From the start of the book, I was pulled in immediately. Ahmadi did a wonderful job of bringing the story to life from the very first page; I was sucked in from page one when Amir and his family are being interrogated at the airport after being detained due to a family argument. Amir's story about his personal life compared to his religion and his parents beliefs is a great representation of what many of our youth today are dealing with in their own homes and lives. What Ahmadi writes about in this novel not only breaks down the stereotypes of what our society often sees and says about some of these characters but also about what our country is dealing with currently. This is a great book for the times as we need to be confronted more often with things that we may not be comfortable with, or maybe just don't know much about as it helps to break down barriers between us and help us realize we are much more alike than we are different!