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20th out of 493 books
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261 voters
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The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope
by
William Kamkwamba (Goodreads Author),
Bryan Mealer
William Kamkwamba was born in Malawi, a country where magic ruled and modern science was mystery. It was also a land withered by drought and hunger, and a place where hope and opportunity were hard to find. But William had read about windmills in a book called Using Energy, and he dreamed of building one that would bring electricity and water to his village and change his
...moreHardcover, 270 pages
Published
September 29th 2009
by William Morrow & Company
(first published February 29th 2000)
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It's easy to say a book "isn't just about (insert subject)" but The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind really is not just about William Kamkwamba's windmill. The windmill doesn't even come to fruition until about two hundred pages in. The majority of the book is about William's life as a child and the culture of his homeland in Malawi (Africa), which at times is depressing - his family lives with the bare minimum, they survive a famine, and William wasn't able to attend school due to financial...more
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The fascinating and true story of William Kamkwamba, a curious and ingenious 14 year old boy who is forced to drop out of school as his family teeters on the edge of starvation during a serious drought in his home country of Malawi (Africa). William, who unsuccessfully tries to sneak back into school, makes use of the public library in an attempt to teach himself and stay caught up with his class. In the library he discovers a book about generating electricity through windmills. He can hardly...more
"I try, and I made it!"
That quote from William Kamkwamba pretty much sums up this book. It is an amazing, inspirational, and deeply humbling story of a teenage boy from an impoverished farming family in Malawi. The first part of the book gives you insight into Kamkwamba's life and struggles. His challenges are the type that you can already imagine in broad strokes, but Kamkwamba and co-author Mealer help you experience them in a visceral way. The description of the famine w...more
That quote from William Kamkwamba pretty much sums up this book. It is an amazing, inspirational, and deeply humbling story of a teenage boy from an impoverished farming family in Malawi. The first part of the book gives you insight into Kamkwamba's life and struggles. His challenges are the type that you can already imagine in broad strokes, but Kamkwamba and co-author Mealer help you experience them in a visceral way. The description of the famine w...more
This book sat on my shelf for over a year mostly due to its unfortunate title. It certainly sounded boring! I only read it because it filled a challenge need. I was delighted to find, though, that it was far from dull, and I can honestly say that it's become one of my new all-time favorites. It's one of those books I want to hand to all my friends and say, "Read this. You'll love it!"
Although the book is certainly about Kamkwamba creating a way to generate electricity...more
Although the book is certainly about Kamkwamba creating a way to generate electricity...more
The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind is an autobiographical account of William Kamkwamba’s life in Malawi. Although it was pitched to me as a book about a boy who built a windmill, the actual content was so much more inspirational and memorable. William takes us through the entire course of his life, from early childhood to his late teens when he did build a windmill. Growing up, William was always caught between past traditions and beliefs of magic and wizards, and western mentality that his father b...more
From My Blog....[return][return]Deeply moving and thought-provoking, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkawmba and Bryan Mealer is a look at William’s creative dreams made reality. This book is a beautiful retelling of William’s life, beginning with his childhood, which was filled with a mixture of witchcraft, God, folklore and ultimately, of science. I was completely drawn into the stories of the Malawians as well as the various beliefs and superstitions. The details of day-to-day ...more
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind[return]by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer[return]October 2009[return]William Morrow[return]978-0-06-173032-0[return]$25.99.288 pages[return][return]Many have goals that require hard work and persistence. Many have setbacks that often delay the realization of their goals. Many give up. Many succeed. When you read The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind , you will read the memoir of William Kamkwamba, who had a dream, had a goal to help his family and did not give up.[r...more
At every funeral in William Kamkwamba's family, mourners make their peace with death as they sing the old hymn, "This World Is Not My Home." Yet William Kamkwamba isn't ready to concede. As long as he is in this world, he has a burning desire to make it a better home for himself, his family and for his beloved country of Malawi.
