The world-class teen climber and first female to ascend a V15 route shares a metaphorical guide to recasting life challenges as problems that can be overcome by breaking down obstacles and recognizing their teaching capacity for future achievements. Illustrations. - (Baker & Taylor)

From Ashima Shiraishi, one of the world's youngest and most skilled climbers, comes a true story of strength and perseverance--in rock climbing and in life.

To a rock climber, a boulder is called a "problem," and you solve it by climbing to the top. There are twists and turns, falls and scrapes, and obstacles that seem insurmountable until you learn to see the possibilities within them. And then there is the moment of triumph, when there's nothing above you but sky and nothing below but a goal achieved.

Ashima Shiraishi draws on her experience as a world-class climber in this story that challenges readers to tackle the problems in their own lives and rise to greater heights than they would have ever thought possible. - (Random House, Inc.)

Ashima Shiraishi started climbing at the age of six, and today she is one of the best climbers in the world. She is the first and only female climber ever to ascend a V15 bouldering problem, earning praise from Outside magazine as "a young crusher" and the New York Times as a "bouldering phenom." This is her first picture book.

Yao Xiao is a China-born illustrator based in New York City. Her work has appeared in Time, EW, National Geographic, and The Wall Street Journal, among other outlets, and she is also the author of the monthly web comic Baopu. This is her first picture book. - (Random House, Inc.)

Booklist Reviews

Free solo climbers refer to boulders as "problems," and in this book, rock climbing serves as a metaphor for solving any problem that confronts you. Fifteen-year-old Shiraishi, regarded as one of the world's most skilled climbers, is the author, narrator, and main character here. Her experience makes her statement—that solving boulders is similar to solving real-life problems—both arresting and credible. She sticks to the metaphor throughout, focusing on how, at 13, she solved a boulder problem that was the largest and most challenging she ever encountered. Xiao's digital illustrations are full of movement and bold color, juxtaposing small Shiraishi with a boulder whose contours stretch off the page. One spread, oriented sideways, in which Shiraishi loses her grip and falls, is spine-tingling in itself. While the focus on cognitive mapping may be beyond younger children, the author's beliefs in learning from each fall and that learning from failure is a superpower are sure to empower any person facing a problem. Engrossing and inspiring. Grades 1-3. Copyright 2020 Booklist Reviews.

Horn Book Guide Reviews

With a voice that's distinctive, lyrical, and inspiring, teenage rock-climber Shiraishi narrates how she tackled -- and solved -- a climbing problem that stretched into the sky. It was tremendously endless. It was bigger than thinking. In Xiao's earth-toned, digitally created illustration, an immense rockface looms over Shiraishi. Then, as the young climber comes up with a game plan, the depiction changes. Crisp, close-up vignettes zoom in on Shiraishi as she maneuvers through rocky areas that, to her, resemble a question mark, her father's bent elbow, and her mother's bolts of cloth. Xiao playfully adds visual interest by layering these mnemonic images over the sandstone rockface. Page after page, the strategies that Shiraishi shares -- visually assessing the problem, breaking it down step by step, mapping it out in her head, taking a moment to regroup, incorporating what she learns from mistakes, and trying again and again -- all apply to problem-solving in general. Equally applicable are the growth mindset, grit, and resilience she demonstrates, as well as the ownership she takes: I am Ashima. What I do is climb. What I do is solve problems, which is to say, I make them mine. It's a potent message for all readers. A timeline highlighting the teen's achievements thus far cleverly climbs upward across its double-page spread, and eye-catching endpapers show Shiraishi in different rock-climbing -- and problem-solving -- positions. Copyright 2021 Horn Book Guide Reviews.

