Book Review: One Wrong Step

I received an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) of this novel from NetGalley. I am so glad I had the chance to read it before the official publish date! And check out this awesome cover, it is beautiful!

image courtesy of goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/210563338-one-wrong-step

Let me begin by saying I love the author, Jennifer A. Nielsen. I have read many of her other works and love them! She's one of my top children's authors. Surprisingly though, I believe this is my first historical fiction read of hers. I've read some from her fantasy series and also a dystopian title (The Scourge), but not historical yet. I've watched many documentaries and movies on Mt. Everest, so I was excited to try this one!

I have to be totally, 100% honest - the first half of the book was difficult for me to get through. Overall, her formatting and pacing of the story is good and appropriate, but I was having difficulty getting into it, if you know what I mean. But hang in there, reader, the halfway point on is very exciting!

So our story follows Atlas, a young male climber who is still suffering from his mother's death. He climbs in hope that he will find peace somehow, but it never seems to work. Instead, he struggles to make the right decisions at critical times, leading his father to believe he isn't ready to make it to the top of Mt. Everest.

The two of them join a team, which includes Maddie from Texas and her father. Maddie's father wants to study altitude sickness and how it may affect the human body. Maddie has come along for the journey, even though she is afraid of heights! She probably shouldn't be on this mountain at all, but her mother had a bad dream about something happening at home, so she thought it was a good idea to send Maddie far away, to be safe. Not the best logic, but hey, she did what she thought was best.

You can tell that Maddie and Atlas will become friends, but they also become a rescue team. Both of their fathers leave to make it to the summit, when disaster strikes. They could be alive or dead, no one knows, but Maddie and Atlas won't give up on trying to save them. But this is all happening as news of a war is coming. What they don't know is that War World II is about to impact all of them - IF they make it back down the mountain alive.

This book was quite educational on what it takes to climb Mt. Everest. As I said, I've seen many documentaries and this was accurate to first account stories I've seen. The author does state at the end that she is not implying that people so young as Atlas and Maddie could have made this climb in 1939, but she wanted to use it as a story of encouragement. This is fiction, after all, so I am fine with stretching my imagination a bit. I also believe however, it could be possible, when someone is that motivated with sheer will power. I've seen stories of survivors on Everest who never should have made it back down, but they did it because they knew they had to get back to their families. That is what Atlas's story reminded me of, so I believe it is a great homage to those who have survived against all odds in real life.

There is a subplot involving WWII, and the potential threat of Nazi's on the mountain. I couldn't really tell where it was going at first, but I see what the author was doing by the end. It adds just enough mystery to scare Atlas and Maddie even more, while also giving us some lesser known history about the time, so I found it interesting.

I will say, this book does include some potential spiritual elements that reflect the real life of the Sherpas and monks who live there and climb Mt. Everest. I don't believe the author is trying to push a certain religion on anyone, but she is educating the reader by keeping it accurate (yet again) to what I've seen in documentaries. The monks who live there requite everyone to be part of a ceremony before they climb the mountain, and that is true in real life too. It is as if they are asking permission to climb Everest and that is part of their tradition. Maddie's character also talks about her mother having "premonitions" (this is the bad dream I mentioned earlier), though it would seem in the book that may not be entirely accurate. A monk also tells Atlas something that is mysterious in nature, and Atlas isn't sure if he is predicting his future or not. By the end of the story, it seems more so that the monk was offering him some deep life advice that goes over Atlas's head to begin with. Just be aware of that if you are a parent or teacher passing this on to a student. Some will prefer to skip over those parts, or maybe not read it altogether, but the author is accurate to the location and people who live there. There are characters who also mention praying to God, and miracles, so I don't believe the author is trying to take away from Christianity.

The last half of the book is the most exciting. I was flying through it! It is so action packed and frightening, you just have to find out what happens and you can't put it down. I also enjoyed Atlas and Maddie's character growth. They make some very mature decisions, and I enjoyed seeing them learn. Overall, I do recommend! Especially for those who love learning more about Mr. Everest, or history in general. If you have seen or read anything about Everest before, you should give this book a chance, no matter how old you are! People today have so much more resources than the original climbers had, and this story shows that. It really was a miracle anyone who climbed during this time period (the early 1900's) made it to the top of the mountain! When it comes out, be sure to put it on hold at your library! Happy reading!