ONE WRONG STEP, by Jennifer A. Nielsen, Scholastic Press, March 4, 2025, Hardcover, $18.99 (ages 8 and up)
Two kids fight for survival on the unforgiving trails of Mount Everest in One Wrong Step, by Jennifer A. Nielsen.
For a climber, letting go means certain death. For Atlas, it means something even worse. But he’ll have to learn how to let go and look up if he ever wants to see the top…
Twelve-year-old Atlas Wade has been trying to forget the memory of his mother by climbing mountains ever since she died when he was nine years old. When his father signs them up for an expedition group hoping to be the first to ever summit the unconquerable Mount Everest, Atlas can’t wait for the chance to prove himself to his father, and maybe finally he can leave his mother behind him on the mountain.
But this time, Atlas is the one left behind, as well as a young American girl named Maddie and their sturdy yet injured Sherpa, Chodak. When news breaks out that war has returned to Europe, and that Nazis are attempting their own summit dangerously nearby, Atlas and Maddie plead with the expedition to come back down.
Their warnings come too late. Atlas looks up that same morning to see an avalanche and when they receive no word from the group, Maddie and Chodak join Atlas as he begins a dangerous journey up the mountain in the hopes of finding survivors.
Atlas, Maddie, and Chodak will have to rely not just on their own wits for survival, but on each other as well, especially as sickness, bad weather, and their fears of a Nazi spy watching them puts their mission — and lives — at risk in the brutal terrain. And Atlas will have to learn how to let go if he wants any chance of finding his father and fixing the rift between them caused by his mother’s death, before it’s too late. —Synopsis provided by Scholastic Press
You really can’t go wrong with any books from Jennifer A. Nielsen. The author of fantasy and historical novels for young readers knows how to engage her audience and hold interest. Such is the case with One Wrong Step, a middle-grade historical fiction that takes readers to the slopes of Mount Everest.
At the center of the story is Atlas, a boy who wants to prove himself. He’s a complex character that you want to succeed. He is motivated by grief and the complexities of family dynamics. He feels rooted and realistic. Maddie is strong as a supporting character and well-developed.
Nielsen does a fantastic job setting the scene. You feel as if you are on the mountain with Atlas, Maddie, and Chodak. You feel the bitter cold and get light-headed with heights. In Nielsen’s deft hands, you get sucked into the drama and don’t want it to end.
One Wrong Step is a fast-paced adventure that will appeal to a large cross-section of readers.
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