little princes

One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal

by CONOR GRENNAN

Stories like Little Princes, which I couldn't help but compare to Greg Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea, convince me that even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, there is some good in human beings, that people do have the ability to change for the better, and that one man can make a difference.  That evidence, and the enthralling tale of rescuing abandoned and abused children in the middle of a remote and civil war-torn country like Nepal, made this book one that I couldn't put down.  Conor Grennan, a well-educated, international public affairs think-tank consultant, needed a break from his job, and as a single guy with a little savings, he had the resources to take a year off to travel around the world.  He decided to spend the first couple of months volunteering in a Nepalese orphanage, mostly because it sounded dangerous and would impress women in bars.  However, he had only been at Little Princes, an orphanage outside Kathmandu started by a French woman, for a few weeks when these children had completely won his heart.

The more he learned about the background of these children the more he wanted to help them, and when he discovered that most of them were not orphans at all, but trafficked children, essentially stolen from their parents in Humla, a dangerous and distant part of Nepal, he realized he intended to come back and try to reconnect them with their parents.  Back in the United States, Conor raises funds, and makes plans to return to Little Princes.  While in the States, he learns that seven children he expected to be moved to a safe house, had disappeared.  He blamed himself, and his resolve to return, find those seven, and establish his own safe house became his passion. 

The narrative of Conor's return, working with a government official to find his seven children, establishing his own home for children with the help of Farid, a dedicated Frenchman who loved the children as much as Conor did, and trekking into Humla to find the parents of the children at Little Princes, is a fascinating and engrossing story.  Conor Grennan writes with intensity and humor, making Little Princes an inspiring and entertaining read.  Well worth the time!!        Reviewed by Dail Sams







The Exiled Queen

by Cinda Williamas Chima

At the end of The Demon King, Book One of the Seven Realms series, Han Alister has learned that he is a wizard whose powers have been suppressed by the silver cuffs he's always worn on his wrists.  The clan leaders take the cuffs off his wrists and promise him an education at the Wizard's school in Oden's Ford in exchange for his vow to help them fight their enemies when called upon.  His long-time clan friend, Dancer goes with him. 

Princess Raisa meanwhile, flees from a coerced marriage to Micah Bayer, son of the High Wizard.  Accompanied by her friend and guard Amon Byrne and his cadets, Raisa heads to Wein House, the military school in Oden's Ford, at the advice of Amon's father, to receive the military and political training she needs to effectively perform her duties as queen.

Both journeys are filled with dangers and discomforts, but Han and Raisa arrive safely in Oden's Ford to begin classes in their separate schools.  Though they have met in the past, neither knows the other is in Oden's Ford, and Han knows Raisa only as Rebecca Morley, a blueblood he met back in the Fells.

While at Mystwerk, Han must constantly watch his back, as Micah Bayer, Han's sworn enemy, repeatedly tries to kill him.  To protect himself, Han begins meeting with a powerful and mysterious wizard named Crow, to learn more advanced magic.  Raisa excels in her classwork and puts up with the confining rules Amon has placed on her for her own protection.  Their relationship becomes more complicated and tense as Raisa realizes that they can never marry.  Raisa constantly worries about her mother the queen and what is hppening back in her queendom.

Everything changes when Han and Raisa meet and Han convinces the princess he knows only as Rebecca Morley to tutor him in blueblood customs and history.  As Raisa teaches, Han takes on more polished speech and manners without losing his street smarts.  For her part, Raisa begins to fall in love with Han.

An abduction and impending forced marriage of Raisa by Micah Bayer, and a summons back to the clan camps of Han, delivered by Bird, sends both on separate and treacherous journeys back to their homeland.  Neither knows whether all they have learned in Oden's Ford is enough to ensure their safe arrival, or what they will find if they do manage to make it home.  Chima has given her readers a true cliff-hanger in this second installment of the Demon King series.  According to her website, we have to wait until September 2011 before The Gray Wolf Throne, the third in the Seven Realms series is published.  I love this series!  It's going to be a long year.       ~reviewed by Mrs. Sams

Mockingjay
by Suzanne Collins

In this final installment of the Hunger Games trilogy, Katniss Everdeen grudingly settles into life and training in the underground District 13 facility, accepting the role of the Mockingjay, symbol of the rebellion against the Capitol. Her agreement to be that symbol comes with a number of conditions, most of which irritate President Coin, District 13's leader. Kat's home District 12 has been destroyed by the Capitol, and she feels angry and used by leaders of the rebellion. Only two things keep her motivated--the possibility of saving Peeta who has been captured, and most of all, her intense hatred of President Snow, and her determination to kill him. Kat's life becomes even more confusing and heartbreaking when Peeta is rescued, but has been tortured and brainwashed into believing Katniss is his mortal enemy. At the same time, her relationship with Gale becomes more strained, by the day.

With political intrigue and emotional upheaval the background for this conclusion to the Hunger Games saga, Katniss and the rebel forces enter the Capitol in the dead of winter, fighting their way to the President's mansion in the city center, where finally, the carnage causes Katniss to rethink her mission and do the unthinkable. An amazing end to a an action-packed series.

Gregor the Overlander
by Suzanne Collins

Suzanne Collins has become quite famous recently for her Hunger Games trilogy, but before there were Katniss, Peeta, and Gale, there was Gregor the Overlander.  Gregor lives with his family in a New York City apartment.  Over two years ago, his smart and loving father disappeared--seemingly just fell off the face of the earth.  Since then, he and his sisters and their mother have just existed, trying to make do, and trying not to lose hope.  This summer, Gregor will not be able to attend the summer camp he attended last year.  His mother must work, and there's no one to stay with his 2 year-old sister, Boots, since his grandmother has become increasingly senile.  Gregor is sorely disappointed, but refuses to allow himself to feel anything too deeply.  He stays home, watches his sister, does the laundry, and waits. 

One day, while in the basement washing clothes, Boots falls through a grate in the basement wall.  There's nothing for Gregor to do but follow her in, falling and falling for miles, down to an underground world inhabited by humans, giant cockroaches called "crawlers", enormous and vicious rats, and a variety of other surprising creatures.  Gregor soon learns that his father is in this world being held prisoner by the rats, and he sets off on a quest with a number of companions, not only to find and rescue his father, but to fulfill an ancient prophecy. Those making the quest encounter one danger and adventure after another, battling the dark environment, evil creatures, and treachery within their own ranks.  In the Underland, Collins has created a rich and believable world, and in Gregor, a character full of courage and creative intelligence.  Though Gregor and the Underlanders face frightening and brutal realities, baby Boots provides the comic relief this story needs.  A great read for those who love alternate worlds.
                ~reviewed by Mrs. Sams

Heroes Don't Run

by Harry Mazer

      Adam Pelko's father was killed at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked the Hawaian naval base in December of 1941.  He's been aching to join the marines ever since, so he can fight for his country and avenge his father's death.  In 1944, the summer before his senior year in high school, he talks his mother into letting him visit his grandfather who lives across country, because he knows his grandfather will allow him to enlist in the Marines even though he is still under age.  Adam has a pretty unrealistic view of what fighting in the war will be like, and can't even imagine not coming back.  During boot camp, he gets a small taste of army discipline, but it's not until he lands on Okinawa that he finally fully understands the terror and crushing heartbreak of war.  Heroes Don't Run is a realistic historical novel of the Pacific during World War II, and Adam Pelko is a character most teens can identify with.  Chosen by the Greater Waco Chamber for its One Book One Waco community read this fall, Heroes Don't Run is a timely and appealing story.   --reviewed by Mrs. Sams