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Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal
Goodreads Choice Award
Winner for Best Travel & Outdoors (2011)Little Princes is the epic story of Conor Grennan's battle to save the lost children of Nepal and how he found himself in the process. Part Three Cups of Tea, and part Into Thin Air, Grennan's remarkable memoir is at once gripping and inspirational, and it carries us deep into an exotic world that most readers know little about.
One Person Can Make a Difference
In search of adventure, twenty-nine-year-old Conor Grennan traded his day job for a year-long trip around the globe, a journey that began with a three-month stint volunteering at the Little Princes Children's Home, an orphanage in war-torn Nepal.
Conor was initially reluctant to volunteer, unsure whether he had the proper skill, or enough passion, to get involved in a developing country in the middle of a civil war. But he was soon overcome by the herd of rambunctious, resilient children who would challenge and reward him in a way that he had never imagined. When Conor learned the unthinkable truth about their situation, he was stunned: The children were not orphans at all. Child traffickers were promising families in remote villages to protect their children from the civil war - for a huge fee - by taking them to safety. They would then abandon the children far from home, in the chaos of Nepal's capital, Kathmandu.
For Conor, what began as a footloose adventure becomes a commitment to reunite the children he had grown to love with their families, but this would be no small task. He would risk his life on a journey through the legendary mountains of Nepal, facing the dangers of a bloody civil war and a debilitating injury. Waiting for Conor back in Kathmandu, and hopeful he would make it out before being trapped in by snow, was the woman who would eventually become his wife and share his life's work.
Little Princes is a true story of families and children, and what one person is capable of when faced with seemingly insurmountable odds. At turns tragic, joyful, and hilarious, Little Princes is a testament to the power of faith and the ability of love to carry us beyond our wildest expectations.
One Person Can Make a Difference
In search of adventure, twenty-nine-year-old Conor Grennan traded his day job for a year-long trip around the globe, a journey that began with a three-month stint volunteering at the Little Princes Children's Home, an orphanage in war-torn Nepal.
Conor was initially reluctant to volunteer, unsure whether he had the proper skill, or enough passion, to get involved in a developing country in the middle of a civil war. But he was soon overcome by the herd of rambunctious, resilient children who would challenge and reward him in a way that he had never imagined. When Conor learned the unthinkable truth about their situation, he was stunned: The children were not orphans at all. Child traffickers were promising families in remote villages to protect their children from the civil war - for a huge fee - by taking them to safety. They would then abandon the children far from home, in the chaos of Nepal's capital, Kathmandu.
For Conor, what began as a footloose adventure becomes a commitment to reunite the children he had grown to love with their families, but this would be no small task. He would risk his life on a journey through the legendary mountains of Nepal, facing the dangers of a bloody civil war and a debilitating injury. Waiting for Conor back in Kathmandu, and hopeful he would make it out before being trapped in by snow, was the woman who would eventually become his wife and share his life's work.
Little Princes is a true story of families and children, and what one person is capable of when faced with seemingly insurmountable odds. At turns tragic, joyful, and hilarious, Little Princes is a testament to the power of faith and the ability of love to carry us beyond our wildest expectations.
294 pages, Hardcover
First published January 27, 2011
About the author
Conor Grennan
4 books289 followersConor Grennan is a citizen of the US and Ireland. He grew up in Poughkeepsie NY and Jersey City, NJ. He spent eight years at the EastWest Institute (EWI), both in Prague and the EU Office in Brussels, focusing on peace and reconciliation in the Balkans. He left EWI in 2004 to travel and volunteer in Nepal, where he ultimately started Next Generation Nepal (NGN), an organization dedicated to reconnecting trafficked children with their families.
Conor was based in Kathmandu, Nepal, until October 2007, when he returned to the US. He is still active in NGN and serves on the Board. He holds degrees from the University of Virginia and the NYU Stern School of Business, and currently lives in Connecticut with his wife and son.
Conor was based in Kathmandu, Nepal, until October 2007, when he returned to the US. He is still active in NGN and serves on the Board. He holds degrees from the University of Virginia and the NYU Stern School of Business, and currently lives in Connecticut with his wife and son.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,764 reviews
May 6, 2015
I fell for the hype. The feature in the New Releases newsletter, the huge author profile and video on the book page, the pretty cover, the really great subject and the attractive author. I paid out for the hardback but you needn't, it will be remaindered within the year.
Its just flat. Really its a 'me' book, no, 'ME' book. The author just writes about himself and sketches in the people he deals with, but its all about him and to a lesser extent the kids, and to an even lesser extent his cornfed blonde internet pen-pal who becomes his wife, then about the other expats. Others, the Nepalese included, are merely mentioned. All very lacklustre.
What I wanted to know was how the homes were run, who did the cooking, the cleaning, the looking after the children when the author wasn't there. Who taught them, what did they learn? What prospects did they have when the eldest would have to leave and at what age was that envisaged? And what happened to the girls - were they all safe at home being looked after by their parents or what? When I say who did this and that, I mean the locals, I didn't need to just hear about the ex-pats. I'm interested in the Nepalese story too. Actually, we finally hear that there was a house father and house mother (local Nepalese) a couple of pages from the end. They just weren't important to his story but they were what I wanted to read about.
I got a bit more interested in the trek to Humla to find the lost boys' families, but that died when he returned and started to write adolescent stuff about buying a Bible (his girl friend is a born-again) and being in love with her but not wanting to tell her, oh gee, spare me.
Partly it's the editor's fault. The characters scarcely leap off the page and that could have been worked on. The lovesick stuff could have been edited out and a lot more about the Nepalese included (and a bit less about the expats). All of this would have made the story more interesting.
The man did a good thing, I can't take that away from him. But you know, I am so fed up with all these expats going around solving all the world's problems and bigging themselves and each other up in books. The local Nepalese had done their best to take care of these children when they weren't paid and when they were hired. I would have liked to have known more about them instead of just brief portrayals of grindingly poor people who didn't seem to do anything at all.
Not a bad read, just not the enthralling story the hype promised. I don't really like being negative about someone who really has done a lot of good and continues to do so, so I will say to Connor Grennan, you have my full respect for your great efforts and successes with these little children, but your book was... a little tedious.
Read March 11, 2011. Review edited 11/10/2011
Its just flat. Really its a 'me' book, no, 'ME' book. The author just writes about himself and sketches in the people he deals with, but its all about him and to a lesser extent the kids, and to an even lesser extent his cornfed blonde internet pen-pal who becomes his wife, then about the other expats. Others, the Nepalese included, are merely mentioned. All very lacklustre.
What I wanted to know was how the homes were run, who did the cooking, the cleaning, the looking after the children when the author wasn't there. Who taught them, what did they learn? What prospects did they have when the eldest would have to leave and at what age was that envisaged? And what happened to the girls - were they all safe at home being looked after by their parents or what? When I say who did this and that, I mean the locals, I didn't need to just hear about the ex-pats. I'm interested in the Nepalese story too. Actually, we finally hear that there was a house father and house mother (local Nepalese) a couple of pages from the end. They just weren't important to his story but they were what I wanted to read about.
I got a bit more interested in the trek to Humla to find the lost boys' families, but that died when he returned and started to write adolescent stuff about buying a Bible (his girl friend is a born-again) and being in love with her but not wanting to tell her, oh gee, spare me.
Partly it's the editor's fault. The characters scarcely leap off the page and that could have been worked on. The lovesick stuff could have been edited out and a lot more about the Nepalese included (and a bit less about the expats). All of this would have made the story more interesting.
The man did a good thing, I can't take that away from him. But you know, I am so fed up with all these expats going around solving all the world's problems and bigging themselves and each other up in books. The local Nepalese had done their best to take care of these children when they weren't paid and when they were hired. I would have liked to have known more about them instead of just brief portrayals of grindingly poor people who didn't seem to do anything at all.
Not a bad read, just not the enthralling story the hype promised. I don't really like being negative about someone who really has done a lot of good and continues to do so, so I will say to Connor Grennan, you have my full respect for your great efforts and successes with these little children, but your book was... a little tedious.
Read March 11, 2011. Review edited 11/10/2011
April 4, 2022
Last memoir that I read during my "Memoirs & Biographies" Month!
Why I chose to read this book:
I found my copy at a local secondhand store a couple of years ago. It looked interesting, so I bought it! Not sure, though, if it's signed by the author on the title page?!?
Positives:
1. right from the first page, I knew that I would like this story! Conor Grennan's writing style had me hooked. He was upfront about his arrogance and naivety going into this venture - volunteering for three months at an orphanage in Nepal. His humor, wit and compassion shine throughout his story;
2. I appreciated that I could put faces to names, especially of the children mentioned, through the inclusion of 16 pages of full-color photos with informative captions; and,
3. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the orphanage, started by a Frenchwoman, was called the Little Princes Children's Home, named after the book Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, which I had only read a few months ago.
Niggle:
It's wonderful that Grennan met his future wife through this experience, but I got the feeling that, especially towards the end of his mission, he forgot his true purpose for going to the Humla region to find the parents of these "orphans", enough to possibly endanger the lives of his porters on his harried trek back to Kathmandu, just so he wouldn't miss his first meeting with his new "love", Liz.
