty remains unshakable, and Mark's determination keeps him going.
Readers may feel as much empathy for Jessie as they do Mark. She's the only one who knows Mark's whereabouts, and as his parents start to unravel and a storm threatens, Jessie faces a dilemma: Does she keep her friend's secret or aid in a rescue he may not want? Gemeinhart makes each step up the seemingly unscalable mountain feel authentic. Give this to fans of Gary Paulsen's Hatchet for its boy-against-nature plot line. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness