The Kite Runner

Reader reviewed by M. Diamond

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini starts out in Afghanistan following the childhood of a young boy named Amir. He had always grown up in the same household as their servants son, Hassan, who he spent a lot of time with. Hassan was forever loyal to him and loved him like a brother, but Amir was never able to hold an equal amount of loyalty towards Hassan. Amirs failures in his relationships with not only Hassan, but his father as well, led him to the day he watched Hassan walk out of his house. Those selfish decisions changed him forever. He had to go through life with the weight of guilt and regret on his shoulders. His life changed even more when he moved to America. He tried to be a new person and move on from the horrible things he had done. That is, until he got a phone call that brought him back to Afghanistan. There, he found out the truth he hadnt known about Hassan and his father. It wasnt an easy stay in the war-filled country and he had trouble forgiving himself as he tried to be good again.


I enjoyed this book a lot. Its very different from the books I have read, and I probably wouldnt have picked it out myself. But I surprisingly found the heart-tugging story about loyalty and friendship extremely interesting and hard to put down. Hosseini did a great job with the description of the story and keeping the reader wanting to know what would happen next. I highly recommend this book to anyone over the age of 13 and hopefully you will enjoy reading it as much as I did.

Reader reviewed by Megan

The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, tells the story of a boy named Amir from Kabul, Afghanistan. The writer takes you through the childhood of Amir, trying to win the affections of his father, and playing with his family's servant's son, Hassan. As the characters get older, Amir discovers a talent and passion for writing. When he reads his stories to his friend Hassan, he enjoys them. However, Amir soon learns that Hassan will not stand up for himself as he witnesses neighborhood children raping Hassan. Amir then does everything in his power to get rid of Hassan and his father because of the guilt he feels for not standing up for his friend, but when his father refuses to do so, he takes drastic measures and frames Hassan for stealing from him. It tears Amir's father up when he finds out that Hassan and his father are leaving. A while later, war rages Afghanistan and Amir and his father travel to the United States. While living in the United States, Amir's father is diagnosed with cancer. Just a few months before his father dies, Amir marries. He publishes a few works of fiction. One day he receives a call from one of his father's friends, asking him to brave the turmoil in Afghanistan and come see him before he dies. Granting his wish, Amir travels and sees his father's friend. Once there, he finds out that his childhood friend Hassan and Hassan's wife was killed, and his son needs saving. Amir goes to find Hassan's son, and in the process, finds out that Hassan was not only his family's servant's son, but was also his illegitimate brother. This novel brought readers a down to earth visual of another culture's life, while also keeping the story interesting enough for the reader to stay engrossed in the story.