Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini

This is an unforgettable story that stays with you for years . In this novel you experience love, guilt, and fear. This story concerns itself about a relationship between fathers, and sons. This novel takes place in Afghanistan, and deals with their culture too.

We find ourselves being acquainted with Amir, who has a close friendship with Hassan the son of his Father's servant. This is a novel of life in a beautiful country torn apart. This novel depicts Afghanistan about 30 years ago.

This is a book that appeals to me, because you can learn about a new culture that has been through many hard times, and many times long forgotten. It is interesting to note, the author Khaled Hosseini is the only Afghan author writing in English.

LRD 11/21/05

Theories of Relativity by Barbara Haworth-Attard

To be a teenager thrown out of your own home with nothing and to try to live on the streets and stay straight is tough, really tough. This is Dylan's situation. Every kid on the street has his or her own horror story they try not to share with each other. Staying drug free, getting enough money for a meal, staying warm, keeping from being taken advantage of by thieves and worse, getting cleaned up are all big challenges. There is hope of escape here, but it is slim.

JDW 11/15

The Will of the Empress by Tamora Pierce

If you read the Circle of Magic series then you would probably want to read this too. The four mages are all grown up now. They go together to visit Sandry's homeland so she can care for business concerning her inheritance there. Its a kind of nasty place for a rich female heir. Any male can kidnap any unwed female and force her to marry him. Males always control the inheritance, when there is one, even if it isn't there's to begin with. Sandry is fabulously wealthy so she gets kidnapped, not just once. Her companions must reforge friendships and their mind connections to rescue her. Since they have all been traumatized by their recent experiences and do not want to share with each other, it requires learning to trust again. This book has some romance in it as well as magical adventures and they discover a mage who thinks he is insane, not a mage.

jdw/11/15

Sandpiper by Ellen Wittlinger

Sandpiper is one of those girls who jumps from boy to boy, and most her relationships don't last more than a few weeks. After she breaks up with Derek, she encounters a mysterious boy named Walker. He likes to walk places and not drive anywhere. He avoids answering her questions about his past when Piper asks him, but in time his secret will come out. Piper (aka Sandpiper) asks for his help when Derek threatens her sister and her. On top of all this Pipers mother is getting married and her soon to be step-sister Rachel is living with them too. With everything going on can Walker help Piper deal with Derek, as well as his own past? Can Piper become a better person with the help of Walker and her family?

Tom Burnham

The Keeper by: Mal Peet

The best journalist in South America is given the opportunity to interview arguably the best soccer player in the world. No, he is not a scoring machine but a goalkeeper. Just two days since he won the World Cup for his national team, "El Gato" tells his story of his troubled youth. "El Gato" tells how he was a terrible player until one day he wandered into the Amazon jungle and encountered something that forever changed his life. What did "El Gato" find that turned him into the greatest goalkeeper in history?
RH. 11-2-05