"Little Princes" Book Review

The book "Little Princes" by Conor Grennan was a very well-written, true story about how Conor completely changed his life perspective and helped improve the lives of Nepalese orphans immensely, while they helped him improve his life as well.  Conor was bored in the job he had held for 8 years and rashly decided to spend most of his savings on a year long trip around the world.  In order for this trip to seem valuable to people he would tell his experiences to, he decided to volunteer in one of the world's poorest countries, helping care for orphans.  Where his reasons for volunteering started off as self-centered, the more time he spent with the children, the more he came to love them.  He still went on the trip around the world, but Conor's priorities had completely shifted, and he returned to Little Princes multiple times, for longer and longer stays.  Even though his original intent was to do his time volunteering, then go on the "fun" part of the trip, he realized his time was more valuable and more well-spent caring for the less fortunate orphans of Nepal.  Eventually he and his friend Farid built a non-profit organization to further the efforts of keeping the children safe, and potentially reuniting them with their parents.

Where the retelling of his story and journeys could easily have been boring (how many people can really relate to him?), it was kept interesting with how personal it was.  He exposed his thoughts to the readers, told stories that lead us to love the spirits of the Nepalese children, and added doses of sarcasm and humor to keep the reader interested.  "Little Princes" was wonderfully written, it almost felt as though my views and perspective were changing right alongside Conor's.  I found myself rooting for the children to be reunited with their parents, worrying when Conor or the kids were in dangerous situations, feeling his guilt when the seven orphans were taken by a child trafficker, and joyful when they were found.  I would constantly turn to the pictures in the book, looking at the joy on parent's faces, the scenery, and the energy that the Nepalese children had.

I would recommend this reading book.  It takes the reader on a worthwhile journey, both on a personal scale and on a cultural scale.  I learned a great deal that I did not know about previously, such as the horrors of the Civil War in Nepal, the reality of child trafficking, the hope and power people have in such desperate times.