When Henry Smith's older brother goes into a coma after being hit by a Cambodian boy's pickup truck, the entire Smith family is engulfed in the tragedy. It takes a mountain, which Henry vows to climb, to open the eyes of this long-established Yankee family to their own prejudices and to an awareness that they can never insulate themselves against trouble.

 

 

This book is the winner of numerous awards

There are 304 pages in this book.

It is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed.

This book was published in 2010 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company .

Gary D. Schmidt is an American children's writer of nonfiction books and young adult novels, including two Newbery Honor books and one Printz Honor award. He lives on a farm in Michigan and has six children. He is a Professor of English at Calvin College.