The Edge by Roland Smith

Peak was one of my favorite novels.  It is about a boy whose father wants him to be the youngest person to summit Mt. Everest.  The Edge is another climbing adventure about Peak.  This time Peak and his mother are flown to Afghanistan to take part in a climb to promote peace. Peace is something they do not find when their climbing party is kidnapped.  This book is a suspenseful adventure that is hard to put down.  

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (READ THIS BEFORE THE MOVIE COMES OUT)

Yes, this is being made into a movie and I can't wait to see it because I really liked the book.  Conor is 13 and dealing with his mother having cancer. A monster, in the form of a yew tree, comes to help him. The monster in this book is scary, but also protective and at times funny in his dealings with Conor.  He won't tell Conor directly why he is there to help him, he tells stories to help Conor figure out why he called the monster.  You might be interested to know that the author, Patrick Ness, was asked to write this story based on an idea of another author, Siobhan Dowd, after she died of cancer at age 47.