• The Kite Runner is a touching story of a boy by the name of Amir who is raised in Afghanistan by his father, Baba. Baba is not the kind of man to back down from a fight but when the Russians invade and make life difficult for everyone they must flee from the country for safety in neighboring Pakistan.
  Amir’s life like most lives is full of difficulties and challenges and he must find his own way to handle the situation. We must ask ourselves as we read what we would do and whether Amir should have acted the way he did.
  Many of the issues Amir must face are controversial and through the eyes of Amir we see some of the “horrors” of Afghanistan. Sometimes we see it in the most gruesome of ways but some things in the world cannot be censored. Hosseini shows us reality of the Middle East that we cannot see in the news and I appreciate the way in which it is presented.
  I give this book 4 ½ stars out of 5 for it’s touching stories, and the way in which the characters are portrayed and the difficulties they must face.

 

Reviewed by Sam

• The Kite Runner is a book about the life of a man, Amir, who lives in Kabul, Afghanistan, and is forced to move to America after the Taliban invade the city. The book first starts out when Amir is a child, and tells of the adventures he has with his friend Hassan. The neighborhood children always play a kite game, where contestants try to break the strings off of the other contestant’s kites. Then other contestants run after the kites to catch them. After Hassan does not surrender the winning kite to the neighborhood bully, the bully does something that will haunt Amir for the rest of his life. When the Taliban move into Kabul, Amir and his father escape to the safety of America. Amir finds the love of his life, Soraya, and Amir gets married to her right before Amir’s father dies of a deadly disease. They later receive a call from Rahim Kahn, a friend of Amir’s father. He says that Hassan has been killed, as well as his wife, leaving their son. What will Amir do, to save the son of his friend? What else will he find out when he is in Afghanistan again?

  I really liked this book because you could rarely guess what was coming around the corner. It is very difficult to put this book down for too long, without wondering what will come up next. Once you start reading this book, you’ll never be able to stop.

Reviewed by Delani

• The Kite Runner is a book by Khaled Hosseini about two boys growing up in their homeland of Afghanistan. Amir, a privileged boy who lives in Kabul, grows up with just his father. They have a servant ,Ali, and his son Hassan. Amir, who is constantly trying to win his fathers affection, becomes jealous of Hassan, who is constantly being showered with attention from Amir’s father. Amir and Hassan have an unusual friendship because of their difference in ethnicity, and you’ll find as you read that Hassan is willing to do anything and everything to serve Amir, who takes advantage of this service from his so called “friend”. Amir watches as Hassan is constantly tortured by other children because of his minority ethnicity, and the guilt for not standing up for Hassan carries with him for a great portion of his life. After Afghanistan is suddenly overtaken by war, Amir and his father are forced to move to America, where they experience a different lifestyle living in San Francisco. Amir meets an Afghan woman, who he quickly falls in love with, and right before Amir’s father dies, he marries so his father is present for the wedding. Amir, after getting over the death of his father, pursues his writing career that he’s always dreamt to have, and has a happy life in America with his wife, until he gets an urgent letter from Afghanistan to come immediately. Amir returns to his homeland to find his country torn to shreds by Taliban forces that are now in control. He comes across one of his childhood enemies who is now in the Taliban, as he is trying to gain control of Sohrab, Hassan’s son, who becomes very important to Amir. As I read, my opinion of Amir shifted because of the revenge that eventually comes his way. One of the things that made The Kite Runner good was the irony that it contains. Prior to reading the book, I had almost no knowledge on what life was like in Afghanistan before Taliban forces took over. Altogether, The Kite Runner, was a great book that exemplifies what it is like to have a “real” friendship.

Reviewed by Tim

• The book the Kite Runner is a powerful book that includes friendship between an unlikely couple of friends a boy named Amir and his servant Hassan. The boys live together and spend every day together. One difference between the boys is that Hassan is a hazara, which is a mixed ethnicity that in Afghanistan this is looked down on. Amir and Hassan get involved in a difficult situation that then results in Hassan leaving the family and now Baba and Amir are left together. Then in Afghanistan there is turmoil, which then forces Baba and Amir to leave the country and move to the U.S. In the United States the family experiences a new lifestyle that they weren’t used to considering the changes such as wealth. Amir finds a whole new life where he meets his wife and then he his faced with a situation where he has to go back to Afghanistan and see all that has changed. This is a very good book that will give you a whole new look on life in foreign countries.
  

Reviewed by Kaci

• “The Kite Runner” is a very intense book with high and low extremes. The main character is Amir. In the beginning, he lived in Afganastan with his wealthy father, Baba. They had a very unusual servant named Hassan. Hassan was different looking, but Baba got along well with him, almost too well. This was enough to make Amir jealous of Hassan. Hassan was like Amir’s older brother. They did everything together, but Hassan was always the braver one. Amir’s jealousy was enough to watch Hassan get hurt without him saying a single word. Soon Baba thinks its best for Hassan to go back to his home, as Baba and Amir move to the U.S. to move away from the crazy Talaban.

They settled in a small city, and Baba worked at the gas station. They didn’t make too many friends in the United States. Baba had a very bad temper, and most people talked about them as “The Afgans.” Soon they got involved with the market, and loved buying and selling odd items. Baba and Amir met a general who had a beautiful daughter that Amir soon fell in love with. As they became engaged, Baba’s health became weak. Baba died, and Amir and his wife were happy but for some reason could not produce any children.

Amir took a trip back to Afganastan to meet an old friend who was ill. He soon learned about is old friend Hassan, who had been killed. Hassan’s son was an orphan. Amir found Hassan’s son and takes him back to the U.S. where all his nightmares of being an orphan will disappear. Also, Amir’s feeling of guilt about early life and treating Hassan with no respect went away too. Amir and his wife were happy with a child now, and lived happily ever after!

Reviewed by Phillip

• The Kite Runner! Seems like it would be a pretty neat book. Once I read about the location of the book and the kite races, I knew that I was going to like The Kite Runner. It takes place in Afghanistan, which was a big city talked about in the U.S. a few years ago and still is. It is about a couple of families that go through tough times with their friends. The kids are entertained by kite tournaments. We as Americans don’t have these type of tournaments. What happens is that people fly their kites, and the strings on the kites are made out of glass. The point of the challenge is to cut an opponents kite and the last one that stays in the air is the winner. Two of the people eventually move to the U.S. There are some other shocking things that occur, but I don’t want to give too much away. The story has some very heart felt times so it is hard to decide what the best part of the book is. I would have to say it would be towards the end when the two guys moved to the U.S. It was a goal for them to get there and so it made me feel happy for them. There are some tough times in life that one must deal with, but there will be some exciting times also. If you like adventure, then you would like it.

 

Reviewed by Jessie

• The Kite Runner is a great book. It takes place in Afghanistan. The main characters are Amir and Hassan. Hassan is their servant along with his father. Amir and Hassan grow up with a great friendship and secrets that only friends would keep. Later as Hassan and Amir grow up they learn more about their enemies and themselves. Amir and Baba, his father, move to America and begin a different journey. In the beginning I do not like Amir because he seems selfish but in the end I like him because he learns about his past and present and starts to think about other peoples consequences rather than his own. I recommend the Kite Runner to everyone, for the fact that it’s not boring and it takes in the book and you can’t stop reading it. The best section of the book was when Amir and Hassan was in the kite running competition and another section but that is giving away more of the book. After reading the Kite Runner I learned that friends are sacred and should not be take advantage of and they should treat each other with trust and respect.