After stumbling into the small village of Korphe upon his descent from K2 in Pakistan, Greg Mortenson set out on a mission to build schools and bring hope to children (girls in particular) across Pakistan and eventually into Afghanistan. The wildly acclaimed bestseller Three Cups of Tea invited us on this journey, imbuing us with a sense of frustration at the preexisting conditions and excitement surrounding the hope and opportunity brought by these schools. Stones into Schools picks up where Three Cups of Tea left us, and focuses largely on the Central Asia Institute’s efforts in Afghanistan.

Stones into Schools definitely does not suffer from “sequel syndrome”, in fact it was arguably even more captivating than Three Cups of Tea! Written in the first-person, Mortenson really builds a story-arc around what has happened since the last book. The success of Three Cups has drawn massive support for CAI, but also bares the burden of speaking engagements and book signings that take Mortenson away from his family and work. When he isn’t traveling across the country promoting and fundraising (a job he despises), Mortenson is being rushed across Pakistan and Afghanistan by a quirky and enthusiastic staff of locals who you get to know and love throughout the book.

As Afghanistan returns to the forefront of the “War on Terrorism”, Mortenson’s experiences in the country show a whole other war brewing. A war being fought with books rather than bombs. A war by the Afghani population to close the chapter that has been 3 decades of conflict, and to reclaim their hopes and aspirations for a prosperous tomorrow. Fighting to bring education and literacy to girls in their communities include ex-mujahadeen and ex-Taliban. It’s really amazing the strong yearning for education that exists even in the farthest corners of the country, and the barriers that are being broken to achieve it. This is the war that does not capture the media headlines, but in many ways is more important to the success and future sustainability of Afghanistan than anything else.