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A Thousand Splendid Suns, the intertwining life stories of Mariam and Laila, two women living in Afghanistan, is an amazing novel by Khaled Hosseini. The book starts out talking about Mariam's life with her angry mother, who commits suicide after Mariam goes to Hart in attempts to see her father, who chooses not to see her. When she is forced to live with her father because of her mother's death, she is married off to a man by the name of Rasheed, who the reader eventually realizes is forceful and abusive. At this point, the book shifts gears to Laila, who lives not too far from Mariam and Rasheed. Laila and her family are affected by the Afghan war, which is currently taking place, and through all of the stress, she often turns to Tariq, her best friend-turned-lover. Because of the war, Laila and Tariq's families are unsafe, and choose to leave to go to Pakistan. In the middle of packing, Laila's house is bombed, leaving both of her parents dead, and her seriously injured. Rasheed finds Laila, and he and Mariam nurse Laila back to health. Rasheed wants to marry Laila, but she is reluctant to do so. One day, she gets the news that Tariq has been killed, which crushes her, and because she knows she is pregnant with Tariq's child, she agrees to marry Rasheed as a cover-up. Although Mariam is jealous (because she can't get pregnant herself, leaving Laila with most of the attention), and doesn't like Laila in the beginning, they eventually become friends, and help each other survive Rasheed's abusive ways. A while later, after Laila gave birth to a son (this child actually belonging to Rasheed), the story takes a very unexpected turn- Tariq is alive, and at the door of Rasheed Laila and Mariam's house (Rasheed hired a messenger to lie to Laila about Tariq's death). Laila spends the afternoon with Tariq, but is badly beat once Rasheed finds out about Tariq's visit. Mariam, having had enough and watched enough, and after realizing that she really does love and value Laila, kills Rasheed with a shovel and turns herself in the next day in order to give Laila and Rasheed a chance to escape. After many troubles, Tariq and Laila finally make it to safety in Pakistan, and are married. They later move back to Kabul once conditions are better, stopping in Hart on the way to give Laila closure on Mariam's death. Once in Kabul, Laila who is a teacher, becomes pregnant and decides to name her baby Mariam should it be a girl.
This book, which is geared toward the older student base, is a good book to use with a creative writing exercise. The students would be required to write a short passage from Mariam's point of view the night she killed Rasheed: what was going through her mind? Did she ever once regret her decision? Which emotions were running through her veins? This exercise would mainly improve upon the students' critical thinking and writing skills. To add a speaking component, students may read their passages aloud, as if they were Mariam
This book, which is geared toward the older student base, is a good book to use with a creative writing exercise. The students would be required to write a short passage from Mariam's point of view the night she killed Rasheed: what was going through her mind? Did she ever once regret her decision? Which emotions were running through her veins? This exercise would mainly improve upon the students' critical thinking and writing skills. To add a speaking component, students may read their passages aloud, as if they were Mariam
**Estimated Reading Level: 6.8
** Estimated Interest Level: Grade 9
Hosseini, K. (2007). A thousand splendid suns. New York, NY: Riverhead Books.
***"A Thousand Splendid Suns debuted as the #1 book in the nation, and it held the top position for 4 straight weeks. In addition to being #1 on The New York Times hardcover fiction list, it was also #1 on nearly every national bestseller list, including USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News, Publishers Weekly, and Fort-Wayne Journal-Gazette. It was also #1 on the overall Book Sense list as well as #1 on regional Book Sense lists across the nation." (Book Facts, n.d.)
ISBN: 9781594483851
**Information based on levels for The Kite Runner, found on scholastic.com
***Book Facts. (n.d.). Khaled Hosseini. Retrieved from http://khaledhosseini.com/media-pages/book-facts/
** Estimated Interest Level: Grade 9
Hosseini, K. (2007). A thousand splendid suns. New York, NY: Riverhead Books.
***"A Thousand Splendid Suns debuted as the #1 book in the nation, and it held the top position for 4 straight weeks. In addition to being #1 on The New York Times hardcover fiction list, it was also #1 on nearly every national bestseller list, including USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News, Publishers Weekly, and Fort-Wayne Journal-Gazette. It was also #1 on the overall Book Sense list as well as #1 on regional Book Sense lists across the nation." (Book Facts, n.d.)
ISBN: 9781594483851
**Information based on levels for The Kite Runner, found on scholastic.com
***Book Facts. (n.d.). Khaled Hosseini. Retrieved from http://khaledhosseini.com/media-pages/book-facts/