One Wrong Step

by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Overview

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer A. Nielsen comes a brand-new, spine-tingling adventure about two kids and their fight for survival on the unforgiving trails of Mount Everest. Jennifer Nielsen's storytelling climbs to new heights in this epic about loss, letting go, and the most important lesson a climber can learn: where the eye goes, a person follows.

For a climber, letting go means certain death. For Atlas, it means something even worse. But he'll have to learn how to let go and look up if he ever wants to see the top...

Twelve-year-old Atlas Wade has been trying to forget the memory of his mother by climbing mountains ever since she died when he was nine years old. When his father signs them up for an expedition group hoping to be the first to ever summit the unconquerable Mount Everest, Atlas can't wait for the chance to prove himself to his father, and maybe finally he can leave his mother behind him on the mountain.

But this time, Atlas is the one left behind, as well as a young American girl named Maddie and their sturdy yet injured Sherpa, Chodak. When news breaks out that war has returned to Europe, and that Nazis are attempting their own summit dangerously nearby, Atlas and Maddie plead with the expedition to come back down.

Their warnings come too late. Atlas looks up that same morning to see an avalanche and when they receive no word from the group, Maddie and Chodak join Atlas as he begins a dangerous journey up the mountain in the hopes of finding survivors.

Atlas, Maddie, and Chodak will have to rely not just on their own wits for survival, but on each other as well, especially as sickness, bad weather, and their fears of a Nazi spy watching them puts their mission -- and lives -- at risk in the brutal terrain. And Atlas will have to learn how to let go if he wants any chance of finding his father and fixing the rift between them caused by his mother's death, before it's too late.

Using one of the world's greatest -- and most infamous -- mountains as a backdrop, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer A. Nielsen's storytelling climbs to new heights in this touching, thrilling epic about grief, letting go, and the bonds that keep us alive.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781338275872
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	03/04/2025
Sold by:	Scholastic, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Jennifer A. Nielsen is the acclaimed author of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling Ascendance Series: The False Prince, The Runaway King, The Shadow Throne, The Captive Kingdom, and The Shattered Castle. She also wrote the New York Times bestseller The Traitor's Game and its sequels, The Deceiver's Heart, and The Warrior's Curse; the New York Times bestselling Mark of the Thief trilogy: Mark of the Thief, Rise of the Wolf, and Wrath of the Storm; the standalone fantasy The Scourge; and the critically acclaimed historical thrillers A Night Divided, Resistance, Words on Fire, Rescue, Lines of Courage, Iceberg, and Uprising. Jennifer collects old books, loves good theater, and thinks that a quiet afternoon in the mountains makes for a nearly perfect moment. She lives in northern Utah with her family, and is probably sneaking in a bite of dark chocolate right now. You can visit her online at jennielsen.com or follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @nielsenwriter.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for the Ascendance Series:

A New York Times Notable Children's Book

A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year

A Chicago Public Library "Best of the Best" Children's Book

A Cybils Award Winner

* "An impressive, promising story." — Publishers Weekly, starred review

"[A] pageturner." — The New York Times Book Review

"Sage proves to be a compelling character whose sharp mind and shrewd self-possession will make readers eager to follow him into a sequel." — The Wall Street Journal

"A swashbuckling origin story... chock-full of alluring details for adventure-loving boys." — Los Angeles Times

"A fast-paced and thrilling read with twists and turns that never let up." — School Library Journal

"Gripping." — Kirkus Reviews

"Should appeal to fans of... Suzanne Collins... [A] surefire mix of adventure, mystery, and suspense." — The Horn Book

Praise for The Traitor's Game:

A New York Times bestseller

"The next big YA fantasy." — Entertainment Weekly

"One of the Most Anticipated YA Fantasy Books of 2018." — Bustle

"We were immediately caught up in Kestra's story, plotting beside a heroine made of strength, bravery and intelligence. Her complicated relationship with Simon and the danger sewn into every moment of her father's palace politics kept us flipping pages in time with each jaw-dropping plot twist." — Justine Magazine

"Fantasy, action and romance combine for a whirlwind ride!" — Girls' Life

"One of the Most Anticipated YA Books of 2018." — Hypable

"Nielsen creates wonderful characters in all of her novels, and she is especially talented at writing complex, intriguing females who refuse to fit into any neat categories. The first in her engrossing Traitor's Game series introduces readers to another fascinating heroine, who disrupts the plans and plots laid to trap her and insists on controlling her own narrative... Engrossing, emotional and offers plenty of promise for the series to come." — RT Book Reviews

"This rip-roaring tale has action galore with battle scenes, kidnappings, murder, intrigue, and romance... Nielsen has created a compelling world where little is as it seems." — School Library Connection

"Nielsen does a masterful job keeping readers off guard while tightening the screws of tension throughout, satisfying even the most reluctant readers." — School Library Journal

"The twists and turns of the plot make for compelling reading that should especially entertain fans of Nielsen's Ascendance trilogy." — The Horn Book

"The Traitor's Game is intrigue and adventure with a bold heroine, some forbidden romance and plenty of twists along the way." — Shelf Awareness

Praise for A Night Divided:

"Like Anne Frank before her, Gerta is small but mighty, a hardheaded heroine who dreams up big ideas and refuses to give up in the face of adversity and danger. Nielsen (Mark of the Thief) evokes the constant unease of life in a divided Berlin through Gerta's sober narration... but the family never loses sight of the power of humility and forgiveness." — Publishers Weekly

"Nielsen, best known for her fantasy novels, proves she is equally skilled at historical fiction in this solidly structured, balanced account of the origins of an infamous historical landmark... The novel's strong setting and tense climax will keep readers engrossed and holding their breath until the last page." — School Library Journal

From the Publisher