Module 10: Favorite Historical Fiction

I had a hard time thinking off hand what my favorite historical fiction story was because the ones I had read in the past hadn’t really stuck with me. The one historical fiction story that was my absolute favorite though was A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini. A Thousand Splendid Suns is a story of intense beauty and strength buried under the surface of the cruel life imposed upon two Afghani women, Mariam and Laila. I read this book my junior year of high school and I loved it so much that I remember finishing it in just 2 days. This book is not completely historical fiction; it is both historical fiction and social commentary. 

I don’t feel that this is an appropriate book for elementary students, it would have to be high school. This is a large book, with several different parts. To make it easiest for students, I would break the book down into: main characters, settings, problems, conflict(s) and resolution(s), and theme(s) of the story. This book is also great because it talks about the struggles of women in the Middle East. This can tie into history lessons, especially about these countries.

I attended an all-girls high school and I believe this was a great summer reading choice. This book definitely gets young women thinking about social issues and how others are treated in different countries. Overall, A Thousand Splendid Suns is probably one of my favorite books and definitely can bring up so many discussions, questions, and deeper thinking.