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The committee recommends this book because:
From the early passages where Mortensen is lost overnight on K2 through his efforts to build schools and create an organization, this book is a page turner. Along with adventure, suspense, and a bit of romance, the book demonstrates the power of a committed individual to create change.

Three Cups of Tea brings readers into the daily lives of people in rural Pakistan and Afghanistan, critical regions in today’s world. The book follows Mortensen’s efforts to build schools that serve remote villages. Mortensen and the communities he partners with are committed to the power of education, and he places particular emphasis on educating girls. One senses that education is a universal value; knowledge can bring multiple rewards to
individuals, nations, and their governments.

New students may identify with Mortensen’s early years when he is drifting and unfocused. He finds a goal in serving the people of rural Pakistan and, for the first time, becomes fully engaged in his life and the desire to accomplish something meaningful with it.

Later sections in the book show the missteps and frustrations Mortensen experiences while creating an organization to continue and expand the school-building efforts. The reader sees, as Mortensen does eventually, the importance of structure and organization to supplement personal energy and dedication.

The book’s primary actor is male. Each of last two years, the selected book has been a woman’s memoir. This book, however, quickly engages both men and women.

Publishers Weekly review:
Starred Review. Some failures lead to phenomenal successes, and this American nurse's unsuccessful attempt to climb K2, the world's second tallest mountain, is one of them. Dangerously ill when he finished his climb in 1993, Mortenson was sheltered for seven weeks by the small Pakistani village of Korphe; in return, he promised to build the impoverished town's first school, a project that grew into the Central Asia Institute, which has since constructed more than 50 schools across rural Pakistan and Afghanistan. Coauthor Relin recounts Mortenson's efforts in fascinating detail, presenting compelling portraits of the village elders, con artists, philanthropists, mujahideen, Taliban officials, ambitious school girls and upright Muslims Mortenson met along the way. As the book moves into the post-9/11 world, Mortenson and Relin argue that the United States must fight Islamic extremism in the region through collaborative efforts to alleviate poverty and improve access to education, especially for girls. Captivating and suspenseful, with engrossing accounts of both hostilities and unlikely friendships, this book will win many readers' hearts.

From Booklist:
On a 1993 expedition to climb K2 in honor of his sister Christa, who had died of epilepsy at 23, Mortenson stumbled upon a remote mountain village in Pakistan. Out of gratitude for the villagers' assistance when he was lost and near death, he vowed to build a school for the children who were scratching lessons in the dirt. Raised by his missionary parents in Tanzania, Mortenson was used to dealing with exotic cultures and developing nations. Still, he faced daunting challenges of raising funds, death threats from enraged mullahs, separation from his family, and a kidnapping to eventually build 55 schools in Taliban territory. Award-winning journalist Relin recounts the slow
and arduous task Mortenson set for himself, a one-man mission aimed particularly at bringing education to young girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Readers interested in a fresh perspective on the cultures and development efforts of Central Asia will love this incredible story of a humanitarian endeavor. Vanessa Bush

Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review:
An inspiring chronicle . . . this is one protagonist who clearly deserves to be called a hero. -- People

Greg Mortenson’s dangerous and difficult quest . . . is not only a thrilling read, it’s proof that one ordinary person, with the right combination of character and determination, really can change the world. -- Tom Brokaw

Mortenson’s mission is admirable, his conviction unassailable, his territory exotic. -- The Washington Post