I would use the following adjectives to describe this memoir: heartbreaking, frustrating, and at times, dangerous, but also adventurous, humorous and inspiring. Overall, a "good read"!
Why I chose to read this book:
I found my copy at a local secondhand store a couple of years ago. It looked interesting, so I bought it! Not sure, though, if it's signed by the author on the title page?!?
Positives:
1. right from the first page, I knew that I would like this story! Conor Grennan's writing style had me hooked. He was upfront about his arrogance and naivety going into this venture - volunteering for three months at an orphanage in Nepal. His humor, wit and compassion shine throughout his story;
2. I appreciated that I could put faces to names, especially of the children mentioned, through the inclusion of 16 pages of full-color photos with informative captions; and,
3. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the orphanage, started by a Frenchwoman, was called the Little Princes Children's Home, named after the book Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, which I had only read a few months ago.
Niggle:
It's wonderful that Grennan met his future wife through this experience, but I got the feeling that, especially towards the end of his mission, he forgot his true purpose for going to the Humla region to find the parents of these "orphans", enough to possibly endanger the lives of his porters on his harried trek back to Kathmandu, just so he wouldn't miss his first meeting with his new "love", Liz.
I would use the following adjectives to describe this memoir: heartbreaking, frustrating, and at times, dangerous, but also adventurous, humorous and inspiring. Overall, a "good read"!
August 7, 2014
When late-twenty-something Conor Grennan felt guilty about spending an entire year travelling the world, he decided to dedicate three months of this time to volunteering at a Kathmandu orphanage named “Little Princes.” His experience would be a life altering one for him. The children in this orphanage had arrived mostly because of traffickers. Unscrupulous men promise desperately poor rural parents that their children will be well looked-after, well educated, and will be safe from being taken by Maoist insurgents. They then charge these poor people enormous sums but do not deliver on their promises. Some of the children are sold into slavery, some are used as professional beggars for Fagin-like masters, some are dumped on families no better able to raise and protect them than their own families, and some are dropped off at orphanages. The “orphans” Grennan encountered were often children who still had living families. He made it his mission to try to reconnect the children with their loved ones.
I was reminded of Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson’s tale of building schools for education-deprived kids in Pakistan. There is plenty of observation of the surrounding physical and political environment, but Grennan’s tale hews more closely than Mortenson’s to his personal story, and so far as we know, to the truth.
In fact, it reads like a novel, with a bit of something for everyone. There is suspense. Grennan must fear for his life as Dickensian evil-doers, such as politically connected human traffickers and Maoist rebels who do not appreciate his interefence with their theft of children, pose a constant threat. There is adventure, as Grennan, who is injured at the beginning of the journey, and a team, trek the Himalayas trying desperately to find the families of his lost children before winter sets in. There is a tale of moral uplift as this young middle-class westerner finds a calling to help children in need in a remote, impoverished land. This is accompanied by an understated exploration of spirituality. But most of all, this is a love story. For it is his love for the children he encounters that sets Grennan on his life's new path, love for the corps of new friends with whom he shares his work and finally, love for a woman he meets via e-mail while he is in Nepal, a woman he believes will be the love of his life. (I always enjoy hearing of people who have met this way, having met my wife-of-twelve-years on-line myself) He describes their impending meeting: "man walks twenty-seven hours in two days to get out of the mountains to meet girl who has just flown nine thousand miles for a visit." Not your typical first date.
At times, I was racing through the pages as if I were reading a Stieg Larsson, eager to see what happens next, and at others, I had to put the book down to wipe my eyes. You will be engaged, moved and uplifted. There really are good things happening in this world. There really are good people. And it is really good to be reminded of that.
I stumbled across a video re Grennan and the book. It is a promotional piece, but captures well what the book is about. There are more vids on Connor's site.
PS – The copy I read was an ARE, so lacked some items that I hope will make it into the production version. Maps would help situate one in the geography here, and I really wanted to see photos of the places and people Grennan writes about.
PPS - The author graciously posted a comment about this. Maps and photos were indeed in the hard cover.
==============================EXTRA STUFF
Grennan's personal website
The website for Next Generation Nepal, the foundation that was set up to continue Grennan's work
I was reminded of Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson’s tale of building schools for education-deprived kids in Pakistan. There is plenty of observation of the surrounding physical and political environment, but Grennan’s tale hews more closely than Mortenson’s to his personal story, and so far as we know, to the truth.
In fact, it reads like a novel, with a bit of something for everyone. There is suspense. Grennan must fear for his life as Dickensian evil-doers, such as politically connected human traffickers and Maoist rebels who do not appreciate his interefence with their theft of children, pose a constant threat. There is adventure, as Grennan, who is injured at the beginning of the journey, and a team, trek the Himalayas trying desperately to find the families of his lost children before winter sets in. There is a tale of moral uplift as this young middle-class westerner finds a calling to help children in need in a remote, impoverished land. This is accompanied by an understated exploration of spirituality. But most of all, this is a love story. For it is his love for the children he encounters that sets Grennan on his life's new path, love for the corps of new friends with whom he shares his work and finally, love for a woman he meets via e-mail while he is in Nepal, a woman he believes will be the love of his life. (I always enjoy hearing of people who have met this way, having met my wife-of-twelve-years on-line myself) He describes their impending meeting: "man walks twenty-seven hours in two days to get out of the mountains to meet girl who has just flown nine thousand miles for a visit." Not your typical first date.
At times, I was racing through the pages as if I were reading a Stieg Larsson, eager to see what happens next, and at others, I had to put the book down to wipe my eyes. You will be engaged, moved and uplifted. There really are good things happening in this world. There really are good people. And it is really good to be reminded of that.
I stumbled across a video re Grennan and the book. It is a promotional piece, but captures well what the book is about. There are more vids on Connor's site.
PS – The copy I read was an ARE, so lacked some items that I hope will make it into the production version. Maps would help situate one in the geography here, and I really wanted to see photos of the places and people Grennan writes about.
PPS - The author graciously posted a comment about this. Maps and photos were indeed in the hard cover.
==============================EXTRA STUFF
Grennan's personal website
The website for Next Generation Nepal, the foundation that was set up to continue Grennan's work
July 5, 2011
Having lived and worked in Nepal for 3 years, I was very excited to see a book come out about a country and people I love. Unfortunately, I have mixed feelings about this book.
This is a very important issue, and it's good that Conor's book is bringing attention to it. However, I was surprised that he felt the need to create his own organization in a country already over-saturated with Non-Governmental Organizations, several already working in this area. While this may seem trivial, I have seen first-hand how too many organizations with good intentions can get nowhere, when all those people working together could have been very powerful, impactful, and less wasteful of resources. I would have been more impressed if he had joined up with other groups already doing this work, but that may be less impressive to the general public.
The writing is ok, not great. The individual stories of the kids are charming, but there is a lack of coherence to them that could have made the book better. The central thread of the book is definitely Conor's story, not the kids' stories (as I thought it would be when I started). I would have like hearing more about the kids and their families, less about his bum knee. That is possibly a marketing issue -- the book shouldn't be promoted as "One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal" (that subtitle makes me want to gag anyway) but "Conor Grennan's Personal Journey from Slacker to Caring Mature Adult" or "Conor Grennan's Really Grueling Trek to a Really Remote Area, and other assorted tales."
Even after I figured this out (that it's all about Conor), I was still frustrated when he ignores or minimizes the contributions of Nepali men and women. Again, I would have been more impressed if he had worked with others, done some research in the area, recognized hard-working Nepalis striving for the good of their own country -- but he was more interested in being a hero.
All this being said... I appreciate what he's trying to do. I just wish he wouldn't try to make it sound like he single-handedly discovered child trafficking, and that he is single-handedly saving them all.
This is a very important issue, and it's good that Conor's book is bringing attention to it. However, I was surprised that he felt the need to create his own organization in a country already over-saturated with Non-Governmental Organizations, several already working in this area. While this may seem trivial, I have seen first-hand how too many organizations with good intentions can get nowhere, when all those people working together could have been very powerful, impactful, and less wasteful of resources. I would have been more impressed if he had joined up with other groups already doing this work, but that may be less impressive to the general public.
The writing is ok, not great. The individual stories of the kids are charming, but there is a lack of coherence to them that could have made the book better. The central thread of the book is definitely Conor's story, not the kids' stories (as I thought it would be when I started). I would have like hearing more about the kids and their families, less about his bum knee. That is possibly a marketing issue -- the book shouldn't be promoted as "One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal" (that subtitle makes me want to gag anyway) but "Conor Grennan's Personal Journey from Slacker to Caring Mature Adult" or "Conor Grennan's Really Grueling Trek to a Really Remote Area, and other assorted tales."
Even after I figured this out (that it's all about Conor), I was still frustrated when he ignores or minimizes the contributions of Nepali men and women. Again, I would have been more impressed if he had worked with others, done some research in the area, recognized hard-working Nepalis striving for the good of their own country -- but he was more interested in being a hero.