William grew up in a place where "magic ruled the world." His world and his beliefs were shaped by a community that revered witch doctors ...more
William grew up in a place where "magic ruled the world." His world and his beliefs were shaped by a community that revered witch doctors ...more
When William Kamkwamba was fourteen he had to leave school after his parents could no longer afford to pay his tuition. To help his family earn money, he assisted with the planting and harvesting of their crops of corn and tobacco. All the while, Kamkwamba remained hopeful that he would return to school and took it upon himself to visit the his local library every day so that he could continue to study. During one visit he discovered a book on electricity and became inspired to learn all that...more
In The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind, Malawians’ refusal to embrace science in favor of magic causes problems for the protagonist, William Kamkwamba, who wants to uphold the folklore and mysticism of his own culture. In fact, his fellow townspeople even suspect that William and his windmill might have contributed to the continuous drought that ravaged Malawi. Despite the adversity that William faces from his townspeople, William is able to see beyond the world of us versus them and individual age...more
I stumbled upon this book when a story about William appeared in my alumni magazine. I found myself amazed and inspired by his story, his accomplishment, and his perseverance in the face of many obstacles. His abilities and ingenuity challenged some of my assumptions about what's necessary to enact lasting change in a given community, while also nudging me to explore what sorts of gifts and talents I'm afraid to risk using, lest I fail. Moreover, I found his narrative of living through a famine ...more
This book was the June selection for the book club I have joined. It's selection highlights one of the things I most like about my book club: it encourages me to read books I otherwise would not choose. This is one of those books. I had seen it in the bookstore but would not have picked it up, assuming (quite rightly, as it turned out) that a discussion of the mechanics of producing electricity would cause my eyes to glaze over (much like they did in high school physics classes). This is not...more
William Kamkwamba was born in Malawi, a country where magic ruled and modern science was mystery. It was also a land withered by drought and hunger, and a place where hope and opportunity were hard to find. But William had read about windmills in a book called Using Energy, and he dreamed of building one that would bring electricity and water to his village and change his life and the lives of those around him. His neighbors may have mocked him and called him misala—crazy—but William was determi...more
Magic. This book starts with magic and ends with magic. Not the kind we read in Harry Potter, but something more powerful. At first I got tangled in the voodoo and superstition that clouds the first few chapters, but soon I realized the mysterious magic in Malawi isn't that different than the monsters under the bed, cracked mirrors, Friday the 13th and black cats of American culture. What is different from William Kamkwamba's life is poverty. But he does not let that stop him from creating real ...more
14 year old William Kamkwamba's family is one that hangs onto the bottom rung of human survival. As farmers in Malawi, there aren't any poorer to be found in the world. When a famine hits his country, thousands die and William is forced out of school when his family can no longer afford the tuition. In the midst of this, William gets the idea to create a windmill out of junkyard parts in order to produce electricity. This is a massive "mind-leap" in a village that exists largely...more
Discarded motor parts, PVC pipe, and an old bicycle wheel may be junk to most people, but in the hands of William Kamkwamba, they are just the tools he needs to realize his dream. This is one of those books that reaffirms my chronically devastating laziness. Born into a relatively poor family in Malawi during a particularly turbulent time in Africa, William and his family suffered through the tragic famine that struck Africa in 2002 which made them unable to afford his school fees and William’s ...more
Living with electricity has always been normal for us, but for a young boy named William, it was a dream beyond a dream. In the book The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba, William tells his life story, and how he figured out how to make electricity.
One thing that I thought made this book so interesting is that William himself is telling the story. He writes about his life, and what happens in his life. That, to me, makes the book very cool to read, because you can experi...more
One thing that I thought made this book so interesting is that William himself is telling the story. He writes about his life, and what happens in his life. That, to me, makes the book very cool to read, because you can experi...more
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "If you can't fly, run; if you can't run, walk; if you can't walk, crawl." William Kamkwamba is an innovator who "harnessed the wind" by building a windmill to bring electricity to his home in Malawi sometime after nearly many families almost perished from hunger due to drought and government corruption. William began his "studies" by studying on his own in the library when his father could no longer pay for his education. William...more
Richard Lollar
rated it
Recommends it for:
Anyone who wants to read a positive story about a enterprising young person.
Recommended to Richard by:
It's our library's book club choice for March.
Very easy to read biography starting when William was 6 years old and accepted stolen gumballs from nearby boys and ending when he had been given several scholarships to complete a very sketchy education in South Africa. He is mostly self taught from school library books and is able to translate what he reads to create realistic models. Naturally, the book is mostly about the windmill he makes that eventually powers his parents home in Malawi and leads to incredible opportunities for him.
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“A windmill means more than just power, it means freedom”
This is what William Kamkwamba says in the book which is true in so many ways. The book is absolutely wonderful but it is the story of William Kamkwamba which is simply mind blowing. When reading the book, I had to keep reminding myself that this was a true story because it just seems so amazing. And yet he has done just that; the amazing.
William Kamkwamba is from Malawi, a small country in Africa with famine, poverty and a be...more
This is what William Kamkwamba says in the book which is true in so many ways. The book is absolutely wonderful but it is the story of William Kamkwamba which is simply mind blowing. When reading the book, I had to keep reminding myself that this was a true story because it just seems so amazing. And yet he has done just that; the amazing.
