For the theme "Self-Discovery," I read The Kite Runner. The narrator and main character, Amir, betrayed his best friend (and half-brother) Hassan when he was twelve years old. For years he is consumed with guilt; he even dreams that Assef, one of the greatest villains in the story, is telling him that Assef and Amir are brothers, not Amir and Hassan. Amir lives with this guilt hanging over him until he discovers "a way to be good again." By the end of the book, Amir is beginning to feel redeemed, thanks to the smile of Hassan's son Sohrab. Amir's guilt drives his actions throughout the book. It makes him scheme to have Hassan, a living reminder of Amir's guilt, removed from his life. Amir sees America as a place to try to forget his guilt, but he can't: it drives him back to Afghanistan to endure incredible physical suffering for Sohrab.

     Like Amir, I have backed away from doing the right thing (though never in such a drastic way) and feel guilty about it for a long time. I think almost everyone has done that and felt some degree of guilt over it. I think what I learned about myself from watching Amir is how often I try to bury my guilt like him, or even work it off, which is sort of what Amir does when Assef beats him up. However, I find that my "way to be good again" is Jesus Christ, not my own labor.

     Of the books I read, The Kite Runner was definitely the most interesting. I thought the plot was easy to follow and enjoyably suspenseful. It also presented a view of the world different from my usual one. I don't think I've ever read a novel written from the point of view of a Muslim or Afghan-American. It was unique--even if I hadn't liked the book (and I did) I would have found the book interesting simply because of its perspective. I guess my standard for interesting is separate from enjoyment. "Interesting" means it was revealing; it was new; it was fresh and unique (to me, at least).

      This summer, I also read things for AP Gov: The Post-American World and different briefing papers. I read World magazine every two weeks, e-mails, Facebook messages, and whatever news article caught my eye online. I read too many Agatha Christie mysteries to count and a "The City of Ember" series by Jeanne DuPrau. I read Moby-Dick (which was definitely NOT the most interesting) and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Although I enjoyed most of what I read, the most interesting thing I read was The Post-American World, using the same standard for interesting. It was a new experience for me; I hadn't really ever thought about what Fareed Zakaria discussed in it before.

** What a wonderful summer of reading you just had! I am impressed! I know you probably won't have tons of free reading time on your hands now that school has begun, but Hosseini wrote another book... A Thousand Splendid Suns.... after Kite Runner. I think I liked it even more because it was about female protagonists! So I would recommend it for next summer, perhaps! :-) I enjoyed Zakaria's book too... read it after Ed finished it. The man writes for Time or Newsweek, too, sometimes (I forget which one off the top of my head right now.) Keep an eye out for him!