With the first cup of tea, you are a stranger. With the second ...a friend. With the third cup of tea, you are family. One day Greg Mortenson set out to climb K2 - the world's second highest mountain - in honour of his younger sister, but things went wrong and Greg became lost. He wandered into a poor village, where the chief and his people took him in. Moved by their kindness, Greg promised to return and build a school for the children. This is the remarkable story of how Greg built not one but more than sixty schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and how he has dedicated his life to promoting literacy, peace and understanding.

About the Author

Greg Mortenson is the co-founder of the non-profit organizations, the Central Asia Institute and Pennies for Peace (www.penniesforpeace.org). He has established many schools in rural and often volatile regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and has survived an armed kidnapping, endured CIA investigations and overcome death threats from fellow Americans for helping Muslim children receive an education. While not overseas, Greg lives in Montana, USA with his family. Visit www.gregmortenson.com for more information.

Reviews

Gr 6-8-Hiking in the mountains of Pakistan in 1993, Mortenson got lost. He found his way to a small village where the locals helped him recover from his ordeal. While there, he noticed that the students had no building and did all of their schooling out of doors. Motivated to repay the kindness he had received, he vowed to return to the village and help build a school. Thus began his real life's journey. Mortenson's story recounts the troubles he faced in the U.S. trying to raise the money and then in Pakistan, trying to get the actual supplies to a remote mountain location. His eventual success led to another, and yet another, until he established a foundation and built a string of schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Mortenson manages to give the story an insider's feel despite being an outsider himself. His love of the region and the people is evident throughout and his dedication to them stalwart. The writing is lively, if simplistic, and for the most part the story moves along at a fairly quick clip. In this specially adapted edition for young people, new photographs and an interview with Mortenson's young daughter, who often travels with him, have been added.-Jody Kopple, Shady Hill School, Cambridge, MA Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.