The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
At first glance, The Kite Runner didn’t really appeal to me. I know that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but sometimes, you just can’t help it. Let me tell you that looking past the cover is the best decision I ever made. The Kite Runner is the most heart wrenching, touching story I have ever read. It uses history as background information to tie in with a beautiful, yet tragic story about a little boy named Amir and his best friend Hassan. Amir and Hassan grew up with the same surroundings, but lived in entirely separate worlds. Amir lived with his wealthy father, Baba, while Hassan was the son of Baba’s servant. Yet, they grew up as best friends. They loved flying kites together as a part of a tradition in their home, Kabul, yet they had their ups and downs, as many friends do. Unfortunately, as a result of a traumatic incident, Amir and Hassan were forced to part ways. This leads to Amir’s journey of forgiving himself for the incident and making up for it many, many years later.
This novel was so well written and I could not put it down. Hosseini used a lot of description to help visualize the plot and also used a lot of symbolism, which kept me interested. A true “roller coaster of emotions,” I’d recommend The Kite Runner to any young adult who likes historical fiction, along with stories about friendship and forgiveness, as it is a main theme of the novel.
Reviewed by Brina Patel