Kate Messner Visits Ensworth Through the Patchwork Program

Written by: Head of Middle School, Dr. Doug Magee

This year, Ensworth had the great joy of welcoming acclaimed children’s author Kate Messner to campus as part of our Patchwork Program. Our Grade 7 students spent the fall reading her newest novel, The Trouble with Heroes, a powerful and deeply human story about middle schooler Finn Connelly, who is sentenced to climb all forty-six Adirondack High Peaks in a single summer as restitution for vandalizing a cemetery. What begins as punishment slowly becomes something else entirely: a demanding, beautiful, and often uncomfortable journey through the High Peaks Wilderness that challenges Finn to confront grief, repair relationships, and discover who he is becoming as he works toward earning the title of a “46er.”

When an advance copy of the book first landed on my desk last spring, I was eager to begin reading after hearing early praise from our English Department. I had no idea then how personally this story would resonate. Within a few pages, I realized the setting was Lake Placid and the Adirondack Mountains, a place that has shaped my own life and my family’s story. The Adirondacks have long been my favorite place to play, explore, and reset through hiking, biking, climbing, fishing, swimming, and returning again and again to the same trails in different seasons. I have climbed all forty-six High Peaks, many of them in winter, and now I am fortunate to be revisiting them with my children on their own journeys. My boys’ grandfather was an early 46er, and their great-grandfather spent countless days in these mountains before becoming a 46er was even “a thing.” We love this place so much that our son, Colden, was named after Mount Colden, which rises prominently in the heart of the High Peaks.

Long before Europeans arrived in North America, Native peoples held this region with deep reverence, believing the mountains to be a place of peace and spiritual renewal. Today, the Adirondack Park remains constitutionally protected as “Forever Wild,” a six-million-acre preserve larger than Yosemite, Glacier, the Grand Canyon, and the Great Smoky Mountains combined. It is in this remarkable wilderness that Finn Connelly learns what it means to persevere, to take responsibility, to depend on others, and to give back to something larger than himself. His physical climb mirrors an internal one toward healing, independence, and quiet confidence.

Experiences like this are at the heart of Ensworth’s Patchwork Program. Our students do not simply read meaningful books; they encounter living authors, ask questions, hear the stories behind the stories, and come to see literature as something alive and connected to the world around them. Kate Messner’s visit brought The Trouble with Heroes to life for our seventh graders and reminded us of the power stories hold to shape character, spark curiosity, and invite reflection. We are grateful for her time, her generosity, and her words, and we hope many more members of our community will discover and enjoy this remarkable book.