"Little Princes" by Conor Grennan

When Conor Grennan set off for Nepal in 2004 to volunteer at an orphanage, he figured it would be just another stop on a year-long trip around the world. Instead, his time at the Little Princes Home near Kathmandu turned his life upside down as he discovered a mission, love and faith.

In Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal, shares his journey into a world far from his American upbringing. When he set off to volunteer, Nepal was in the midst of a civil war. In remote areas the rebel Army, Maoists, were abducting children to serve in their army. To save their children, desperate parents sold their children to men who promised to take the kids away for protection and an education. However, these men were traffickers, and the children were either sold into slavery or brothels. The Little Princes Home where Conor volunteered had rescued 18 of those children.

When his three months were up, Grennan made a promise to the children that he would be back to visit in a year. And he not only kept his promise, he returned to Nepal and set off to reunite the children with their parents and opens his own home, dedicating himself to saving the lives of children in Nepal.

Little Princes is an incredible book. Of the many books out there detailing the work of North Americans in the Third World, this is one of the best. Grennan writes as though he is relaying the story to you over a couple of beers. It is humorous - he freely admits that he decided to volunteer at an orphanage to give him a good line when picking up women - and educational, giving readers an easy to understand run down of the civil war in a country we don't often hear about in the media.

But beyond that, this book is inspirational. Conor Grennan shows that an ordinary person can make a difference for families halfway around the world. He lived in an impoverished country in the midst of civil war and cared for eighteen young boys and girls. Not only did he fall in love with the kids, he risked his life to reunite them with their families, hiking through dangerous terrain in rebel controlled areas to meet the parents and let them know that their children were safe.

Grennan isn't the only person working hard in Nepal to save the Little Princes and thousands of others like them. The book introduces you to the many hard-working Nepalese and Westerners who have dedicated their lives to these children. If you're looking for a book that will inspire you and prove to you that miracles do happen, then pick up this one.