William Kamkwamba is from Malawi, a small country in Africa with famine, poverty and a be...more
Genre: Autobiography
My review:
This book was an inspiring story about William Kamkwamba who lives in Africa. he struggled with hunger and poverty. He lost his uncle John to Tubercululosis and there was a struggle for him and his family. His dad was too poor to pay for school so he avoided authorities and went to school ileagally. He eventually got caught doing this and checked out science and technology books from the library. He read all day fasinated about technology. He had ...more
My review:
This book was an inspiring story about William Kamkwamba who lives in Africa. he struggled with hunger and poverty. He lost his uncle John to Tubercululosis and there was a struggle for him and his family. His dad was too poor to pay for school so he avoided authorities and went to school ileagally. He eventually got caught doing this and checked out science and technology books from the library. He read all day fasinated about technology. He had ...more
The book that led me to this book was Greg Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea, an inspirational story about an American who builds village schools in remote tribal areas of Pakistan. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is William Kamkwamba’s inspirational story about growing up in a small village in Malawi and deciding to make life better by building an electricity-generating windmill. As much as I loved Greg Mortenson’s story, it is the story of an educated, advantaged citizen of a First World country go...more
My mother once told me that everything you want to know can be found in a book somewhere (perhaps not the answer itself, but at least a discussion on the subject in question), and that public libraries are the greatest invention because their existence means that anyone can educate themselves (anyone who can read, that is)if they are willing to do the work. William Kamkwamba's story is proof of that. Here's a kid who, though burdened with unbelievable poverty, facing famine and a future of the s...more
A debate has been raging for years within that rarefied global community that earns its keep from the business of what we Americans call “foreign aid.” (Others, less afflicted by an aversion to international engagement, call the field “overseas development assistance.”)
On one side are the advocates for large-scale bilateral and multilateral aid, insisting that huge grants from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and their ilk ...more
On one side are the advocates for large-scale bilateral and multilateral aid, insisting that huge grants from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and their ilk ...more
This is the true story of William Kamkwamba who grew up in Malawi in a farming family. He tells the story of growing up in Malawi during the drought and subsequent famine of 2005. He has to drop out of school because his family can no longer afford his tuition payments. So he starts going to the town library to try and stay caught up with his classmates. He begins reading about windmills, and the energy that they can harness. He decides that he is going to build one, so that his family doesn't h...more
The tone of the book makes me feel I am talking with a next-door neighbor—casual and low key. This, despite descriptions of obviously different customs, such as a funeral, meals, and family relations. He boasts about his father’s strength and tells of his life growing up, working in his father’s fields and playing with friends. When famine hits, Kamkwambe doesn’t treat it in a dramatic way but simply relates his observations and experiences: how his hunger makes him feel, how his mother works...more
William Kamkwamba lives in Malawi where drought and famine are frequent visitors. As the only boy in his family, William helps his father plant tobacco and maize and attends the local school, which he loves. But in 2002 a terrible drought hits Malawi causing hundreds of thousands of deaths. William and his family barely get through the months of near starvation, but finally the maize is growing again.
Because William's father has no money to pay for school the following year, Willia...more
Because William's father has no money to pay for school the following year, Willia...more
This book was an inspiring book about a young African boy who dispite all odds learned on his own and achieved much.
William Kamkwamba was born in Malawi, Africa, a country plagued by AIDS and poverty. Like most people in his village, his family subsisted on the meager crops they could grow, living without the luxuries—consider necessities in the West—of electricity or running water. Already living on the edge, the situation became dire when, in 2002, Malawi experienced the worst fami...more
William Kamkwamba was born in Malawi, Africa, a country plagued by AIDS and poverty. Like most people in his village, his family subsisted on the meager crops they could grow, living without the luxuries—consider necessities in the West—of electricity or running water. Already living on the edge, the situation became dire when, in 2002, Malawi experienced the worst fami...more
From My Blog...
Deeply moving and thought-provoking, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkawmba and Bryan Mealer is a look at William's creative dreams made reality. This book is a beautiful retelling of William's life, beginning with his childhood, which was filled with a mixture of witchcraft, God, folklore and ultimately, of science. I was completely drawn into the stories of the Malawians as well as the various beliefs and superstitions. The details of day-to-day life o...more
Deeply moving and thought-provoking, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkawmba and Bryan Mealer is a look at William's creative dreams made reality. This book is a beautiful retelling of William's life, beginning with his childhood, which was filled with a mixture of witchcraft, God, folklore and ultimately, of science. I was completely drawn into the stories of the Malawians as well as the various beliefs and superstitions. The details of day-to-day life o...more
Antwoncrispy
rated it
Recommends it for:
any other 8th grade students going into high school
Recommended to Antwoncrispy by:
a teacher
i enjoyed the boy who harnessed wind. this book was about a young boy names william kamkwamba and his sad but also inspiring biography. MY impression of this book was that it was most likely made to inspire anybody who may have the same trouble or who are going through anything similar. I also feel as though this book was made to share the troubles that people in africa have to deal with. like with the frequent famines in the story and how hard it is to grow livestock when the weather is uncoope...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| Which part of story blow the windmill and turn on the lights in your heart? | 2 | 8 | Nov 13, 2011 07:56am |
William Kamkwamba was born August 5, 1987 in Malawi, and grew up on his family farm in Wimbe, two and half hours northeast of Malawi’s capital city. William was educated at Wimbe Primary School, completing 8th grade and was then accepted to secondary school. Due to severe famine in 2001-2002, his family lacked funds to pay $80 in school fees and William was forced to drop out in his freshman year....more
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“I try, and I made it!”
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“I went to sleep dreaming of Malawi, and all the things made possible when your dreams are powered by your heart.”
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