‘Little Princes: One Man’s Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal’ Chosen for All Bonaventure Reads

The All Bonaventure Reads selection for St. Bonaventure University’s Class of 2015 addresses global issues, human rights and the power of volunteer service.

In his memoir, “Little Princes: One Man’s Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal,” author Conor Grennan shares how he went from a reluctant volunteer to an advocate. In search of adventure, the 29-year-old Grennan traded his day job for a yearlong trip around the globe, a journey that began in 2004 with a three-month stint volunteering at the Little Princes Children’s Home, an orphanage in war-torn Nepal.

All first-year students are asked to read the annual All Bonaventure Reads text, which is the cornerstone of the University 101 course. Many other courses will adopt the text, and the entire campus community is invited to read the book and participate in the numerous events planned over the course of the fall semester. Highlighting the fall programming will be a Monday, Sept. 26, campus visit by the author, during which he’ll give a public presentation at 7 p.m. in the Reilly Center Arena.

‘“Little Princes’ captivated the ABR selection committee and we believe it will have the same effect on our incoming freshmen. This book will help our students see that encountering difference and treating each individual with dignity is a core aspect of a Franciscan education,” said Nancy Casey, a member of the ABR Committee and director of the First-Year Experience program.

Jean Trevarton Ehman, chair of the All Bonaventure Reads Committee, believes Grennan’s captivating writing will engage readers while “the soul of ‘Little Princes”’ speaks to the entire university community.

“Its message of investing in the well-being of others should resonate with our new students as well as campus veterans,” she said. “Grennan is a captivating writer: He invites readership with masterful storytelling techniques that include pithy comedy, spell-binding mystery, page-turning adventure, as well as hope-he-gets-the-woman romance.”

When Grennan learned the unthinkable truth about the “orphans” at Little Princes Children’s Home, 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.

Grennan made it his mission to find the children’s families, and would later found Next Generation Nepal, an organization dedicated to reconnecting trafficked children with their families and combating the root causes of child trafficking in rural villages in Nepal. Grennan now serves on the board of Next Generation Nepal, together with his wife, Liz.

Grennan is a 2010 graduate of the New York University Stern School of Business, where he was the president of the student body.

“Little Princes” will be distributed at Orientation to first-year St. Bonaventure students, who will be encouraged to read it prior to the start of the fall 2011 semester. Students will engage in conversations and activities throughout Welcome Days, University 101 courses and various campuswide events during the 2011-2012 academic year. An All Bonaventure Views film festival will be held in September at The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, during which movies selected to supplement the book will be previewed. The Quick Center will also host an education exhibition about orphans and a Nepal exhibition this fall.

“Little Princes” is St. Bonaventure’s sixth All Bonaventure Reads selection, and the first that was a unanimous committeewide first-place choice.

Members of the 2011-2012 All Bonaventure Reads Committee include Chris Brown, Nancy Casey, Abby Cohen, Beth Eberth, Jean Trevarton Ehman, Carol Fischer, Ann Lehman, Adriane Spencer, Ann Tenglund and SBU students Chelsey Bowen, Alexis Cosco, Madeleine Gionet, Francis Matuszak, Kristin Morse and Amanda Rossney-Koneski.

More information about “Little Princes” is available via the All Bonaventure Reads website — www.sbu.edu/allbonaventurereads — including an excerpt from the book, a video of the author discussing “Little Princes,” and a link to Next Generation Nepal. Published by HarperCollins, “Little Princes” is ranked No. 9 on Amazon Canada’s bestsellers list.