Book Review: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Young Readers Edition
by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer

I enjoyed this book a lot, and stayed up waaaaaaay past my bedtime last night to finish it. An inspiring true story about a boy growing up in a farming village in Malawi. When drought and wide-spread famine come to Malawi, William has to drop out of school. Crushed, William finds solace in his primary school library, reading everything they have, and repeatedly checking out books about physics. A maker and tinkerer at heart, William reads and puzzles and then hunts scrap materials and fashions a crude windmill made entirely out of recycled parts. Villagers regard him and his creation with suspicion, but it works, and generates electricity for his family's farm. William's success leads to a radio report, an influential blog, and then a guest appearance at a TED event in Tanzania with other inspiring and innovative Africans. William's reaction the first time he is introduced to Google is priceless, and his story from high school dropout to Dartmouth graduate determined to improve the lives of rural Africans is so moving.

My husband has the original book, published for adults in 2009. After some debate I decided to read the Young Readers Edition from the Parmalee Library so I could recommend it to students. If you are a young tinkerer or dreamer, or there's one you know, this would be a good choice.