Climb or Die: A Test of Survival

by Edward Myers

After a car accident in a snowy Colorado pass seriously injures their parents, athletic fourteen-year-old Danielle and her brainy younger brother, Jake, must scale a mountain to find help.

Genres: Survival, School, Adventure, Realistic Fiction, Childrens, Young Adult, Fiction

192 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 1996

Reviews

[Berkley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book because of all the adventure in it. I really liked how they made tools to help them climb the mountain.

[kyla · Rating 5 out of 5]

spoilers ahead

they picked climb

"Danielle, it's climb or die"

"reassurance- and resentment. For although Jake felt delighted to have his sister looking after him like that, he felt frustrated at the same time to feel dependent on her"

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jake and Danielle Darcy along with their parents are traveling on one of Colorado's interstate roads when a freakish October snowstorm, almost blizzard-like, forms. The roads quickly become snow-covered, icy, and hazardous. The family is creeping along in their Blazer, when Dad is sure he can take a off-the-beaten-path country road and get to their destination quicker. But, fate would have other plans. Dad skids on the snowy road and hits a tree, crunching the car like an accordion. Miraculously, everyone survives, although both parents are badly injured. Jake, 13 and Danielle, 14 along with beagle, Flash are unharmed.

With a gas tanked half full, a car that will not start, and a raging snowstorm that seemingly won't quit, the family finally comes to the realization that it is up to the kids to go for help. But, it is 20 miles back to the interstate! Super-brainy Jake and super-athlete Danielle put their heads together and decide to climb Mt. Remington in search of a weather station atop the mountain. Using makeshift climbing gear they tirelessly climb and climb and climb. They know it is their only hope of survival for both themselves and their parents.

Climb or Die is an action adventure full of tense moments and finger-nail biting scenes. Two courageous kids use the best of their talents and brains to try to outsmart Mother Nature. A tribute to the determination of the human spirit.

Used for 5th Grade Courage Bibliography: September, 2012.

[Mason]

"Climb or Die" by Edward Myers. If you want to learn more about Edward Myers, go to this website http://edwardmyerswriter.net/. The Darcy family from New Jersey is going to go to Denver Colorado for a winter vacation and while they are heading to their cabin in Denver, it is pouring down snow everywhere. The dad of the family wants to find a shortcut to the cabin, but ends up getting stuck in the woods and the car can't go anywhere due to the amount of snow everywhere. The parents decide to get out of the car to get help, but end up getting frost bite and can't do anything besides stay in the car now. Danielle and Jake (the kids) decide to get out of the car and head to the nearest mountain because there will be a weather station at the top of the mountain that they can get help from. Continue to read the book and find out what will happen to Jake and Danielle while climbing the mountain. I thought this book was great and I really liked the story line. This book would follow under realistic fiction and this book would be kind of similar to the book "PEAK". I recommend this book for all ages 10 and up that enjoy adventure books.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a fine adventure story for a junior level book. It shows its age a little in the pacing, which is slower than many of today's adventure stories, but the challenge of how to climb with improvised gear makes up for it. The only loose end that the author doesn't resolve is: did the family dog survive?!

[Jerome Otte · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simply written and suspenseful tale of a fourteen-year-old girl and her younger brother braving a snowstorm to reach a weather station on a mountain following a car accident. They must reach the station in the face of the extreme weather and the lack of any real mountain equipment, forcing them to improvise and take risks.’

A suspenseful, realistic read with a unique plot, well-drawn characters, even if the plot can get improbably boring at times. And the idea of the father risking his family and ignoring weather warnings for the sake of a vacation in a mountain cabin seems quite implausible.

[Carissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

another bid for favoreads, but … i don’t think it will make the cut. this title was recommended in some review as being better than the book actually being reviewed, so i thought i’d check it out. the basic book is okay, but the plot set-up is a bit far-fetched for me (dad reeeeeeally wants to get to vacation cabin, so he not only ignores winter storm warnings, but decides to take an off-road “shortcut” through white-out conditions…. guess what happens?). the actual climbing of the mountain was interesting, but … i dunno. it just didn’t turn my crank.

[Crissie Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly, I don't remember much about this book, but it is the first book I read after my school stopped saying we could only read certain grade levels (I was in 3rd grade). So this was the first book I read that had any real story to it, any darkness in it. I loved it then, and it made me realized I liked reading. It wasn't reading I didn't like. It had been the books I'd been reading I didn't like. So the 5 stars are from memories surrounding the book that what I actually remember about the book. I did read it 13-14 years ago...

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was actually given this book by one of my friends. At first glance it looked wierd, as if it had been forgotten for so long that it had lost the chance to tell its tale. After I started reading it, I simply could not put it down. It is very likely that with this book, I missed my mom calling me upstairs for dinner (which happens a lot). If you have an annoying little brother or sister, this read puts how awesome and almost neccesary it is to get along with them.

[Hailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty good book. It was targeted for younger readers than me. It is about a family who are traveling through a blizzard and get in an accident. The parent are both severely injured and the only way for anyone in the family to survive is for the 2 kids to climb an mountain with no climbing experience or tools.

Fast read and a pretty good one.
Predictable.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great youth (and adult) book! I hope my son will read this one in case he ever has to rescue his seriously injured father and I from our wrecked car that's stuck down a mountain mining road, miles and miles from the nearest highway, during an intense blizzard. Seriously, it's a super read! Great characters, plot, and action. Even a little character-development thrown in for free!

[delilah may · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, although it was too easy for me. I think it had great characters and a very interesting plot. I finished it in about 1 or 2 days. I would recommend it to people in fourth or fifth grade.

[Wild Wild · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very resourceful and very helpful in my eyes.

[Kim]

luv it

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't really like it because it should of ended when she said "were...dead"

[Cole Manning · Rating 5 out of 5]

the Spense was to much to bare

[Malia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this with Mylee...kind of intense for a 9 year old, but we both liked it. It was suspenseful, a definite page turner.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in junior high and loved it! The brother and sister were brave and clever. They worked together to try to save themselves and their parents.

[Keziah · Rating 4 out of 5]

short, but exciting.

[Megan]

This is one of the first chapter books I remember reading. And I know it was the first one I (re)read after moving to my current home state. Serious nostalgia here.