Conquering Everest: The Lives of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay: A Graphic Novel Paperback - 2011

Media reviews

"Helfand switches things up a bit in his biography of Hillary and Norgay, allowing his characters to tell their stories for the first half of the book. Starting with Norgay, the two men alternate talking to each other about their lives and the events that brought them to an Everest base camp in 1953, just before their historical scaling of the summit. The use of different colored borders on their text boxes and a clear voice for each man keeps readers from getting confused. In the second half of the book, a narrator takes over and readers ascend to the heights, feeling the danger and excitement along the way. [Illustrator] Tayal . . . and Helfand are adept at putting readers directly into the cold and hardship and even those without much knowledge of mountain climbing will be able to easily follow what is happening. The extras here include a glossary and facts about young climbers who have scaled Everest’s peak." -- School Library Journal

"A vivid double character portrait, enhanced by equally sharp glimpses of climbing techniques, strategies and hazards."

— Kirkus Reviews



"I highly recommend Campfire’s comics. They do what they are intended to do and do it in  a way that excites kids about classic literature."

— Chris Wilson, The Graphic Classroom (a resource for teachers and librarians)