The Young Adventurer’s Guide to Everest, by climber and author Jonathan Chester, joins a spate of recent books for young readers and future mountaineers. Using the alphabet format of his popular A is for Antarctica, Chester provides a comprehensive overview of Everest and what it takes to conquer it.

Though some overlap exists between this title and Steve Jenkins’ The Top of the World, Chester aims at an older audience and therefore provides much more in-depth material than other books on the subject. For example, Chester includes detailed information on Sherpa culture and beliefs, the summit route, the gear required, and the “seven summits” that many mountaineers attempt after conquering the highest peak in the world.

While the A to Z approach is novel, it doesn’t allow for uniform distribution of information; some entries, like the one for X (actually, eXtreme), are no more than a paragraph. Despite these limitations, the alphabetical and thematic organization means that readers will probably find information easily, even without an index. The book employs excellent visuals that will capture and hold readers’ attention; dramatic colour photos fill most of the pages, alongside maps and illustrative diagrams, and provide an arresting visual narrative. Chester includes a helpful glossary, though regrettably without pronunciation guides, and gives a full page of sources that point eager readers to clubs, climbing gyms, and web sites in addition to print materials. These non-traditional resources, along with the book’s magazine-style layout, give this book a hip feel that will appeal to 10- to 12-year-old kids of a range of reading abilities.