All this being said... I appreciate what he's trying to do. I just wish he wouldn't try to make it sound like he single-handedly discovered child trafficking, and that he is single-handedly saving them all.
February 6, 2024
The narratives and the way it was written made me feel like I was there. Told with humor and laugh-out-loud moments. Truly amazing how they were able to find these children and the effort to reunite them with their families.
June 8, 2012
I absolutely LOVED this audiobook!
It's a rare book that makes me chuckle and laugh out loud but also get teary-eyed with emotion. I applaud his honesty, his humor, and his efforts for the children of Nepal. I fell in love with these kids and loved hearing the story in Conor's own voice.
Highly recommended, especially as an audio book!! Although I'm sure I would have loved reading it as well, nothing can replace hearing the story as only Conor could tell it.
It's a rare book that makes me chuckle and laugh out loud but also get teary-eyed with emotion. I applaud his honesty, his humor, and his efforts for the children of Nepal. I fell in love with these kids and loved hearing the story in Conor's own voice.
Highly recommended, especially as an audio book!! Although I'm sure I would have loved reading it as well, nothing can replace hearing the story as only Conor could tell it.
January 11, 2011
Conor Grennan wanted to see the world. He thought it would be exciting and impressive if he volunteered at a children's home in Nepal for 3 months. Conor had little experience with children and little motivation to become truly involved in Little Princes, the home for illegally trafficked children. Little did he know all he would do to help these children.
As a mother, I'm skeptical when an author writes about pure happiness, joy, and smooth sailing when living with a large group of children. Of course, it's not all easy. I'm glad the author included some parts that helped illustrate that he lived in a real, working children's home. It showed that he was an insider. For example, the author was explaining the process of getting all the Little Princes to sleep at the same time. I don't remember the scene word for word, but I do remember the words "Whac-A-Mole" in the description. It was hilarious.
I think the author did a great job conveying the scenery and sense of adventure, the strong personalities of the volunteers and the people he interacted with, the hardship and poverty in Nepal, and the politics and the way the government is run in Nepal. I could feel the frustration and the pain of being unable to help and I could feel the happiness when a connection is finally made.
On top of everything, the author is honest with himself about his strengths, shortcomings, frustrations, fear, worries and motivations.
Funny, entertaining, touching and serious all at the same time.
As a mother, I'm skeptical when an author writes about pure happiness, joy, and smooth sailing when living with a large group of children. Of course, it's not all easy. I'm glad the author included some parts that helped illustrate that he lived in a real, working children's home. It showed that he was an insider. For example, the author was explaining the process of getting all the Little Princes to sleep at the same time. I don't remember the scene word for word, but I do remember the words "Whac-A-Mole" in the description. It was hilarious.
I think the author did a great job conveying the scenery and sense of adventure, the strong personalities of the volunteers and the people he interacted with, the hardship and poverty in Nepal, and the politics and the way the government is run in Nepal. I could feel the frustration and the pain of being unable to help and I could feel the happiness when a connection is finally made.
On top of everything, the author is honest with himself about his strengths, shortcomings, frustrations, fear, worries and motivations.
Funny, entertaining, touching and serious all at the same time.
August 8, 2012
The overall story of this book is actually pretty trite. A western man named Conner, who has thus far refused to grow up, decides to volunteer for 3 months at an orphanage in Nepal before going on a year long trip around the world. Once there he becomes attached to the children. During the course of the book he does wonderful deeds, learns lessons, finds a wife, finds a faith and saves the day.
But there is something you need to know… this book is hilarious. Really, really funny. I told a few of the stories to my 7yo and he wants me to tell them again and again. Now that I’ve finished the book I plan to have my 7 yo listen to it as well as it is largely about the lives of children his age in another country and how their lives compare and contrast to his own.
It’s got some tough issues in it to though. Mainly that the children are not orphans but victims of human trafficking. There are children who were lost and when found are literally about to starve to death and have to be hospitalized. Conner does not go into any details on any abuses the children experienced other than beatings, starvation and neglect which is bad enough. But as an adult, I imagine he left out details that would make the book much more difficult to read and would have made it inappropriate for my 7 yo.
The book is full of information about Nepal, the culture, the cities and villages, the politics in an easily accessible way. You won’t be an expert on Nepal at the end, but you will at least have a frame of reference.
**EDIT** Also, spoilers
I added another star making 5. Very rarely do I have people come back and tell me that the book I recommended was awesome... and when they do it's books that I rated 5 stars. Within a few days of spreading the word on this book, I had people emailing me to tell me how much they were enjoying it.
Also, we started to listen to it again with my 7 year old. He calls the book "Conner Brother" (adorable). And just to make it more clear than I did in the review above, I expected the author to discuss the sexual abuse these children must have been exposed to and he did not. I want my son to understand that he won the lottery when he was born in the US but I don't want to expose him to themes he's not ready for. I appreciate that this book strikes the balance of being realistic without being graphic.
But there is something you need to know… this book is hilarious. Really, really funny. I told a few of the stories to my 7yo and he wants me to tell them again and again. Now that I’ve finished the book I plan to have my 7 yo listen to it as well as it is largely about the lives of children his age in another country and how their lives compare and contrast to his own.
It’s got some tough issues in it to though. Mainly that the children are not orphans but victims of human trafficking. There are children who were lost and when found are literally about to starve to death and have to be hospitalized. Conner does not go into any details on any abuses the children experienced other than beatings, starvation and neglect which is bad enough. But as an adult, I imagine he left out details that would make the book much more difficult to read and would have made it inappropriate for my 7 yo.
The book is full of information about Nepal, the culture, the cities and villages, the politics in an easily accessible way. You won’t be an expert on Nepal at the end, but you will at least have a frame of reference.
**EDIT** Also, spoilers
I added another star making 5. Very rarely do I have people come back and tell me that the book I recommended was awesome... and when they do it's books that I rated 5 stars. Within a few days of spreading the word on this book, I had people emailing me to tell me how much they were enjoying it.
Also, we started to listen to it again with my 7 year old. He calls the book "Conner Brother" (adorable). And just to make it more clear than I did in the review above, I expected the author to discuss the sexual abuse these children must have been exposed to and he did not. I want my son to understand that he won the lottery when he was born in the US but I don't want to expose him to themes he's not ready for. I appreciate that this book strikes the balance of being realistic without being graphic.
May 8, 2012
I admit I'm not really into stories that could be made into Lifetime movies, but for whatever reason this book really hit the spot for me. I think it's because I've always been fascinated with both orphans and the nation of Nepal. I had known of the war in that country but until I read Grennan's book I hadn't realize just how bad conditions were and how much people suffered.
But the book is not depressing -- just the opposite in fact. Grennan's descriptions of the children are often very funny (especially the ones about his initial cluelessness and general ineptitude about child care), and this is also an awesome example of the good things a few people working together can accomplish if they put their minds to it. Thanks to the efforts of Mr. Grennan and others like him, dozens of children and families who thought they'd lost each other forever have been reunited. I admire him and applaud his work as well as his writing skills.
(I received this book for free from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.)
But the book is not depressing -- just the opposite in fact. Grennan's descriptions of the children are often very funny (especially the ones about his initial cluelessness and general ineptitude about child care), and this is also an awesome example of the good things a few people working together can accomplish if they put their minds to it. Thanks to the efforts of Mr. Grennan and others like him, dozens of children and families who thought they'd lost each other forever have been reunited. I admire him and applaud his work as well as his writing skills.
(I received this book for free from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.)
March 24, 2011
Why I wanted to read this book: I have often wanted to volunteer in another country and Conor's story sounded promising and intriguing. I wanted to know how Nepal and these children changed his life and the impact he made on theirs.
What worked for me:
* I was immediately and I mean immediately drawn to Conor's voice. His authentic self shined through page after page and I liked him immediately.
* He brought the orphans to life to me. I knew these children, I could hear their voices and laughter coming from the pages as I immersed myself in their country and culture.
* I was enlightened about the civil war that raged through Nepal from 1996 until 2006. During that time many parents sent their children to live in the city. They were told that if they let their children leave with these people that they would be educated and fed. What they didn't realize is that they were being robbed of their entire life savings and that their children were sold into bondage or even worse, given to the Maoist to fight as soldiers. I never knew about this...I'm ashamed of myself for not being more knowledgeable about current events.
* Conor's growth during this whole process was such a wonderful thing to experience. I utterly fell in love with these children, their stories, and yes, Conor himself...what a great humanitarian!!
Recommend? Absolutely! Do not miss a chance to read this book. If you purchase a copy of Little Princes, proceeds go to Next Generation Nepal, which is the organization that Conor founded that houses these orphans and ultimately tries to reunite them with their family. Do yourself a favor and watch this short video. I think you'll be moved by Conor's words and will want to experience his story for yourself!!
What worked for me:
* I was immediately and I mean immediately drawn to Conor's voice. His authentic self shined through page after page and I liked him immediately.
* He brought the orphans to life to me. I knew these children, I could hear their voices and laughter coming from the pages as I immersed myself in their country and culture.
