Twenty-two (23,twenty-four), 25

Tears of A Tiger (teen fiction) - Set in Cincinnati - it's for teens. Definitely heavy - a good read. I read it fast and was intrigued the whole time. Really tough subject matter and at times made me skirm. I definitely would suggest reading it with a teen - it helps address some major life issues: death, racism, guilt, family, and suicide. There is a lot there - no wonder Sharon Draper is an award winning author (and Cincinnati teacher).

When Gerald was a child he was fascinated by fire. But fire is dangerous and powerful, and tragedy strikes. His substance-addicted mother is taken from him. Then he loses the loving generosity of a favorite aunt. A brutal stepfather with a flaming temper and an evil secret makes his life miserable. The one bright light in Gerald's life is his little half sister, Angel, whom he struggles to protect from her father, Jordan Sparks, who abuses her, and from their mother, whose irresponsible behavior forces Gerald to work hard to keep the family together.

As a teenager, Gerald finds success as a member of the Hazelwood Tigers basketball team, while Angel develops her talents as a dancer. Trouble still haunts them, however, and Gerald learns, painfully, that young friends can die and old enemies must be faced. In the end he must stand up to his stepfather alone in a blazing confrontation.

Sharon M. Draper has interwoven characters and events from her previous novel, Tears of a Tiger, in this unflinchingly realistic portrayal of poverty and child abuse. It is an inspiring story of a young man who rises above the tragic circumstances of his life by drawing on the love and strength of family and friends.

The death of high school basketball star Rob Washington in an automobile accident affects the lives of his close friend Andy, who was driving the car, and many others in the school.

I also read (quickly): The two other Sharon Draper books in this series Forged by Fire and Darkness before Dawn... they were both out of this world. Great books - awesome conversation starters and good books to enjoy with a teenager. I am definitely going to have my nephew read this series - they are written on a seventh grade reading level - but the issues are big and are important for everyone to discuss. My students loved all the books in this series - their favorite (as a whole) was Forged by Fire.

A Thousand Splendid Suns- AMAZING. AMAZING. AMAZING. MUST READ. MUST.READ. But only when you are emotionally ready. It takes you to that place deep down in side. To be honest, I think that I am missing about two books in between this book and Tears of a Tiger, but after reading A Thousand Splendid Suns, I literally cannot remember anything else....incredible.

After 103 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and with four million copies of The Kite Runner shipped, Khaled Hosseini returns with a beautiful, riveting, and haunting novel that confirms his place as one of the most important literary writers today.

Propelled by the same superb instinct for storytelling that made The Kite Runner a beloved classic, A Thousand Splendid Suns is at once an incredible chronicle of thirty years of Afghan history and a deeply moving story of family, friendship, faith, and the salvation to be found in love.

Born a generation apart and with very different ideas about love and family, Mariam and Laila are two women brought jarringly together by war, by loss and by fate. As they endure the ever escalating dangers around them-in their home as well as in the streets of Kabul-they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the course not just of their own lives but of the next generation. With heart-wrenching power and suspense, Hosseini shows how a woman's love for her family can move her to shocking and heroic acts of self-sacrifice, and that in the end it is love, or even the memory of love, that is often the key to survival.

A stunning accomplishment, A Thousand Splendid Suns is a haunting, heartbreaking, compelling story of an unforgiving time, an unlikely friendship, and an indestructible love.