AP Literature Students Read Khaled Hosseini Novels

Khaled Hosseini is an Afghan-born American author and physician who wrote the novels “The Kite Runner” and “A Thousand Splendid Suns.” Seniors who are currently taking AP Literature are reading one of the novels depending on who their teacher is. Melissa LeBlanc’s AP Literature class is reading “A Thousand Splendid Suns” and Virginia Pendleton’s class is reading “The Kite Runner.”

Pendleton says, “The Kite Runner” is one of my favorite novels and it is a coming of age novel, so I find it very relevant for my students. I love how “The Kite Runner” illustrates how one decision can really alter the course of your life. It lends itself to reflection on our own decisions.”

“I thought the ending was bittersweet, but it worked out for the better because it showed the one of the character’s progress. It’s different than most books I read, but I loved it and never wanted to put it down,” says Lindsey Perez (’18).

Video Credit: Vanessa Davila (used with permission)

“I knew that Mrs. Pendleton wanted to do “The Kite Runner”, so I thought that I could mix it up and do his second book. I had a student last year who did her independent research paper on it, and she enjoyed it. It was nice to get a multicultural perspective, especially with Muslims because there is a lot of empathy that comes from reading this book. I think my students have reacted very strongly to the book, which makes me happy as a teacher, because it means they are actually reading and interacting with the book,” says LeBlanc.

“I absolutely loved “A Thousand Splendid Suns.” I have never read a book by Khaled Hosseini, but it helped me understand cultural problems. The book was interesting throughout, there was never a point where it got boring, and I never wanted to put it down. This was the first book I’ve read where I truly liked it and wanted to read it,” says Gillian Garcia (’18).

“‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ clawed my heart out of my chest, threw it on the ground, stomped on it with cleats, picked it up, put it in a blender, spun it around for ten minutes, and then gave it to the cats in the basement of the Academy to eat slowly so that I would feel every ounce of pain possible. It was also probably one of the best books I’ve read yet.” says Jules LaVoy (’18).

Credit: Sam Cano/Achona Online

After the classes have read their books, the students will write research papers exploring themes and concepts in the books from various lenses.