‘Little Princes’ selected for HB Reads

Conor Grennan was an adventure-seeking 29-year-old when he embarked on a yearlong journey, beginning with a stint 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.”

So begins the book-cover explanation of Grennan’s “Little Princes,” which has been chosen as this year’s selection for HB Reads, a Huntington Beach program that promotes reading by spotlighting a book that has as its theme diversity or human rights.

“We introduce other cultures or people to Huntington Beach, “ said Fred Provencher, president of HB Reads, noting past books by Temple Grandin and Elva Travino Hart. “We’ve been to Africa, to Alaska, to Afghanistan. We’ve been all around the world. Sometimes we’ve been right here. We did a book on bullying.”

This year the selection committee chose from among books that included “Hidden Girl: The True Story of a Modern-Day Child Slave,” “The Glass Castle,” “Imperfect,” “The Book of Unknown Americans” and “The Worst Hard Time.”

“Little Princes” impressed the group with its writing style and because it’s a true story, Provencher said.

Grennan, who lives in Connecticut, will be in the area in to discuss the book. From 4 to 6 p.m. March 17, he will attend a fundraiser. Then, at 7 p.m., the author will speak at a free public event.

The next morning, he will address district high school students at Edison High School. This event is closed to the public.

Every year, $10,000 to $20,000 is needed to buy nearly 300 books for the high schools in the city and to cover the author’s appearance, Provencher said.

Last year, the HB Reads board selected Luis Carlos Montalvan’s “Until Tuesday: A Wounded Warrior and the Golden Retriever Who Saved Him,” a memoir of the author’s experiences in Iraq and the assistance of his service dog after he returned home.

Several of Montalvan’s fellow troops questioned the truth of his war accounts, according to an Associated Press story released shortly after the book’s publication. Similar controversy swirled around “Three Cups of Tea,” Greg Mortenson’s memoir of building schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan, HB Reads’ first book selection, in 2008.

For more information, visit hbreads.org.