2008 Summer Reading Project

"The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini

About the Novel

About the Author

The Kite Runner Movie

Background on Afghanistan

Understanding the Novel

About the Novel:

 Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the present, The Kite Runner, is the unforgettable, beautifully told story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul. Raised in the same household and sharing the same wet nurse, Amir and Hassan nonetheless grow up in different worlds: Amir is the son of a prominent and wealthy man, while Hassan, the son of Amir's father's servant, is a Hazara, member of a shunned ethnic minority. Their intertwined lives, and their fates, reflect the eventual tragedy of the world around them. When the Soviets invade and Amir and his father flee the country for a new life in California, Amir thinks that he has escaped his past. And yet he cannot leave the memory of Hassan behind him.

Taken from: http://www.khaledhosseini.com/hosseini-books-kiterunner.html

Summer Reading Overview

Book Reviews (compilation of book reviews from BookBrowse)

Book Reviews Databases (collection of Kent State databases for finding book reviews)

NPR Discussion of the novel

About the Author:

Khaled Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1965. His father was a diplomat with the Afghan Foreign Ministry and his mother taught Farsi and History at a large high school in Kabul. In 1976, the Afghan Foreign Ministry relocated the Hosseini family to Paris. They were ready to return to Kabul in 1980, but by then Afghanistan had already witnessed a bloody communist coup and the invasion of the Soviet army. The Hosseinis sought and were granted political asylum in the United States. In September of 1980, Hosseini's family moved to San Jose, California. Hosseini graduated from high school in 1984 and enrolled at Santa Clara University where he earned a bachelor's degree in Biology in 1988. The following year, he entered the University of California-San Diego's School of Medicine, where he earned a Medical Degree in 1993. He completed his residency at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. Hosseini was a practicing internist between 1996 and 2004.

While in medical practice, Hosseini began writing his first novel, The Kite Runner, in March of 2001. In 2003, The Kite Runner, was published and has since become an international bestseller, published in 38 countries. In 2006, he was named a goodwill envoy to UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency. His second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, was published in May of 2007. He lives in Northern California.

Taken from: http://www.khaledhosseini.com/hosseini-bio.html

Khaled Hosseini Web site

Interview with the Author on NPR

Gale Literary Databases (search by author: Hosseini, Khaled)

A Thousand Splendid Suns (Hosseini's second novel)

The Kite Runner Movie:

Kite Runner Movie Web site

New York Times article

Slate article

NPR interview (audio)

Background on Afghanistan:

Afghanistan Online (Web site based in California with timely updates on Afghanistan)

Afghanistan World Fact Book (Web site from the CIA with background information on the country)

Afghanistan Wikipedia entry (look at the external links at the bottom of the page)

Afghanistan Maps (map collection from the University of Texas Libraries)

Countries and States Guide (collection of materials from the Kent State University Library)

Understanding the Novel:

Penguin Reading Guide (with discussion questions)

BestNotes Study Guide

GradeSaver Study Guide