Return to the pre-order page for The Problem with Heroes by Kate Messner

The Trouble with Heroes has received a starred review from Kirkus and Publisher’s Weekly as well as glowing endorsements from educators, librarians, and authors such as Dan Gemeinhart, Gary Schmidt, and Nikki Grimes.

One summer.
46 mountain peaks.
A second chance to make things right.

Finn Connelly is nothing like his dad, a star athlete and firefighter hero who always ran toward danger until he died two years ago. Finn’s about to fail seventh grade and has never made headlines . . . until now.

Caught on camera vandalizing a cemetery, he’s in big trouble for kicking down some dead old lady’s headstone. But it turns out that grave belongs to a legendary local mountain climber, and her daughter makes Finn an unusual offer: climb all forty-six Adirondack High Peaks with her dead mother’s dog, and they can call it even.

In a wild three months of misadventures, mountain mud, and unexpected mentors, Finn begins to find his way on the trails. At the top of each peak, he can see for miles and slowly begins to understand more about himself and his dad. But the mountains don’t care about any of that, and as the clock ticks down to September, they have more surprises in store. Finn’s final summit challenge may be more than even a hero can face.

Take one drooling dog, add one pretty desperate kid, mix in mountains–a lot of mountains–sprinkle with unexpected cookie recipes and hardnosed quirkiness, and let rise.  You’ll know it’s finished when the generosity and hope and truth of this novel run over.  Let it.

–Gary Schmidt, bestselling author of Okay for Now and Orbiting Jupiter