The Trouble with Heroes

By: Kate Messner

Narrated by: Mack Gordon

Bloomsbury presents The Trouble with Heroes by Kate Messner read by Mack Gordon

Bestselling and award-winning author Kate Messner takes listeners on a heart-filling journey as a boy finds his path to healing.

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 is about to fail seventh grade and has never made headlines . . . until now.

Caught on camera vandalizing a cemetery, he's in big trouble for knocking down some dead old lady's headstone. Turns out that grave belongs to a legendary local mountain climber, and her daughter makes Finn an unusual offer: she'll drop all the charges if he agrees to climb all forty-six Adirondack High Peaks in a single summer. And there's just one more thing--he has to bring along the dead woman's dog.

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.

©2025 Kate Messner (P)2025 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

A great hero book!

This is a great book for all ages. We are planning to use it in a school wide summer reading program and I’m sure it will be a hit!

The story of resilience

A wonderful journey with a boy struggling to find his way after his fathers is gone. I felt like I was hiking along with him in this book.

Life lessons

The story kept me captivated. I used to be a hiker and now I want to start up again. I could see, smell, and hear everything Finn experienced on his hikes. I love Kate Messner.