* I was enlightened about the civil war that raged through Nepal from 1996 until 2006. During that time many parents sent their children to live in the city. They were told that if they let their children leave with these people that they would be educated and fed. What they didn't realize is that they were being robbed of their entire life savings and that their children were sold into bondage or even worse, given to the Maoist to fight as soldiers. I never knew about this...I'm ashamed of myself for not being more knowledgeable about current events.
* Conor's growth during this whole process was such a wonderful thing to experience. I utterly fell in love with these children, their stories, and yes, Conor himself...what a great humanitarian!!
Recommend? Absolutely! Do not miss a chance to read this book. If you purchase a copy of Little Princes, proceeds go to Next Generation Nepal, which is the organization that Conor founded that houses these orphans and ultimately tries to reunite them with their family. Do yourself a favor and watch this short video. I think you'll be moved by Conor's words and will want to experience his story for yourself!!
July 11, 2014
Little Princes was interesting and entertaining and I enjoyed reading it. Yet it didn't grab me on a deeper level than that. As a narrator, Conor Grennan is funny and self-deprecating. I would be sad to hear that the cause that he's espousing is hinky in any way, although after recent events in the area of books written to promote charities, I'm wary about that. No sign of any of that from an internet search, though.
Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
April 29, 2011
Absolutely LOVED this book! The further you get into the book the more caught up you get in it all - getting to know the children, feeling the injustice of them being taken away from their families and being mistreated and then rooting for Conor as he fights to reunite the children with their families. To top it all off, there's also a sweet love story thrown into the mix. Definitely a must-read!
November 14, 2012
When I picked up the book, I expected to read more about children's plight in Nepal, about the author's motivation to work with these children, and details of how he made it happen. The book was a disappointment in both content and style. I read in much detail about the author himself (and how he saw the third world/ dealt with living as an expat in Nepal) and his infatuation with his pen pal whom he later proposed. The book revolved solely around the author and his love story with the children providing the exotic backdrop which made the plot more fanciful- It left me curiously dissatisfied and annoyed with the author specially when he writes things like - " Perhaps the strangest feeling of all was seeing children, so many of them with glowing white skin, that unfortunate translucent paleness that I shared. After months of rich, brown skin of a thousand shades, it looked like these children had been bleached."
As a person with brown skin, I found such description disturbing. Children are beautiful, brown or white. Its unfair to be derogatory to either. The book ironically , was only skin deep, and failed to move me beyond anything deeper.
As a person with brown skin, I found such description disturbing. Children are beautiful, brown or white. Its unfair to be derogatory to either. The book ironically , was only skin deep, and failed to move me beyond anything deeper.
January 27, 2011
I was prepared to like this book. What is not to like? A story of a man who goes to Nepal and finds his calling to help the children of the country at first in the orphanages and eventually trying to reunite them with their parents. It sounds wonderful doesn't it? And it is, but it is so much more. I was struck with the fact that the author is very open in the beginning that he first went to Nepal to help in an orphanage just to have something to talk about or put on his resume. Pretty selfish isn't it? But who isn't like that? Honestly?
Then something changes, the children creep into Conor's heart and begin to bless him as he helps out in the children's home. As Conor learns more about the civil war in the country and the people that take the children from their parents to a life of slavery, you see Conor change and then he wants to help change the country and the children. The story is gripping. I had a hard time putting it down. I wanted to know what challenge Conor would get through next. Would he find the children, would he find the parents and just what could he do in this poor country where children are taken from their parents with the guise of helping them find a better life, but in reality are sold into child slavery.
Through fund-raising and sheer will, Conor accomplished most of his goals with his friend Farid and help of others with other organizations in Nepal. He started a non-profit, Next Generation Nepal to help these children, to start his own home for them and with the help of others he is accomplishing his goals still to this day. It is just a marvelous tale of things happening for him and the children at just the right time. Of course there are trials, but Conor grows and learns to accept things as they happen.
And the book is not only about his journey to help the children of Nepal, but it also has glimpses of his personal life at the time. I loved every aspect of this book and I hope Conor Grennan writes another book as he continues his plight to help these children and parents in Nepal. I love that this book opens up this struggle to the world and we as readers can see what is going on and find ways to help as well. The book is inspiring, uplifting and just amazing. I already know it will be one of my top reads of the year.
Then something changes, the children creep into Conor's heart and begin to bless him as he helps out in the children's home. As Conor learns more about the civil war in the country and the people that take the children from their parents to a life of slavery, you see Conor change and then he wants to help change the country and the children. The story is gripping. I had a hard time putting it down. I wanted to know what challenge Conor would get through next. Would he find the children, would he find the parents and just what could he do in this poor country where children are taken from their parents with the guise of helping them find a better life, but in reality are sold into child slavery.
Through fund-raising and sheer will, Conor accomplished most of his goals with his friend Farid and help of others with other organizations in Nepal. He started a non-profit, Next Generation Nepal to help these children, to start his own home for them and with the help of others he is accomplishing his goals still to this day. It is just a marvelous tale of things happening for him and the children at just the right time. Of course there are trials, but Conor grows and learns to accept things as they happen.
And the book is not only about his journey to help the children of Nepal, but it also has glimpses of his personal life at the time. I loved every aspect of this book and I hope Conor Grennan writes another book as he continues his plight to help these children and parents in Nepal. I love that this book opens up this struggle to the world and we as readers can see what is going on and find ways to help as well. The book is inspiring, uplifting and just amazing. I already know it will be one of my top reads of the year.
August 20, 2010
When I turned the very last page of this book, I had to sit there for a bit and get my bearings. I also tried to come up with a word to describe it, and as funny as this is going to sound, it being perhaps an odd word to describe a book, I chose the word "beautiful."
It's a beautiful story because it is an emotional roller coaster ride. I went from laughing at the author's first daal bhat meal to feeling anger at the child traffickers to shock and dismay when two young boys were hospitalized because they were starving to death to happy tears when parents found out their children were alive and well to awe at the ability of these kids to go thru so much trauma and still laugh and pile up on friends, and I even cheered out loud for the author when he shoved his foot in a door and prevented a man from taking one of his kids back to a life of servitude.
There's even a tiny love story at the end, but it doesn't overshadow the book's main focus: the children of Nepal. The author, Conor, first traveled to Nepal and vounteered at the Little Princes orphanage simply to impress his friends, but his two months with those kids changed his life forever. One year later, he found himself drawn back to the orphanage only to discover that most of the children weren't really orphans at all, but victims of child trafficking. Thinking their children would be safe from the ongoing civil war, parents would sell everything they owned, give the money to a prominent business man along with their child, and foolishly believe their son or daughter was heading to a fabulous life in the city where he or she would get educated and have plenty to eat. That's rarely the case. Most of these children would be abandoned, thrown into illegal orphanages to starve, or even sold into servitude.
The first half of this memoir talks about Conor and the Little Princes as well as gives a look at life in Nepal and especially life during their civil war. Conor injects bits of humor here and there no matter how bad the situation and I laughed quite a few times. The last half of the story is about Conor trekking thru the dangerous nearby mountain range trying to find the Little Princes's families in hopes of reuniting them. Conor also starts his own orphanage (inspired by seven very special children who also play a huge role in the book) called Next Generation Nepal.
This book was a real eye opener for me. I had no idea what children over in Nepal faced. It makes me appreciate what I have a whole lot more. I was very moved by this and I highly recommend it.
It's a beautiful story because it is an emotional roller coaster ride. I went from laughing at the author's first daal bhat meal to feeling anger at the child traffickers to shock and dismay when two young boys were hospitalized because they were starving to death to happy tears when parents found out their children were alive and well to awe at the ability of these kids to go thru so much trauma and still laugh and pile up on friends, and I even cheered out loud for the author when he shoved his foot in a door and prevented a man from taking one of his kids back to a life of servitude.
There's even a tiny love story at the end, but it doesn't overshadow the book's main focus: the children of Nepal. The author, Conor, first traveled to Nepal and vounteered at the Little Princes orphanage simply to impress his friends, but his two months with those kids changed his life forever. One year later, he found himself drawn back to the orphanage only to discover that most of the children weren't really orphans at all, but victims of child trafficking. Thinking their children would be safe from the ongoing civil war, parents would sell everything they owned, give the money to a prominent business man along with their child, and foolishly believe their son or daughter was heading to a fabulous life in the city where he or she would get educated and have plenty to eat. That's rarely the case. Most of these children would be abandoned, thrown into illegal orphanages to starve, or even sold into servitude.
The first half of this memoir talks about Conor and the Little Princes as well as gives a look at life in Nepal and especially life during their civil war. Conor injects bits of humor here and there no matter how bad the situation and I laughed quite a few times. The last half of the story is about Conor trekking thru the dangerous nearby mountain range trying to find the Little Princes's families in hopes of reuniting them. Conor also starts his own orphanage (inspired by seven very special children who also play a huge role in the book) called Next Generation Nepal.
