Jump by Elisa Carbone

Title: Jump
Author: Elisa Carbone
Published: June 2010
Source: The Library
Synopsis from Goodreads:
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.

Oh my, what do I say about this book? I adored it, every page. I've never been climbing, and I doubt that I'm coordinated enough to pull it off, but this book made me really want to go! It didn't take long for me to get the gist of the climbing lingo, and I found myself envisioning the climbs easily.

This book is told in alternating POV's between Critter and P.K. Let me tell you, in the first couple of chapters I was really wary of Critter. Is he insane? A lot of what he was saying didn't make sense to me. Not to mention what he was doing in the first few chapters. But as I went along with the story I started to really get him. He has some very unique perspectives, and 'What would you do if you weren't afraid?' has become my new mantra. Within reason of course.

P.K. is very headstrong, and she has a good sense of what's right. Her parents want to ship her off to boarding school, but she doesn't want to go. So she decides to take off on a climbing trip for a while, until they change their minds. She's basically the exact opposite of me, but I still connected with her and understood her motivations.

The relationship between P.K. and Critter was wonderful. It was so honest, and so real. I loved following them on their adventure: meeting the people they met, climbing the rocks they climbed. It was fun, and yet there was always the little voice saying 'This can't last' that gave everything a more urgent feel. The chapters before the end were torture for me, as if I was going through what P.K. was going through. And the ending was just wow.

Basically, I absolutely loved this book! It was honest and interesting, and I wish that I could read more about Critter and P.K.!

Characters: 10/10
Writing: 10/10
Originality: 10/10
Plot: 9/10
Ending: 10/10
Overall: 48/50 A+
Cover/Title Comments: Both are very fitting. The boy and girl on the cover fit the descriptions of Critter and P.K., and of course climbing plays a huge role in the book.