1.  You read 3 (or more) books this past summer. Which book from the summer reading list did you find to be the most "interesting"? In a paragraph or two, tell me what it takes to make a book interesting (in your opinion) and how the summer book you chose met the standard of "most" interesting. If NONE of the books qualified for that title (again, in your opinion) tell me where and why they fell short of your standard.

Finally, tell me what things you read OTHER than assigned books? Did you read magazines, other novels, travel guides for a vacation, instructions for how to work something, whatever? Think it over, this could be a longer list than you first imagine! Which of these other things was the most interesting.... did you use the same standard as you did for paragraph one? If not, why not?

The book I found most interesting that I read this summer would be The Kite Runner. To make a book interesting, in my opinion, it would have to be true to life and something out of the ordinary. A book would also have to be emotionally touching and teach good lessons in life. An interesting book draws me to the characters and either makes me like them or hate them.

I believe The Kite Runner qualifies for the title of "most interesting" because it has action, suspense, flashbacks, and overall just a good story line. Action in a book easily captivates me, which is what I thought the Kite Runner had. I also like when the author uses irony, such as when Amir dreams about the American man at the adoption agency whose daughter committed suicide, right after he almost went through the same thing. I also liked how the author brought back Assef as the enemy, because he was definitely an enemy of Amir and Hassan when they were children. Also, the setting and the culture was unfamiliar to me so I was able to learn more about foreign ways of life, which I find interesting.

I read the last book in the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn. I used the same standard judging the Kite Runner as I did Breaking Dawn, because it had most of the things that I find interesting in a book. 

** Did you think Breaking Dawn was as good as the previous novels in the series? Just curious... I had some mixed feelings about it. Do you read any other "vampire-ish series novels"?

2.  Consider the novel you read for the theme SELF-DISCOVERY.

What exactly was it that the novel's main character discovered about himself/herself? Explain how this discovery was an integral part of the novel's substance or core.

How was this discovery applicable to you as the reader? In what sense could it be applicable to ALL readers? What did you learn about YOURSELF as you watched the character change within the novel?

In The Kite Runner, the main character Amir, struggled much throughout his life especially in his childhood. Amir always tried to find a place to fit in and be accepted by his father.  He was also jealous of his "best friend" Hassan because Amir's father seemed to favor him more. One day after the kite tournament, Hassan was loyal to Amir and ran down the last kite. While going to find Hassan, Amir stumbles upon something very disturbing that he was too much of a coward to help. The rest of his time after that he felt like he had a debt to pay to Hassan for the way he acted and how he treated his friend after the incident in the alley. He also felt that he needed to live up to Baba's standard as his son.

Many years later, Amir was living in California, still occassionally being haunted by the memory of what happened whenever he remembered Hassan. One day he got a call from Rahim Khan, say that there was "a way to be good again." All of those years he had known what happened between Amir and Hassan, but being a good and loyal man, he did not want to exploit Amir for his decisions as a child, but instead wanted Amir to see the forgiveness he could obtain from himself. It also made Amir realize that you cannot hide a skeleton in your closet forever. He was planning on taking his "secret" to his grave.

Once Amir found out that Hassan had died, he felt like there was nothing he could do to ever redeem himself, like he was a day late and a buck short.  Amir finally saw the solution  in Sohrab. Before, he believed that his inability to have children was a punishment for what he did to Hassan, but here he was, able to have a child. Not just any child, but Hassan's own son. In this he found his redemption. He finally saw that by helping someone Hassan cared for so much, it was like repaying a debt he owed to Hassan. Amir finally found peace. Peace not like a complete enlightenment of his own, but peace like content with his life. He no longer felt the guilt for Hassan when he remembered things from his past.

This discovery was an important part of the novel because it tied together everything in the story, such as Amir's childhood to his adulthood. It shows that he has always been the same throughout the whole story, a tortured soul who was seeking redemption.

This discovery was applicable to me in the way that Amir can stop living the dream of becoming the perfect person that is accepted by everyone, but to become content with who you are and your abilities.

In a broad sense, this could be applied to all readers because everyone has something they are ashamed of, whether it be on the same level as Amir's, or something much less serious. It gives readers hope that somehow or some day, no matter how far down the road, they will find redemption and forgiveness.

I learned that a fear or cowardice can be overcome if you really want it to. Such as how Amir was too afraid to stand up for himself, when he goes to Afghanistan, facing the most danger he ever has and ever will have in his life, he finally overcomes his fear and cowardice to complete a journey he feels he needs to do.