This book was a real eye opener for me. I had no idea what children over in Nepal faced. It makes me appreciate what I have a whole lot more. I was very moved by this and I highly recommend it.
March 22, 2011
This was a wonderful tale of what one man can do in the face of adversity when one's mind is made up to help. In this case the man was Connor Glennan. This man thought he would volunteer at an orphanage in Nepal and though his original commitment was for three months, he just could not get these children's faces and problems out of his head. Therefore, after a year of trekking around the world, Connor returns to the Little Princes orphanage and makes a promise to find and reunite the original seven children he had originally met and cared for the previous year. This turned out not to be an easy task. Nepal at this time ran rampant with child trafficking and the government was in denial and fighting off the Maoists. When Connor returns, he practically walks (well there was not much available traveling wise) into the rural areas of Nepal, looking for and photographing the parents and the children in hopes that he might bring the children home to the parents.
In the meantime, there were the various problems that Connor faced from the child kidnappers to the government inefficacy to the lack of paperwork surrounding these children and their parent. Many of the children had been enslaved for years and were told that their parents were dead and visa versa, the children were told their parents were gone.
The novel will make the reader realize that the situation of the children in so many third world countries is in jeopardy and there are many ruthless people who are more than willing to traffic in a young human life. Disgusting as this concept is, there seems to be little the government can do to control this overwhelming problem.
Mr Glennan has attempted through his work and his dedication in a small way to right the wrong that has been done to these children. He has successfully reunited children and their parents. Today, he runs a foundation that is dedicated to this cause. Anyone who does anything for the children of this world is honorable and admirable in my opinion and surely Mr Glennan is one to be looked at with praise for what he has done.
In the meantime, there were the various problems that Connor faced from the child kidnappers to the government inefficacy to the lack of paperwork surrounding these children and their parent. Many of the children had been enslaved for years and were told that their parents were dead and visa versa, the children were told their parents were gone.
The novel will make the reader realize that the situation of the children in so many third world countries is in jeopardy and there are many ruthless people who are more than willing to traffic in a young human life. Disgusting as this concept is, there seems to be little the government can do to control this overwhelming problem.
Mr Glennan has attempted through his work and his dedication in a small way to right the wrong that has been done to these children. He has successfully reunited children and their parents. Today, he runs a foundation that is dedicated to this cause. Anyone who does anything for the children of this world is honorable and admirable in my opinion and surely Mr Glennan is one to be looked at with praise for what he has done.
September 1, 2016
Conor Grennan's Little Princes kept me up all night – the story so powerful and compelling I didn't want to stop reading.
Little Princes chronicles the true tale of one man's decision to set aside his own self interest to help children in Nepal -- all victims of a lucrative trafficking scheme. The theme may sound depressing, but Grennan tells his story in a relatively light and genuinely very funny way. The sadness of the children's plight and the general hardships endured by their parents is blended with the uplifting revelation of their incredible resilience.
What could have been a self-serving narration of one man's good deeds is instead a gripping, heart-felt story of hope, love, and joy. This is a must read.
Little Princes chronicles the true tale of one man's decision to set aside his own self interest to help children in Nepal -- all victims of a lucrative trafficking scheme. The theme may sound depressing, but Grennan tells his story in a relatively light and genuinely very funny way. The sadness of the children's plight and the general hardships endured by their parents is blended with the uplifting revelation of their incredible resilience.
What could have been a self-serving narration of one man's good deeds is instead a gripping, heart-felt story of hope, love, and joy. This is a must read.
April 7, 2011
AMAZING!!! A wonderful story about how an 'ordinary' guy did an extraordinary thing!!! HIGHLY recommend!!!
June 23, 2022
4.5 stars
How I loved Conor Grennan's memoir titled Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children if Nepal. His writing was enjoyable - honest, funny, self-deprecating, engaging and so very easy to read. He's from a family of writers and it was evident to me he was gifted with the ability to put together a cohesive and very entertaining story. The fact he was writing about some good work he did in Nepal further enhanced my appreciation of his book.
Conor was an American guy in his mid to late twenties and having worked in Europe for the eight years since finishing college he was ready for something new. With no commitments and a decent amount of savings he decided to treat himself to twelve months travelling the world.
So, readers get the picture early on that he was heading to Nepal to do a stint of volunteering in an orphanage to make himself sound selfless, to impress the ladies he met in bars, and to make the rest of his year long trip sound justified. What he had in mind was not exactly as it panned out.
I enjoyed his anecdotes about how different Nepal was, of settling in, of his language faux pas, but more than these I loved the way he described the easy, relationships he developed with the children. I loved that he began to feel a sense of belonging and when saying goodbye, as the children begged him to comeback, (despite being warned by the organisation not to get their hopes up) Conor promised the children he'd return after the year was up. He did return, and on his next trip back Conor began to learn that not all the children were in fact orphans. Many, if not all, had wound up in orphanages after child traffickers had taken them from their families under false pretenses. Not only taking the children from their families but taking whatever money the parents had, claiming they'd be kept safe and would receive an education. Given there'd been a civil war raging, and children as young as five were being rounded up by Maoists and taken to fight, the parents believed they were doing what was best for their children. They were not to know that many were sold into slavery, others dumped and left homeless in big cities and that only the very fortunate ended up being taken in and cared for in an orphanage.
As he left for a second time the war was escalating and he returned to the comfort and safety of his home in America. He started job hunting with excitement at beginning to earn some money again, but he found he could not detach from thoughts of the children. He missed them and felt a lingering sense of guilt that he had not been able to do more. And so, instead of job hunting he decided to start up his own NGO, he began fundraising and planned his return where he and fellow volunteer Farid created their own orphanage. His charity Next Generation Nepal set out to reunite families with their lost children.
The story had adventure - think trekking for weeks in dangerous conditions, cold and hungry trying to find the villages and families of the children. It also had romance - a long distance relationship struck up between Conor and Liz a lawyer who also wanted to help with his charity. Mostly though it had that feel good vibe - I lived vicariously through Conor as he helped these children, something I've often dreamt of doing but have never stepped far enough out of my comfort zone to do it. Once I started reading this memoir I was hard pressed to put it down. I loved it and of course have enjoyed many hours since Googling to see how his good works have progressed.
Highly recommended
How I loved Conor Grennan's memoir titled Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children if Nepal. His writing was enjoyable - honest, funny, self-deprecating, engaging and so very easy to read. He's from a family of writers and it was evident to me he was gifted with the ability to put together a cohesive and very entertaining story. The fact he was writing about some good work he did in Nepal further enhanced my appreciation of his book.
Conor was an American guy in his mid to late twenties and having worked in Europe for the eight years since finishing college he was ready for something new. With no commitments and a decent amount of savings he decided to treat himself to twelve months travelling the world.
"I soon discovered that such a trip, while sounding extremely cool, also sounded unrepentantly self-indulgent. Even my most party-hardened friends, on whom I had counted to support this adventure, hinted that this might not be the wisest life decision..... But there was something about volunteering in a Third World orphanage at the outset of my trip that would squash any potential criticism. Who would dare begrudge me my year of fun after doing something like that? "
So, readers get the picture early on that he was heading to Nepal to do a stint of volunteering in an orphanage to make himself sound selfless, to impress the ladies he met in bars, and to make the rest of his year long trip sound justified. What he had in mind was not exactly as it panned out.
I enjoyed his anecdotes about how different Nepal was, of settling in, of his language faux pas, but more than these I loved the way he described the easy, relationships he developed with the children. I loved that he began to feel a sense of belonging and when saying goodbye, as the children begged him to comeback, (despite being warned by the organisation not to get their hopes up) Conor promised the children he'd return after the year was up. He did return, and on his next trip back Conor began to learn that not all the children were in fact orphans. Many, if not all, had wound up in orphanages after child traffickers had taken them from their families under false pretenses. Not only taking the children from their families but taking whatever money the parents had, claiming they'd be kept safe and would receive an education. Given there'd been a civil war raging, and children as young as five were being rounded up by Maoists and taken to fight, the parents believed they were doing what was best for their children. They were not to know that many were sold into slavery, others dumped and left homeless in big cities and that only the very fortunate ended up being taken in and cared for in an orphanage.
As he left for a second time the war was escalating and he returned to the comfort and safety of his home in America. He started job hunting with excitement at beginning to earn some money again, but he found he could not detach from thoughts of the children. He missed them and felt a lingering sense of guilt that he had not been able to do more. And so, instead of job hunting he decided to start up his own NGO, he began fundraising and planned his return where he and fellow volunteer Farid created their own orphanage. His charity Next Generation Nepal set out to reunite families with their lost children.
The story had adventure - think trekking for weeks in dangerous conditions, cold and hungry trying to find the villages and families of the children. It also had romance - a long distance relationship struck up between Conor and Liz a lawyer who also wanted to help with his charity. Mostly though it had that feel good vibe - I lived vicariously through Conor as he helped these children, something I've often dreamt of doing but have never stepped far enough out of my comfort zone to do it. Once I started reading this memoir I was hard pressed to put it down. I loved it and of course have enjoyed many hours since Googling to see how his good works have progressed.
