The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Now in the relative safety of America, Amir is transported back to the days when as a twelve year old, he played in the fields of his once beautiful and Utopian hometown, Kabul. Everything was perfectly imperfect, the kind of memories you cherish with a gold haze surrounding them. With a rich father, a lavish lifestyle and an incredibly loyal friend, life couldn’t be much better, right?
Well, maybe having your father pay a bit of attention to you every once in a while would be nice and what did Amir do to deserve such undying loyalty from his best and only real friend, Hassan. Obviously being rich gains you all kinds of gratitude and friendliness which has nothing to do with who you are and what people thing of you. On the opposite end of the spectrum Amir is subject to abuse and jealousy, for the very same reason he receives friends and praise. So what did he do to deserve a friend who’s first word was “Amir”? His name. Especially considering the way Amir treats Hassan. He is only his servant after all.
In all fairness to Amir, the only means he has to learn how to treat people is from his neglecting father and dead mother. Meaning that in a weird way Amir treating Hassan poorly is actually Amir showing him how he feels.
Lacking in fatherly love Amir sets out to find a way to get his father’s approval…and maybe, if he’s lucky, even end up filling that empty vacant space in his life for his father. First he has to find a means of accomplishing such a feat before he can even dream of achieving it.
Unknown to Amir the Russian’s are months away from invading his home country and busting the bubble of his childhood Utopia, turning everything he’s ever thought he knew on it’s head.
AGE RATING: 15+
TEEN RATING: 4/5
TEEN OVERVIEW: An incredible incite into the traumatic lives of those caught in the wicked web of war and the effect such an event has on the individual. Decidedly sad and often immensely hard to read, and a stark reminder why we as the human race must avoid, even minor combat, at any cost. Brilliantly written and a testament to the will of the Afghan people.
