The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is a powerful read. It’s about Amir, born and raised in Afghanistan, and the friendship he has with his father’s servant’s son, Hassan, a boy of his same age. Eventually the story gets into the Afghan political upheaval of the 1980’s, when Amir and his father seek refuge in the US. But the narrator returns to Afghanistan in 2001, in search of his boyhood friend.

Knowing only the basics about the history of Afghanistan before starting this novel, I felt like I learned about the struggle firsthand through Amir. The character of Amir has a certain tenderness to him that is utterly disarming and that draws you in, making you feel his love for his father and for his country as if it is your own.

The story captures the essence of those earliest relationships — the selfless friendships that children naturally forge. The father-son relationship in the story is also handled well, with a developing depth to both characters as the story proceeds.