Highly recommended
August 1, 2016
Inspirational (if not necessarily eloquent) stuff. In other words, I have no hesitation recommending this book if you're looking for a heart-warming anecdote about a unique quest and a productive commitment to a worthwhile cause in a foreign land. And, given the number of happy endings involved - both for the author and so many of the Nepalese children - I'd recommend the book for young people committed to volunteering (or working) abroad to improve the lives of those trapped in unfortunate circumstances.
On a more critical note, I'd be hard pressed to suggest this book as one of the best or most compelling travelogues, introductions to a regional refugee (or here, human trafficking) crisis, or even a well-to-do, highly educated, privileged, and seemingly spoiled and/or coddled Westener's coming of age story. Indeed, despite the various values associated with the primary story line, I was most frustrated by the book's duality, waffling between the (again, inspirational) story of rescuing a group of children and a (for me, far less interesting) highly personal, inconsistent, and hugely incomplete autobiographical transition from carefree, agnostic, largely irresponsible young professional to enlightened, selfless, adult, family man (or something like that).
None of this detracts from the significance of this educational and, at times, chilling glimpse into the plight of post-civil war Nepalese children (and families). I'm guessing this book landed on my reading list because I'd enjoyed the remarkable Running For My Life and been struck by the raw brutality of A Long Way Gone. Granted, both of those stories, which I found more compelling, were first-person recollections of children who survived the crisis that consumed their communities, whereas this book is narrated by the source of relief. I don't mean to demean or diminish the author's extraordinary commitment or sacrifice or contribution or, of course, successes, but the perspective leads to a very different (and, for this reader, less gratifying) type of story-telling.
Regardless of whether or not you enjoy the book, the author deserves kudos, respect, and even applause for his efforts which, no doubt, enhanced the quality of life of numerous children and families in Nepal. WELL DONE, Conor Grennan!
On a more critical note, I'd be hard pressed to suggest this book as one of the best or most compelling travelogues, introductions to a regional refugee (or here, human trafficking) crisis, or even a well-to-do, highly educated, privileged, and seemingly spoiled and/or coddled Westener's coming of age story. Indeed, despite the various values associated with the primary story line, I was most frustrated by the book's duality, waffling between the (again, inspirational) story of rescuing a group of children and a (for me, far less interesting) highly personal, inconsistent, and hugely incomplete autobiographical transition from carefree, agnostic, largely irresponsible young professional to enlightened, selfless, adult, family man (or something like that).
None of this detracts from the significance of this educational and, at times, chilling glimpse into the plight of post-civil war Nepalese children (and families). I'm guessing this book landed on my reading list because I'd enjoyed the remarkable Running For My Life and been struck by the raw brutality of A Long Way Gone. Granted, both of those stories, which I found more compelling, were first-person recollections of children who survived the crisis that consumed their communities, whereas this book is narrated by the source of relief. I don't mean to demean or diminish the author's extraordinary commitment or sacrifice or contribution or, of course, successes, but the perspective leads to a very different (and, for this reader, less gratifying) type of story-telling.
Regardless of whether or not you enjoy the book, the author deserves kudos, respect, and even applause for his efforts which, no doubt, enhanced the quality of life of numerous children and families in Nepal. WELL DONE, Conor Grennan!
April 6, 2016
I loved the cover. I loved the title. I loved that it had a high GR rating. And I loved the story about these children who were given up by their parents because they thought they were giving their children a better life, but instead, they had no idea what hardships they were sending their little ones off to endure.
This was an amazing story of how one person can truly make a difference. His trip to Nepal changed the rest of his life as he was able to touch the lives of children living in an orphanage called Little Princes. He made great efforts in reuniting them with their families.
I will say though, in the very beginning, I found the author very, very annoying. But thankfully he became more normal. Overall, I liked his story and how he told it. I also liked his outlook on this experience and the humor he used.
This was an amazing story of how one person can truly make a difference. His trip to Nepal changed the rest of his life as he was able to touch the lives of children living in an orphanage called Little Princes. He made great efforts in reuniting them with their families.
I will say though, in the very beginning, I found the author very, very annoying. But thankfully he became more normal. Overall, I liked his story and how he told it. I also liked his outlook on this experience and the humor he used.
February 25, 2022
Incredible memoir by Conor Grennan about his one year trip traveling the world with a start in Nepal during their civil war. He helped at an orphanage where the children were not orphans. Their parents had been tricked into selling their children to traffickers.
He returned to Nepal and created Next Generation Nepal (NGN), a non-profit organization focused on reuniting trafficked children with their parents.
Grennan's a storyteller extraordinaire. His authenticity, humbleness, humor, and compassion leap off the pages as he recounts journeys of incredible odds.
Highly recommend!
He returned to Nepal and created Next Generation Nepal (NGN), a non-profit organization focused on reuniting trafficked children with their parents.
Grennan's a storyteller extraordinaire. His authenticity, humbleness, humor, and compassion leap off the pages as he recounts journeys of incredible odds.
Highly recommend!
February 18, 2012
I am more than judgmental in this review, so readers beware. I found the author obnoxious in his attempts at humor, utterly vain, self centered and serving, I immediately associated him with a spoiled American stereotype. I'm told that I need to read more of the book to see through this first impression, however; I'm sad to admit I'm also not perfect. I chose to remain oblivious on how this self centered man justified his self serving "volunteer" expedition.
October 20, 2011
An Eye-Opening Window to Nepal
When Irish American Conor Grennan decides to take a whirlwind year-long trip around the world, he opts to spend his first three months volunteering at a children’s orphanage in Nepal. The instant he walked through the gates of Little Princes, he was mobbed by laughing little boys attaching themselves to his legs like leeches hungry for blood. Running, playing, giggling children swarmed Conor from the moment he arrived, so ecstatic to have a foreigner visiting them. For Conor it was love at first sight, although he was a bit terrified. Never had he spent time with children, never mind work with them for three months.
After settling in and getting to know the children of Little Princes, the facility high in the Nepali Himalayas, Conor finds he loves Nepal and all the hazards, poverty, and trials that come with it. In 2004 when he steps off the plane from America, a Maoist civil war is raging around him. Nepali villagers are hungry and starvation is a large problem. Winters are harsh in the Himalayas, the cold freezing climate hardens the people of Nepal as they eek out a meager existence and the food shortages of winter. However, impoverished people, little heat, border patrols, and starving children, still doesn’t put Conor off. For the next few months he digs in to help the facility and works with these charming love-starved kids with great enthusiasm. Rice bowl after rice bowl, Conor finds he has found his life’s calling.
Weeks into his assignment, through various sources, Conor learns that the kids of Little Princes are not really orphans. Shockingly the staff learns that these children were stolen. Child trafficking runs rampant in Nepal, thousands of children have been taken from their families. Parents are scammed by men who knock on village doors offering to take children away from the war, where they will be taken to a facility that will be safe from the danger, fed well, and schooled. Believing these men, parents pay high prices to keep their children safe only to be swindled. When months and years go by, both child and parents believe each other dead.
Conor and the staff at Little Princes are outraged to hear this disheartening news. Together they form a plan, gather resources, devise fund-raising programs, and ambitiously embark on a hell-bound mission to reunite these adorable imps with their mothers and fathers. Conor and his assistant Farid plan and complete mission after mission, endangering their lives as they hike through the treacherous mountains and locate one family after another hidden within the small villages of Nepal. Threatened by Maoist soldiers at gun point, locked in place by snow blizzards unable to keep moving, hiding themselves in family huts away from roaming militia, Farid and Conor never give up as one family after another are found.
This profound and eye-opening memoir is one of the best I’ve read yet. In the style of Mortenson’s Three Cups of Tea only much better, Little Princes is extremely heartwarming. Readers will fall head over heels with the kids who offer nothing but hugs and unlimited affection for Conor, and will not be able to put the book down once turning that first page that will take them on a journey they won’t forget. I laughed at the author’s dry sense of humor, I cried when these children both broke my heart and in turn made me smile. How these children persevered and knew unlimited joy during these times of chaos and crimes against them was simply beyond inspiring. Their faith in Conor, their playfulness and insight into his own heart when he falls in love, showed a level of uncanny intelligence and a depth of human compassion that will just astonish readers everywhere. This book is one of those that you say “Standing Ovation Please”!!!
When Irish American Conor Grennan decides to take a whirlwind year-long trip around the world, he opts to spend his first three months volunteering at a children’s orphanage in Nepal. The instant he walked through the gates of Little Princes, he was mobbed by laughing little boys attaching themselves to his legs like leeches hungry for blood. Running, playing, giggling children swarmed Conor from the moment he arrived, so ecstatic to have a foreigner visiting them. For Conor it was love at first sight, although he was a bit terrified. Never had he spent time with children, never mind work with them for three months.
