Banner in the Sky: A Newbery Honor Award Winner

by James Ramsey Ullman

Book Overview

A timeless outdoor adventure story, winner of a Newbery Honor, that will appeal to fans of Hatchet and Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild and Into Thin Air.Josef Matt, the only man to ever try to conquer... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0064470482
• Release Date: April 1988
• Publisher: HarperTeen
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.0" x 0.6" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

Loved it as a kid, love it even more now.

Sixteen-year-old Rudi Matt works as a hotel dishwasher in the 19th Century Swiss village of Kurtal. Every day of his life he's stared up at the Citadel, the one remaining unclimbed peak in the Alps. Fifteen years ago three men tried that climb. One, the hotel cook who is Rudi's boss, came back crippled. Two were carried down dead: Guide Josef Matt, Rudi's father, and his "herr" or client, a great English mountaineer. Rudi understands why his mother forbids him to follow his father's profession, even though her brother - Rudi's Uncle Franz - is one of Kurtal's most successful guides. Rudi will learn the hotel business, first in Kurtal and later in Zurich. His mother has already given one man to the Citadel and its fabled demons. She won't risk giving another. But Rudi can't help himself. He has to climb. When he meets another famous English mountaineer, Captain John Winter - and proves his strength and skill by saving Winter's life - it's only a matter of time. The Citadel waits to be climbed, and Josef Matt's son knows he's the man who must climb it. This is another re-read for me, a book I loved in girlhood and find myself loving even more many years later. BANNER IN THE SKY started me reading mountaineering books despite my personal hatred for both heights and cold weather, and I've savored many such tales - some true life, some fictional - since then. This remains my personal favorite in the latter category. It's smoothly yet colorfully written, and anyone whose youthful dreams a careful parent couldn't share is sure to experience Rudi's coming of age right along with him.

The Unclimbable Peak

A Banner in the Sky is an adventure about a kid named Rudi who tries to climb the greatest mountain in the world. His father, who was the greatest mountaineer even attempted to climb it 15 years before him but failed and died. Rudi's father died when Rudi was very young so, Rudi didn't have any feelings for the death. This book was the best book I've ever read. Every page was fulled with excitement, and interesting events. I never wanted to put this book down it was so good. I read it as fast as I can and finished it in one day. This book reminded me of a few things. The mountain that Rudi climbed was like present day Mt.Everest. Also this book reminded me about when my aunt died I was very imature and young and I didn't understand her death; kind of like how Rudi's father died and he didn't understand his death. The setting of the book took place in multiply places. The main setting was on the mountain. Mr.Ullman used great description to describe the mountain. I good picture the mountain so clearly in my mind. The book also took place in the town under the mountain. The town contained a hotel for tourists, many mountaineer shops, and houses for the people living there. The people living in the town got all their money form the tourist. There was only one main character in Banner in the Sky. The main character is Rudi. Rudi has a lot of heart and courage. The mountaineers said that he was to small to climb and he would never be like his father but he never listened to them and climbed the greatest mountain of all time. Banner in the Sky has one Newberry award and it also been a movie. James Ramsey Ullman was born in NYC in 1907. He is a write, world traveler, and a mountaineer. He was on the 1st voyage on Mt.Everest. I would recommend this book to kids over 5th grade that can read long books. Banner in the Sky is a great book. I could read it several times. This book shows the courage of a boy on a voyage that no man can do; climbing the unclimbable mountain.

A Story of Courage

I gave this book, Banner in the Sky, five stars because it was very absorbing and suspenseful. I liked this book because it showed how much a little boy was dedicated to climbing a mountain. He wanted to climb the mountain because his father wanted to prove it could be done, and in the process he died. What made me read faster and faster was that at every time I turned the page questions kept popping in my head. The questions were, "Will he listen to his mother or will he not?", "If he doesn't listen to his mother will his surprise acquaintance help him?", and, last but not least, "If he doesn't listen to his mother will he succeed?" My heart was beating faster and faster by the second as I read. It's a book you won't want to put down until you read from cover to cover.

Greatest Book Ever!

My friend told me that Banner in the Sky is a very good book, well I'm here to vouch for that. Banner in the Sky is the most intriguing story I have ever read. James R. Ullman's book is about a legend, named Josef Matt, whose son is determined to climb the mountain that Josef died on. If Rudi Matt can do this, if he can climb the Citadel, he will be the first one ever to climb it. But in all good stories there's a catch, Rudi's mom and uncle won't let him climb the mountain because of his father's death. Plus Rudi is not built to climb! Along the way Rudi meets Captain John Winter, the best climber of his day. The Captain gives Rudi his chance to climb, but will he? Banner in the sky is a gut-wrenching story about sheer will and determination. My recommendation, simple, if you ever have had parental problems (and I know you have) then this is your book!

A tattered red shirt has never symbolized so much!

Banner In The Sky is an amazing acount of a fictional mountain climbing expedition based in historical accounts of the conquer of the Matterhorn. The protagonist, 16-year-old Rudi Matt, is forced to wash dishes in a hotel instead of following his true dream; climbing the Citadel, the very mountain that had claimed his father's life fifteen years ago. The antagonist is, obviously, the Citadel herself, the last unconquered peak in the area. Although an overprotective mother and uncle also get in the way of Rudi's dream. When Rudi finally gets a chance to join the expedition up the mountain, he shows everyone that he is determined to complete the journey his father started. Rudi's journey is a journey of faith and stamena and also forgiveness and loyalty. These values are all summed up in the red shirt that Rudi carries with him to place at the peak of the Citadel; the very shirt his father wore the night he died before giving it up so that another man could live. This book is all about following your dreams, but also about the fact that one must work hard to achieve those dreams. James Ramsey Ullman combines history with an extraordinary account of the happenings in the small village of Kurtall in the Swiss Alps. For me the highlight of the book was a Rudi's nighttime encounter with the spirit of his father as he sits in the very spot that claimed his father's life. A chilling and magical scene.