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June 15, 2006 — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SYRACUSE — The community-reading program CNY Reads has announced its 2006-07 selection. “The Kite Runner,” by Khaled Hosseini, promises rich material for community engagement, says the consortium that reviewed many books before choosing this one.
CNY Reads promotes reading, research, discovery, and a sharing of perspectives among Central New Yorkers by encouraging them to read the same book and participate in programs related to the content and themes of that book.
The consortium comprises representatives from Central New York’s cultural, educational, and social service organizations. Onondaga County Public Library leads the CNY Reads consortium for the first time since the program began in 2001.
“The Kite Runner” is also the selection of the Shared Reading Program at Syracuse University this fall. Every first-year student will receive a copy of the book and be encouraged to participate in community activities surrounding it.
“Like the Shared Reading Program, CNY Reads programs and activities will explore the novel’s themes of immigration, Islam, and the morality of silence,” said committee chairwoman
Liz Loftus of OCPL. In addition, the story involves issues of father-son relationships, social and economic class, and friendship.
The book, set in Afghanistan in the 1960s, tells the story of Amir, who enjoys a life of privilege shaped by his friendship with Hassan, his servant’s son. Yet Amir lives in constant want of his father’s attention, while Hassan, can do no wrong. Striving to be the son his father always wanted, Amir places the fate of his relationship with his father on the outcome of a kite-running tournament. He wins the tournament, but tragedy strikes Hassan the same day. This moment marks a turning point, the memory of which Amir seeks to bury by moving to America but that eventually draws him back to Afghanistan to right the wrongs that began that day.
OCPL will be buying additional copies of “The Kite Runner,” in paperback and audiobook formats, to be available for checkout through any of the OCPL’s 30 libraries throughout the county. Book kits containing a dozen copies are also available for book groups.
Last updated February 20, 2007