Horn Book Magazine Reviews

With a voice that's distinctive, lyrical, and inspiring, teenage rock-climber Shiraishi narrates how she tackled -- and solved -- a climbing problem that "stretched into the sky. It was tremendously endless. It was bigger than thinking." In Xiao's earth-toned, digitally created illustration, an immense rockface looms over Shiraishi. Then, as the young climber comes up with a game plan, the depiction changes. Crisp, close-up vignettes zoom in on Shiraishi as she maneuvers through rocky areas that, to her, resemble a question mark, her father's bent elbow, and her mother's bolts of cloth. Xiao playfully adds visual interest by layering these mnemonic images over the sandstone rockface. Page after page, the strategies that Shiraishi shares -- visually assessing the problem, breaking it down step by step, mapping it out in her head, taking a moment to regroup, incorporating what she learns from mistakes, and trying again and again -- all apply to problem-solving in general. Equally applicable are the growth mindset, grit, and resilience she demonstrates, as well as the ownership she takes: "I am Ashima. What I do is climb. What I do is solve problems, which is to say, I make them mine." It's a potent message for all readers. A timeline highlighting the teen's achievements thus far cleverly climbs upward across its double-page spread, and eye-catching endpapers show Shiraishi in different rock-climbing -- and problem-solving -- positions. Tanya D. Auger July/August 2020 p.156 Copyright 2020 Horn Book Magazine Reviews.

Kirkus Reviews

A philosophy for life, built word by word, hold by hold, climb by climb. Japanese American teen rock-climbing champion Shiraishi narrates the story of how she navigated one of her biggest climbs with patience, perseverance, and creativity. Problems, whether on rock or in life, can look "tremendously endless" to anyone, even Ashima, depicted here as a 13-year-old. But when she compares individual holds to the shape of her mother's bolts of fabric or of her father's elbow in a dance, she connects with the route, finding her way up the rock. However, her ascent isn't perfect, and her first fall is depicted, boldly, on a vertical double-page spread. She "listens" to the climb, regroups with her father's help, and approaches the rock with renewed mental and physical strength. Her summit, illustrated in a strong, striking pose—arms spread wide, fingers gripping the rock—portrays the perseverance, reflection, and tenacity Ashima demonstrates in every climb. Backmatter both narrates and visually depicts the author's rise through the annals of climbing, including her completion of a formidable boulder problem, the first woman to do so. Vivid, clean-lined illustrations by debut artist Xiao immerse readers in sweeping, earth-toned vistas of rock and sky that form Ashima's world. Lively endpapers show Ashima in various body positions common to the sport of rock climbing. Both a riveting narrative and an excellent guide for young readers to try, try again. (Informational picture book. 5-8) Copyright Kirkus 2020 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.

Publishers Weekly Reviews

Teen author and climber Shiraishi doesn't just scale rocks—she solves problems, "which is to say, I make them mine." In crisp, vibrant spreads, Xiao, making her picture book debut, shows Shiraishi confronting a massive rock face. "Once I had a problem and it stretched into the sky," she writes. The next spread shows the boulder covered with images, visual mnemonics to help her along the way. "One part was arched like a question mark, another part stuck out like my father's elbow... and another was shaped like the bolts of fabric stacked in my mother's sewing room." Now Shiraishi starts climbing, using no ropes. Vignettes show her at each hold, twisting, pushing, grasping. Then she falls, hard. She takes a break, taking in "the new information the fall had given me. Each fall is a message, a hint, an idea." She climbs and falls again until, eventually, she scales the wall. When problem-solving is a necessary part of any process—one that informs and aids in resilience—the specter of failure disappears. Xiao's cleanly outlined forms and intensely saturated hues show Ashima honing analytical skills whose power reaches beyond the climbing wall to the rest of life. Ages 4–8. (Apr.)

School Library Journal Reviews

K-Gr 3—A teen rock-climbing star describes how she approaches a climb, mapping it out one step at a time. Olympic-hopeful Ashima Shiraishi addresses readers directly, explaining that climbers call the rocks they face "problems." Her first-person narration is relatively simple, often featuring a single line on a page. Shiraishi describes facing one difficult climb, breaking it down into familiar steps and using similes to identify each distinctive part. She climbs, falls, and climbs again "with the new information / the fall had given me." This New York–born, Japanese American phenom is given a heroic treatment in digital illustrations by illustrator Xiao. The cover showcases Shiraishi hanging by her fingertips, almost flying, against a backdrop of sky and mountain. Early spreads showcase her climbs in Central Park before attempting the challenge at the heart of her story. After tracing her path up the rock, Xiao depicts Shiraishi reaching for a path through the stars. A final spread repeats the night sky motif with a more detailed history of her accomplishments through age 15. Publisher Christopher Myers introduces this teen author and athlete as someone who is "one of the best in the world at what she does" but with a secret superpower: "the ability to try again after failing." VERDICT A well-told story that could be an inspiration to young readers.—Kathleen Isaacs, Children's Literature Specialist, Pasadena, MD