Book Nook: The Hadley Academy for the Improbably Gifted

I recently had a chance to review The Hadley Academy for the Improbably Gifted, by NYT bestselling author Conor Grennan. This book was a hit for both of my girls, and I enjoyed it too.

My older daughter loves fantasy stories and things that are slightly odd, and my younger daughter loves adventure and conflicts with heroes. This book had something for both of them.

In the book, Jack Carlson is getting ready for an upcoming presentation when he finds himself at Hadley Academy, a secret school that tracks and trains teens with unlikely gifts to protect the world from unknown enemies. But Jack doesn't know why he's there, since he doesn't seem to have any extraordinary abilities.

I liked the variety of characters and personalities of the recruits. Both of my girls enjoyed the good-versus-evil element, and both found it very fun to read. It's a great middle-grade or young adult book (although it's written well enough to appeal to adults as well).

CONOR GRENNAN is the author of the New York Times bestselling and #1 international bestselling memoir, Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal. The memoir shares Grennan’s humanitarian work as the founder of Next Generation Nepal (NGN), a nonprofit organization dedicated to reconnecting trafficked children with their families in Nepal. Little Princes has been shortlisted for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, was the winner of the Goodreads 2011 Best Travel and Outdoors Award, and has been translated into 15 languages. Following publication, Grennan spoke about the book across North America and particularly enjoyed sharing his story with young people at secondary schools and colleges.

For his work with the trafficked children of Nepal, Grennan was recognized by The Huffington Post as a 2011 Game Changer of the Year. In 2014, he was also named a recipient of the Unsung Heroes of Compassion, which was awarded to him by the Dalai Lama. Grennan is the Dean of MBA Students at the NYU Stern School of Business. He currently resides in New Canaan, Connecticut with his wife, Liz, and his two children, Finn and Lucy.

The Hadley Academy for the Improbably Gifted is Grennan’s debut work of fiction.

Find Conor Grennan on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and at www.conorgrennan.com.