Three Cups of Tea

By Zoe Jacobson, Age 14, Literary Editor of TweenTribune

Three Cups of Tea is the story of Greg who tries to climb K2, the world's second highest mountain. Greg gets lost on his journey but he is helped by the people of Korpe, who accept him, feed him and provide him shelter. To repay the people of Korpe, Greg promises to build them a school. The story describes the difficulties Greg faced while trying to fulfill his promise.

As Greg struggled in Nepal and then in Pakistan, he became more and more passionate about building the school. The people of Korpe were very poor. Without a school, their children had to study in the snow. Americans are very fortunate and take many things for granted, such as school buildings.

I really didn’t like this book. It was very far beneath my reading level, even though it was marked for middle school. I believe a fourth grader could easily read this book. Even if the fourth grader ran into trouble there is a glossary for the more "difficult" words.

I also felt as if it was just another memoir with a moral about being selfless and charitable.

Now don’t get me wrong—Greg did an amazing thing and changed the lives of hundreds of children. And without these selfless people the world would be a much colder place.

All I’m saying is that it just wasn’t a book filled with thrilling plot and dramatic characters. It didn’t make me clutch the edge of the pages reading and reading and never wanting to stop. It was merely part of my summer reading list for next year.

No thumbs.