Growing up isn’t always easy and most of us aren’t tasked with saving the world. From bestselling author Conor Grennan comes the adventure-packed and highly entertaining middle grade fantasy debut, The Hadley Academy for the Improbably Gifted (Oct. 2019, Tommy Nelson).
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Jack Carlson is dreading a class presentation when he suddenly finds himself transported to the Hadley Academy, a secret institution that tracks teens with unlikely gifts and trains them to protect the world from a secret squad of killers. But Jack isn’t the only one who doesn’t know what he’s doing at Hadley. Despite indications that he is the one prophesied to end the ancient Reaper War, Jack appears to have no extraordinary abilities.
When dark, mysterious forces grow, Hadley is in a confused panic. Much to everyone’s dismay, humanity seems to depend on Jack and his new teammates. Can Hadley’s rawest recruits push past personal struggles and enormous doubts, develop their dormant powers, and stop the spreading of evil? And are they willing to commit to Hadley’s motto, “One Life for Many,” and make the ultimate sacrifice?
The Hadley Academy for the Improbably Gifted deftly explores:
- Everybody has a unique gift and it’s up to each one of us to find the courage to discover that gift.
- The stereotypes many of us hold are meant to be broken and diversity equals strength.
- A captivating dystopian world based on real places Grennan grew up in and much more.
“I hope that the takeaway for readers is that we are all born gifted and discovering our gift takes courage but when it’s accomplished it has the power to change the world.” – Says Grennan
Ssouthernlifestyle ~ Young readers will enjoy reading this story because the fantasy/mystery plot will keep them engaged in the story. There is such a diversity of characters with unique gifts that are placed together to form the unlikely Team 13. Never had there been a Team 13 at Hadley Academy and now these new recruits are challenged with the task to save the world before the darkness takes over. (The author even left room for future adventures of Team 13 which is a big plus in my opinion!)
About the author:
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. Grennan is the Dean of MBA students at NYU Stern School of Business. He currently resides in New Canaan, Connecticut with his wife, Liz, and his two children, Finn and Lucy. For information visit: www.conorgrennan.com.
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