Two at the Top

Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary each tell their story, culminating in their thrilling ascent of Mount Everest.

Tenzing Norgay grew up in Nepal, herding yaks in the shadow of Chomolungma, the mountain also known as Everest. He has always dreamed of climbing to the top. He becomes a guide, leading treks through the Himalayas, and finally attempts the highest mountain himself, but doesn’t make it.

Across the ocean, in New Zealand, Edmund Hillary grew up tending his father’s bees. He climbed his first mountain at sixteen and has climbed all over the world ever since. He tries Everest, with no success.

In 1953, the two men set out on the same expedition to climb Everest. Their party numbers four hundred, counting all the guides and porters. But the climb is grueling, and eventually Norgay and Hillary are the only two determined to continue. They tramp over windswept glaciers, crawl across rope bridges, hack footholds in the ice…until finally they reach the top of the world!

About the Author

Uma Krishnaswami was born in India and now lives in Victoria, BC. Her latest novel, Step Up to the Plate, Maria Singh, won the Asian Pacific American Award for Literature. Uma's other publications include Book Uncle and Me, illustrated by Juliana Swaney, winner of the ILA Social Justice Literary Award; Out of the Way, Out of the Way, illustrated by Uma Krishnaswamy; and The Girl of the Wish Garden, illustrated by Nasrin Khosravi. Uma has been nominated twice for the prestigious Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. She teaches Writing for Children and Young Adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts.

About the Illustrator

Christopher Corr received an MA in illustration from the Royal College of Art in London, England, where he continues to live, teach, paint and work in animation and book illustration. He has illustrated books for publishers all over the world, including The Goggle-Eyed Goats by Stephen Davies. Christopher's travels in the Himalayas have inspired his art for this book. He is currently working on a series of large paintings for The Campaign for Wool, and he also holds gallery exhibitions of his work.