In 2006, Queen Anne Books introduced Greg Mortenson and Three Cups of Tea to the Queen Anne Community by reviewing the memoir, hosting our biggest author event ever and continuing to handsell the book as a bookstore favorite. Now the entire country is eagerly awaiting the publication of his new book, Stones into Schools. “[Stones into Schools] picks up where Three Cups of Tea left off in 2003 and is partly a chronicle of how that process has continued to unfold in Pakistan during the last several years. Mostly, however, this new book traces our efforts to take our work into a whole new region, the remote northeastern corner of Afghanistan. It is a place that has proved even more challenging that Pakistan, and the saga of what my staff sometimes calls our ‘Afghan adventure’ is framed loosely in the context of a single school.”
At the end of Three Cups of Tea, Greg is approached in dramatic fashion by a tribe from the Wakhan, a remote area of Afghanistan, and over salt tea is asked to build a school for their children. This is exactly where Greg picks up his story in his new memoir. He then reminds the reader why he’s helping the poorest and most remote villages in Pakistan and Afghanistan by bringing in supplies and providing the expertise (with his “Dirty Dozen” crew) to build schools where girls will be at least 50% of the school population. “The education and empowerment of women throughout the world cannot fail to result in a more caring, tolerant, just and peaceful life for all.” (Aung San Suu Kyi, introducing the Prologue, Stones into Schools).
Stones into Schools is not just about building a school; it provides a knowledgeable eye on a country in crisis and how his efforts have attracted our own military leaders. He writes about the devastating earthquake that hit Pakistan and how it changed his methods but not his mission. And he writes very poignantly of his great friendship with Sarfraz Khan.
Written in the first person, Stones into Schools is a very personal story told from a humble man’s perspective. I am thrilled to be able to tell you I loved it as much as Three Cups of Tea and it is a perfect book for sharing. ~Patti