“The Trouble with Heroes” by Kate Messner
Richardson Reads One Book announced Kate Messner’s “The Trouble with Heroes,” as this year’s RROB selection. The book, from The New York Times best selling author, invites readers to explore a story about grief, growth and finding strength in unexpected places.
The novel, written largely in verse, follows a 13-year-old Finn Connelly who is making headlines for all the wrong reasons after losing his father, a veteran New York City firefighter, during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. After damaging the headstone of a legendary mountain climber, he is offered a unique way to make amends: climb all 46 Adirondack High Peaks with her dog. The book visits themes of resilience, redemption and the many forms courage can take.
Messner said this novel started in 2015 as a few scribbled poems when she began tackling the Adirondack High Peaks.
“I bring my writer’s notebook everywhere I go, even when I’m climbing mountains, and I found that when I reached a summit, I felt like writing poetry,” she said. “For the first few years of these hikes, I didn’t realize I was writing a novel in verse—until some of the poems started coming out in a voice that wasn’t mine. A voice that was younger and snarkier.”
Messner has written more than 70 books for young readers. Her titles have appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list, been nominated for the Texas Bluebonnet Award list, selected for the Texas Lone Star List and recognized by the American Library Association, the Junior Library Guild and IndieBound.
RROB will host Messner for an author lecture and book signing on Tuesday, Sept. 15. The event will take place from 7:30-9 p.m. at First United Methodist Church Richardson, 503 N. Central Expy.
If you are interested in reading “The Trouble with Heroes,” it is available at the Library and can be checked out through the Library’s website. Public discussion groups, as well as book clubs, will be scheduled along with some other special events that will be announced at a later date. The discussions are intended to encourage dialogue among readers.
One Book/One Community is a nationwide reading program created to develop a community built around the shared experience of reading and talking about the same book—a work selected for its general interest and timely thought-provoking issues. The Richardson Public Library joined with various organizations in Richardson to hold the first RROB program in September 2004.
For more information, call 972-744-4350 or visit www.cor.net/OneBook. Richardson Reads One Book is also on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RROBTX.
