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

by Conor Grennan

Overview

A young man embarks on a life-threatening mission to reunite Nepalese children with their families in this New York Times–bestselling memoir.

In search of adventure, twenty-nine-year-old Conor Grennan embarked on a yearlong journey around the globe, beginning with a three-month stint volunteering at an orphanage in civil war-torn Nepal. But a shocking truth would forever change his life: these rambunctious, resilient children were not orphans at all but had been taken from their families by child traffickers who falsely promised to keep them safe from war before abandoning them in the teeming chaos of Kathmandu.

For Conor, what started as a footloose ramble became a dangerous, dedicated mission to unite youngsters he had grown to love with the parents they had been stolen from. In Little Princes, Conor recounts a breathtaking adventure through the treacherous Nepalese mountains to bring the children home.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062042439
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	03/19/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	339
Sales rank:	397,370
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

After volunteering at the Little Princes Children’s Home in the village of Godawari in 2004, Conor Grennan eventually returned to Nepal to launch Next Generation Nepal (NGN), a nonprofit organization dedicated to reconnecting trafficked children with their families. He resides in Connecticut with his wife and two children.

Table of Contents

A Note on the Crisis in Nepal ix

Prologue 1

Part I The Little Princes 3

Part II Around the World and Back 57

Part III Seven Needles in a Haystack 95

Part IV Into the Mountains 153

Part V Liz 221

Afterword 277

Acknowledgments 281

About Next Generation Nepal 283

Index 284

What People are Saying About This

Neil White

“Funny, touching, tragic. Conor Grennan’s Little Princes is a remarkable tale of corruption, child trafficking and civil war in a far away land — and one man’s extraordinary quest to reunite lost Nepalese children with their parents.”

Editorial Reviews

Grennan, who once worked at the East West Institute in Prague, embarked on a round-the-world trip in 2006, starting with a stint volunteering for an orphanage six miles south of Kathmandu. The orphanage, called the Little Princes Children's Home, housed 18 children from the remote province of Humla, rescued from a notorious child trafficker who had bought the children from poor villagers terrified of the Maoist insurgents eager for new recruits; the parents hoped to keep their children safe, but the children often ended up as slaves. Grennan was stunned by the trauma endured by these children, who he grew to love over two months, and after completing his world tour, returned to the orphanage and vowed not only to locate seven Humla orphans who had vanished from a foster home, but also to find the parents of the children in the orphanage. This required starting up a nonprofit organization in America, Next Generation Nepal, raising funds, buying a house in Kathmandu for the children's home, and trekking into the mountains of Humla to locate the parents. Grennan's work is by turns self-pokingly humorous, exciting, and inspiring. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

In the tradition of “Three Cups of Tea” and “Mountains Beyond Mountains,” this book provides proof (there cannot be too much) of the value of volunteer work. — Los Angeles Times

“With a light touch and refreshing candor, Grennan in Little Princes tells the story of how a good-looking University of Virginia grad with wanderlust ended up risking his life to find, then reunite, children with their families in Nepal, one of the poorest countries in the world.” — USA Today

“The beauty of this book is partly the fact that it is a memoir. But it is also more than that. I defy you to not be inspired or moved by this saga.” — New York Journal of Books

“The author stumbles into volunteering in an orphanage in Nepal and gets involved in reuniting trafficked children with their families. The energy of these children will make you laugh even though they’ve been through hardship and loss.” — San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

“While the story is amazing, sincere and touching, it is also a pleasure to see how the author grows, both in personality and style over the five years that the memoir covers.” — Seattle Post-Intelligencer

“Grennan’s work is by turns self-pokingly humorous, exciting, and inspiring.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“‘Little Princes’ is a tale of determination, courage and love that will not leave you unchanged.” — Daytona Beach News

“Funny, touching, tragic. Conor Grennan’s Little Princes is a remarkable tale of corruption, child trafficking and civil war in a far away land — and one man’s extraordinary quest to reunite lost Nepalese children with their parents.” — Neil White, author of In the Sanctuary of Outcasts

From the Publisher

The beauty of this book is partly the fact that it is a memoir. But it is also more than that. I defy you to not be inspired or moved by this saga.

New York Journal of Books

In the tradition of “Three Cups of Tea” and “Mountains Beyond Mountains,” this book provides proof (there cannot be too much) of the value of volunteer work.

|Los Angeles Times

While the story is amazing, sincere and touching, it is also a pleasure to see how the author grows, both in personality and style over the five years that the memoir covers.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Funny, touching, tragic. Conor Grennan’s Little Princes is a remarkable tale of corruption, child trafficking and civil war in a far away land — and one man’s extraordinary quest to reunite lost Nepalese children with their parents.

Neil White

With a light touch and refreshing candor, Grennan in Little Princes tells the story of how a good-looking University of Virginia grad with wanderlust ended up risking his life to find, then reunite, children with their families in Nepal, one of the poorest countries in the world.

USA Today

‘Little Princes’ is a tale of determination, courage and love that will not leave you unchanged.

Daytona Beach News

The author stumbles into volunteering in an orphanage in Nepal and gets involved in reuniting trafficked children with their families. The energy of these children will make you laugh even though they’ve been through hardship and loss.

San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

While the story is amazing, sincere and touching, it is also a pleasure to see how the author grows, both in personality and style over the five years that the memoir covers.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer

With a light touch and refreshing candor, Grennan in Little Princes tells the story of how a good-looking University of Virginia grad with wanderlust ended up risking his life to find, then reunite, children with their families in Nepal, one of the poorest countries in the world.

USA Today

In the tradition of “Three Cups of Tea” and “Mountains Beyond Mountains,” this book provides proof (there cannot be too much) of the value of volunteer work.

Los Angeles Times

Author Grennan (www.conorgrennan.net) was a self-proclaimed spoiled, selfish young American when he set off on a yearlong trip around the globe in search of adventure, but a three-month stint volunteering at an orphanage in war-torn Nepal turned his life around. Upon discovering that the "orphans" of whom he quickly grew fond were actually separated from their families by child traffickers, Grennan realized his life calling—reconnecting these children with their families. Together with Farid Ait-Mansour, he worked tirelessly toward this effort, eventually founding the nonprofit charity Next Generation Nepal (www.nextgenerationnepal.org). Grennan is the rare author who can aptly and skillfully tell of his own awakening; he beautifully and melodiously renders the many accents he encountered along his journey. Listeners will be moved; for anyone interested in Nepalese history, humanitarian work, and meaningful self-betterment. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 9/15/10.—Ed.]—Susan Baird, formerly with Oak Lawn P.L., IL

Library Journal