After settling in and getting to know the children of Little Princes, the facility high in the Nepali Himalayas, Conor finds he loves Nepal and all the hazards, poverty, and trials that come with it. In 2004 when he steps off the plane from America, a Maoist civil war is raging around him. Nepali villagers are hungry and starvation is a large problem. Winters are harsh in the Himalayas, the cold freezing climate hardens the people of Nepal as they eek out a meager existence and the food shortages of winter. However, impoverished people, little heat, border patrols, and starving children, still doesn’t put Conor off. For the next few months he digs in to help the facility and works with these charming love-starved kids with great enthusiasm. Rice bowl after rice bowl, Conor finds he has found his life’s calling.
Weeks into his assignment, through various sources, Conor learns that the kids of Little Princes are not really orphans. Shockingly the staff learns that these children were stolen. Child trafficking runs rampant in Nepal, thousands of children have been taken from their families. Parents are scammed by men who knock on village doors offering to take children away from the war, where they will be taken to a facility that will be safe from the danger, fed well, and schooled. Believing these men, parents pay high prices to keep their children safe only to be swindled. When months and years go by, both child and parents believe each other dead.
Conor and the staff at Little Princes are outraged to hear this disheartening news. Together they form a plan, gather resources, devise fund-raising programs, and ambitiously embark on a hell-bound mission to reunite these adorable imps with their mothers and fathers. Conor and his assistant Farid plan and complete mission after mission, endangering their lives as they hike through the treacherous mountains and locate one family after another hidden within the small villages of Nepal. Threatened by Maoist soldiers at gun point, locked in place by snow blizzards unable to keep moving, hiding themselves in family huts away from roaming militia, Farid and Conor never give up as one family after another are found.
This profound and eye-opening memoir is one of the best I’ve read yet. In the style of Mortenson’s Three Cups of Tea only much better, Little Princes is extremely heartwarming. Readers will fall head over heels with the kids who offer nothing but hugs and unlimited affection for Conor, and will not be able to put the book down once turning that first page that will take them on a journey they won’t forget. I laughed at the author’s dry sense of humor, I cried when these children both broke my heart and in turn made me smile. How these children persevered and knew unlimited joy during these times of chaos and crimes against them was simply beyond inspiring. Their faith in Conor, their playfulness and insight into his own heart when he falls in love, showed a level of uncanny intelligence and a depth of human compassion that will just astonish readers everywhere. This book is one of those that you say “Standing Ovation Please”!!!
July 7, 2013
Recommended by Will
What a wonderful, inspiring book! Conor Grennan wanted to see the world so he took a year off from working. He decided to volunteer at the Little Princes Children's Home in Nepal for three months before continuing on his world tour.
The children in the home were not actually orphans. Child traffickers had told their families that they would take their children from the unsafe villages during the civil war for a price. The traffickers promised the parents that the children would have safe homes in Kathmandu with plenty of food and good schooling. But the children were abandoned or kept in wretched conditions once they reached the city of Kathmandu.
Conor had never worked with children before, but he fell in love with them. Most of the children were boys since the parents were trying to protect them from being forced to be soldiers in the Maoist army, and they were also more apt to send the boys to school. Conor made it his mission to find the families of these children so that they could be eventually reunited. He treked through the dangerous mountains of Nepal with a painful knee injury to the villages of the children's parents.
He also met the woman of his dreams during this time. Liz had done volunteer work as a humanitarian in Third World countries as well. An e-mail relationship progressed from friendship to romance.
Conor and his French friend Farid founded the non-profit organization Next Generation Nepal (NGN). The group opened another home for the children, and is still working to reunite chilren with their parents in the mountainous villages.
Conor's story is told with humility and self-deprecating humor. The love he has for these children shines throughout the book. There is also plenty of adventure and adjustment as he describes his travels through the mountains of Nepal, deals with government officials, learns to live with the slower pace of Nepal time, and deals with sub-standard medical care. This is a very special book that we all should read.
_______________________________
More to read or view:
Another well-written, informative book about child trafficking is Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. It tells of the plight of young women around the world, many who are sold into sex slavery or other horrible situations.
"Children of God" is a documentary film about the children who live on the sacred grounds of a Hindu temple in Katmandu next to a river where funeral rites are carried out. Great sums of money are spent to honor the dead, while the children resort to begging and stealing funeral offerings.
What a wonderful, inspiring book! Conor Grennan wanted to see the world so he took a year off from working. He decided to volunteer at the Little Princes Children's Home in Nepal for three months before continuing on his world tour.
The children in the home were not actually orphans. Child traffickers had told their families that they would take their children from the unsafe villages during the civil war for a price. The traffickers promised the parents that the children would have safe homes in Kathmandu with plenty of food and good schooling. But the children were abandoned or kept in wretched conditions once they reached the city of Kathmandu.
Conor had never worked with children before, but he fell in love with them. Most of the children were boys since the parents were trying to protect them from being forced to be soldiers in the Maoist army, and they were also more apt to send the boys to school. Conor made it his mission to find the families of these children so that they could be eventually reunited. He treked through the dangerous mountains of Nepal with a painful knee injury to the villages of the children's parents.
He also met the woman of his dreams during this time. Liz had done volunteer work as a humanitarian in Third World countries as well. An e-mail relationship progressed from friendship to romance.
Conor and his French friend Farid founded the non-profit organization Next Generation Nepal (NGN). The group opened another home for the children, and is still working to reunite chilren with their parents in the mountainous villages.
Conor's story is told with humility and self-deprecating humor. The love he has for these children shines throughout the book. There is also plenty of adventure and adjustment as he describes his travels through the mountains of Nepal, deals with government officials, learns to live with the slower pace of Nepal time, and deals with sub-standard medical care. This is a very special book that we all should read.
_______________________________
More to read or view:
Another well-written, informative book about child trafficking is Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. It tells of the plight of young women around the world, many who are sold into sex slavery or other horrible situations.
"Children of God" is a documentary film about the children who live on the sacred grounds of a Hindu temple in Katmandu next to a river where funeral rites are carried out. Great sums of money are spent to honor the dead, while the children resort to begging and stealing funeral offerings.
December 28, 2010
5 OUT OF 5
A truly, inspiring story of giving and receiving, and the changes each can make in one’s life as well as the lives of others. It made me want to pack my bags and head to Nepal to help Conor, Farid, and all of the others that are making a difference in the lives of so many Nepali children.
Conor’s story quickly becomes personal and gripping as he goes from a simple volunteer experience that was to only last a month, before his one year trip around the world, to a mission to save seven children that were in the hands of child traffickers. He had no idea that he would fall in love and become devoted to the cause of the children of Little Princes and all the children of Nepal that have been separated from their families and homes.
Conor returns to Nepal with funds and a desire to find seven children that he thought he had saved from the traffickers, when he learned that the rescuers had not arrived in time and the children had been lost once again in the maze of the underground system used to sell and re-sell the children over and over. He is able to set up another home, and then uses all his resources to locate the children and the families that they have been separated from in remote eastern villages of Nepal. Villages where there are no roads, no phones, no electricity, hanging off the sides of the mountains bordering China. After reading Conor’s harrowing descriptions of the trek to villages, I googled a map of Nepal and the village that they flew into and then went over the land they had to hike through just to get to the villages where they thought the children might have originated from. I can’t imagine having the fortitude to make that journey with so little experience, without the language to communicate, and relying on what seemed like blind faith. But that is what he did, and it was faith that brought him through under the most adverse conditions.
It is so important for books like this to continue to make their way into the hands of many to show all of us that it does not take a lot to make a huge difference, maybe a life and death difference, in the lives of those who are less fortunate. It is a book that will make a difference in the way I invest in the efforts of those helping others. Thank you, Conor Grennan for sharing your experience and keep up the good work of Next Generation Nepal.
A truly, inspiring story of giving and receiving, and the changes each can make in one’s life as well as the lives of others. It made me want to pack my bags and head to Nepal to help Conor, Farid, and all of the others that are making a difference in the lives of so many Nepali children.
Conor’s story quickly becomes personal and gripping as he goes from a simple volunteer experience that was to only last a month, before his one year trip around the world, to a mission to save seven children that were in the hands of child traffickers. He had no idea that he would fall in love and become devoted to the cause of the children of Little Princes and all the children of Nepal that have been separated from their families and homes.
Conor returns to Nepal with funds and a desire to find seven children that he thought he had saved from the traffickers, when he learned that the rescuers had not arrived in time and the children had been lost once again in the maze of the underground system used to sell and re-sell the children over and over. He is able to set up another home, and then uses all his resources to locate the children and the families that they have been separated from in remote eastern villages of Nepal. Villages where there are no roads, no phones, no electricity, hanging off the sides of the mountains bordering China. After reading Conor’s harrowing descriptions of the trek to villages, I googled a map of Nepal and the village that they flew into and then went over the land they had to hike through just to get to the villages where they thought the children might have originated from. I can’t imagine having the fortitude to make that journey with so little experience, without the language to communicate, and relying on what seemed like blind faith. But that is what he did, and it was faith that brought him through under the most adverse conditions.
It is so important for books like this to continue to make their way into the hands of many to show all of us that it does not take a lot to make a huge difference, maybe a life and death difference, in the lives of those who are less fortunate. It is a book that will make a difference in the way I invest in the efforts of those helping others. Thank you, Conor Grennan for sharing your experience and keep up the good work of Next Generation Nepal.
