Peak #1: Peak

Fourteen-year-old free-solo climber Peak Marcello is arrested in New York City after scaling the Woolworth Building, and to avoid juvenile detention he's sent to live with his estranged father, Josh, who runs a climbing expedition company overseas. Peak soon discovers his father's real motive is to make him the youngest person ever to summit Mount Everest, a publicity stunt that puts the teen in grave physical danger. Along the way, Peak forms a close friendship with Sun-jo, a Nepali Sherpa boy his own age who is secretly attempting the same record, and the story highlights Himalayan Sherpa culture, the economic hardships faced by mountain guide families, and the ethics of using children for adult ambition. Themes of absentee parenthood, self-discovery, sacrifice, and redefining success over personal glory run throughout this high-altitude survival adventure.