The major characters are Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. They always wanted to hike to the top of Mt. Everest. So they did. The top hard to reach through all the cold weather, but with some teamwork they finally completed their goal!One of the strengths of the book were the real photos of their actual climb up the mountain. The book had amazing photos of Edmund and Tenzing. There are also many other pictures on the way up Mt. Everest that are interesting. To The Top is also a descriptive book. Descriptive books are cool! They make it easy to feel you are right in the action. I almost felt I was climbing up that cold mountain also! There are also some weaknesses. I would love more information on the many other people who tried climbing Mt. Everest but failed. They are very important also.

There is also some factual data in the book. To The Top is filled with lots of facts. Mt. Everest is part of a great mountain range in Asia called The Himalayas. Himalayas means "the home of snow". Did you know that the mountain is close to five and a half miles tall? Wow, that is taller than the clouds! Another fact is that Everest is so cold the temperature is 40 below zero even in the summer! If a person were not wearing special clothes, he could freeze to death in minutes. Last, I would recomend this book to you!