Jump »

Elisa Carbone knows the subject matter of Jump extremely well, having rock-climbed across the country, including in Yosemite National Park. She is the author of many award-winning books, including Stealing Freedom and Storm Warriors. The mother of two grown children, she lives with her husband in Maryland and West Virginia.

Jump. That is what P.K. has done. A totally wild, crazy jump from a restrictive life with her family into a life of total adventure—rock-climbing out west with a guy she barely knows. At first, everything's amazing. Not only are they climbing in awesomely beautiful national parks like Yosemite but they seem awesomely made for one another. P.K. is in heaven. And then the cops show up . . . with an arrest warrant. And P.K. has to decide who to believe: this amazing guy whom she trusts with her life—or the cops, who want her to believe that he may take her life.

Publishers Weekly

Told through the alternating present-tense perspectives of two runaways who connect through their love of rock climbing, Carbone’s (Blood on the River) picaresque novel is equal parts entertaining and provocative. Strong-willed 16-year-old P.K. runs away to avoid being shipped to boarding school, and gentle-natured Critter, who has the ability to see colors that indicate people’s emotions (for reasons he keeps to himself for some time), escapes from a psychiatric hospital. The teens hitchhike to Las Vegas and jump at the chance to make the first-ever ascent of a steep rock face. Chapters range from a few sentences to a few pages, and the descriptions of the pair’s climbs are riveting—especially a treacherous scramble up a cliff with police in pursuit. Yet the narrators’ psychological explorations are as exhilarating as their physical exploits. The allegedly unbalanced Critter takes serenity to new heights as he shares with P.K. logical, relatable coping mechanisms (“You’re scared of the future.... look at where you are now. Is there anything to be afraid of?”). An incisive reflection on endurance, independence, belonging, self-knowledge, and love, this story should find a wide audience. Ages 12-up. (May)