What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

Read this book in late 90's/early 2000's and there was a character named Hassan and it detailed his life and his family which I think included one or two sisters. I had to read it for a cultural literature class and I think it was set somewhere in the Middle East, but I am not certain.
Please help, I only remember that it was very moving and I want to read it again!

Anything about the cover?
Time period story takes place?
Tone: funny, reflective, etc?

Was the book geared towards teens or adults?
Could it possibly have been nonfiction?

Probably a long shot, but maybe Searching for Hassan: A Journey to the Heart of Iran - Terence Ward?

I think it was fairly modern, set in 1990's probably. I think the family had 3 children and the cover seemed to be outlined in cream with some sort of ornate design inside -- I am thinking of mosaic telework or something? I am fairly sure it was fiction.
Not sure if I am remembering the cover right though.

Maybe the Kite Runner is what you are thinking of?
Its definitely a coming of age tale and has a character named Hassan. It was released in 2003 though and it did detail the main characters Amir's life in the Middle East but also in America.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini?

Unfortunately, published too late. I read this in 1998 or so. Thanks though!!

Memory of Departure

Here is the first part of the Kirkus review:
Kirkus:
An artfully spare first novel about a coming-of-age boy's flight from the squalor of his East African coastal home. Hassan Omar lives in Kenge, a collecting point for "toilers and failures." His family, long annealed to poverty and suffering, is held together less by a blood bond than by a mutual need to torment one another.

Here is a link to the full review
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-re...

Courtney, can you confirm that Tab's suggestion "Memory of Departure" was your book?

There are similarities there, but Courtney's description doesn't provide enough detail to say definitively that's the right book, and she hasn't responded, so moving this to Abandoned.