January 27, 2011
In his early twenties, Conor Grennan thought he’d take a year off work and travel around the world. However, he originally wanted to brag to young women that he was going to do something special during his year away like saving children and that’s exactly what he ended up doing. Little did he know at the time that his 2-week volunteer stint in Nepal would turn into two years!
These children were orphaned and Conor wasn’t exactly sure if he wanted to get involved with a developing country in the middle of a civil war. But he soon came to learn that he felt more for these children than he thought he ever would. How could he walk away from these smiling children who were totally alone in the world and had come to love him so much.
The children weren’t really orphans but servants for families who child traffickers were promising families in remote villages to protect their children from the civil war for huge sums of money and then lying and saying they would take their child(ren) to safety. The children would then be abandoned far, far from their original homes in the civil uprising of Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu.
Conor soon found this bragging idea of his to be the adventure of his life when he becomes totally commited to reunite the children he had grown to love with their families, but it would be a very difficult job indeed. Conor would end up risking his own life on a journey through the legendary mountains of Nepal, facing the dangers of a bloody civil war and a debilitating injury to his knee and the threat of being snowed in, in the cold. Waiting back in Kathmandu was Liz, the woman who would eventually become his wife and share in his life’s work.
Conor sets up a home called “Next Generation Nepal” and did fundraising back in the United States to buy the home, furnish it with furniture, stoves, beds, blankets, and pillows for the children he hoped to house there. He figured he could accept approximately 26 children and all these children came to love Conor dearly. With a total of $6,000.00 raised he began to build the home.
Little Princes was an inspiring, stirring, moving page-turning adventure that you won’t be able to put down. Beating this novel for the top spot in 2011 will be difficult although I’ve already said that about one other book but believe that one now comes in second!!
These children were orphaned and Conor wasn’t exactly sure if he wanted to get involved with a developing country in the middle of a civil war. But he soon came to learn that he felt more for these children than he thought he ever would. How could he walk away from these smiling children who were totally alone in the world and had come to love him so much.
The children weren’t really orphans but servants for families who child traffickers were promising families in remote villages to protect their children from the civil war for huge sums of money and then lying and saying they would take their child(ren) to safety. The children would then be abandoned far, far from their original homes in the civil uprising of Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu.
Conor soon found this bragging idea of his to be the adventure of his life when he becomes totally commited to reunite the children he had grown to love with their families, but it would be a very difficult job indeed. Conor would end up risking his own life on a journey through the legendary mountains of Nepal, facing the dangers of a bloody civil war and a debilitating injury to his knee and the threat of being snowed in, in the cold. Waiting back in Kathmandu was Liz, the woman who would eventually become his wife and share in his life’s work.
Conor sets up a home called “Next Generation Nepal” and did fundraising back in the United States to buy the home, furnish it with furniture, stoves, beds, blankets, and pillows for the children he hoped to house there. He figured he could accept approximately 26 children and all these children came to love Conor dearly. With a total of $6,000.00 raised he began to build the home.
Little Princes was an inspiring, stirring, moving page-turning adventure that you won’t be able to put down. Beating this novel for the top spot in 2011 will be difficult although I’ve already said that about one other book but believe that one now comes in second!!
May 4, 2011
You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll hang on the edge of your seat... I'm not usually a fan of non-fiction but I enjoyed every aspect of this book.
The author/narrator is one Conor Grennan, who in response to his friends' claim that he is shallow for wanting to spend a year bumming around the world, decides to volunteer at an orphanage in Nepal. Despite warnings in the volunteer organization's brochure about the dangerous civil war, he cavalierly decides that they must be exaggerating because, of course, they wouldn't actually put a volunteer in the way of danger...
He soon encounters the less than pleasant realities of life in Nepal - limited indoor plumbing, freezing temps (with no heat, of course), twice daily meals of a local rice and lentil dish called daal baht, and armed soldiers everywhere. Despite these hardships, he grows very fond of the children in his care (the "little princes") and is stunned to find out that most of them are not actually orphans, but victims of child traffickers. This is Conor's introduction into a society where children are often victims of a brutal struggle to survive in a chaotic, poverty-stricken world.
Conor does go off on his "world tour", but finds himself drawn back to Nepal when some of his rescued children are abducted once again by the child trafficker. Back in Nepal, Conor continues his work rescuing and caring for children, as well as working to locate the children's families with the hope of some day reuniting the families. During his return to Nepal, he also develops an online friendship with a fellow American named Liz which later blossoms into romance.
Conor himself is a very engaging part of the story, but the kids (as kids will do) often steal the show. Many of them have a wicked sense of humor, especially when teasing their "brother" Conor. They are funny, wise and amazingly resilient. Their stories will break your heart but their smiling faces (there is a wonderful insert with photos) and buoyant humor will bring a smile to your face.
Note: A portion of sales of the book go to support Next Generation Nepal, an organization founded by Conor Grennan to help reunite children and families and build stronger communities. Go to http://www.nextgenerationnepal.com/ to learn more.
The author/narrator is one Conor Grennan, who in response to his friends' claim that he is shallow for wanting to spend a year bumming around the world, decides to volunteer at an orphanage in Nepal. Despite warnings in the volunteer organization's brochure about the dangerous civil war, he cavalierly decides that they must be exaggerating because, of course, they wouldn't actually put a volunteer in the way of danger...
He soon encounters the less than pleasant realities of life in Nepal - limited indoor plumbing, freezing temps (with no heat, of course), twice daily meals of a local rice and lentil dish called daal baht, and armed soldiers everywhere. Despite these hardships, he grows very fond of the children in his care (the "little princes") and is stunned to find out that most of them are not actually orphans, but victims of child traffickers. This is Conor's introduction into a society where children are often victims of a brutal struggle to survive in a chaotic, poverty-stricken world.
Conor does go off on his "world tour", but finds himself drawn back to Nepal when some of his rescued children are abducted once again by the child trafficker. Back in Nepal, Conor continues his work rescuing and caring for children, as well as working to locate the children's families with the hope of some day reuniting the families. During his return to Nepal, he also develops an online friendship with a fellow American named Liz which later blossoms into romance.
Conor himself is a very engaging part of the story, but the kids (as kids will do) often steal the show. Many of them have a wicked sense of humor, especially when teasing their "brother" Conor. They are funny, wise and amazingly resilient. Their stories will break your heart but their smiling faces (there is a wonderful insert with photos) and buoyant humor will bring a smile to your face.
Note: A portion of sales of the book go to support Next Generation Nepal, an organization founded by Conor Grennan to help reunite children and families and build stronger communities. Go to http://www.nextgenerationnepal.com/ to learn more.
January 24, 2012
Perhaps I'm getting cynical in my old age... In 2004, after working for a public policy think tank for eight years in Brussels and Prague, Conor Grennan was bored and got the urge to travel. He decided to take his savings and spend a year traveling around the world. But when he told his friends and family, they didn't seem impressed, seemed to think that he was being self-indulgent. Hoping to make a better impression on them, and particularly on any women that he met, he decided to start the year off by volunteering for two months in an orphanage in war-torn Nepal. He had no experience with children and also seemed to have done little research on conditions in Nepal. He came across to me as immature and self-centred as well as somewhat naive, although honest. When he discovered that most of the children in the orphanage were not in fact orphans, he set out to reunite them with their families. In most cases, their parents had paid child traffickers large sums of money to take the children to Kathmandu, where they were promised the children would be safe from the Maoist rebels, and provided with an education. In fact, in many cases the children were set to begging, or abandoned. I don't deny that the author carried out some humanitarian work, and he created a non-profit organization, Next Generation Nepal, but I could never quite shake the feeling that he was still trying to make an impression and set himself up as a hero. The book seemed too much about him, particularly once he was making treks between remote villages with a bad knee, and trying to get back to Kathmandu in time to meet a young woman he'd been e-mailing. His "conversion" to Christianity didn't come across as sincere, it seemed to happen so quickly, and as the result of falling for someone. I'm not sure it was even relevant to the story. I was also surprised that Grennan chose to live offsite in a three bedroom apartment when Dhaulagiri House was established by Next Generation Nepal. This was easy to read, and I did learn something about Nepal, but I'm afraid I didn't find it a particulary inspiring read. As I said initially, perhaps I'm just getting cynical...
August 8, 2018
I had a long commute for an appointment and then the rest of the day off. I listened to this whole audiobook in that day. I devoured it. I couldn't stop. I listened while driving, then while cleaning my house and cooking supper. I finished while cleaning up after supper. It was a wonderful, beautiful book!! I don't have the cajones or the funds to ever do something like what Conor did, even just his base 3-month stay with the Little Princes, but I'm in awe of him!! What an amazing, selfless person he is! I adored getting to know these little boys (and a couple of little girls) while Conor searched for their families. The heartache and heartbreak of this book was almost unbearable at times. And the happy moments brought many more tears! The other volunteers, and volunteers worldwide who are helping children, are amazing, courageous people who deserve to be lauded! I loved this book so much!
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