William Kamkwamba
Hardcover | Pages: 270 pages Rating: 4.11 | 20132 Users | 3285 Reviews
Present Books As The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope
| Original Title: | The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope |
| ISBN: | 0061730327 (ISBN13: 9780061730320) |
| Edition Language: | English URL http://www.williamkamkwamba.com |
| Setting: | Malawi |
| Literary Awards: | ALA Alex Award (2010), Corine Internationaler Buchpreis for FOCUS Zukunftspreis (2010) |
Commentary Supposing Books The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope
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 determined to show them what a little grit and ingenuity could do. Enchanted by the workings of electricity as a boy, William had a goal to study science in Malawi's top boarding schools. But in 2002, his country was stricken with a famine that left his family's farm devastated and his parents destitute. Unable to pay the eighty-dollar-a-year tuition for his education, William was forced to drop out and help his family forage for food as thousands across the country starved and died. Yet William refused to let go of his dreams. With nothing more than a fistful of cornmeal in his stomach, a small pile of once-forgotten science textbooks, and an armory of curiosity and determination, he embarked on a daring plan to bring his family a set of luxuries that only two percent of Malawians could afford and what the West considers a necessity—electricity and running water. Using scrap metal, tractor parts, and bicycle halves, William forged a crude yet operable windmill, an unlikely contraption and small miracle that eventually powered four lights, complete with homemade switches and a circuit breaker made from nails and wire. A second machine turned a water pump that could battle the drought and famine that loomed with every season. Soon, news of William's magetsi a mphepo—his "electric wind"—spread beyond the borders of his home, and the boy who was once called crazy became an inspiration to those around the world. Here is the remarkable story about human inventiveness and its power to overcome crippling adversity. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind will inspire anyone who doubts the power of one individual's ability to change his community and better the lives of those around him.Define Regarding Books The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope
| Title | : | The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope |
| Author | : | William Kamkwamba |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 270 pages |
| Published | : | September 29th 2009 by William Morrow |
| Categories | : | Nonfiction. Cultural. Africa. Autobiography. Memoir. Biography. Science. Biography Memoir. Eastern Africa. Malawi |
Rating Regarding Books The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope
Ratings: 4.11 From 20132 Users | 3285 ReviewsAssessment Regarding Books The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope
No more skipping breakfast; no more dropping out of school. With a windmill, we'd finally release ourselves from the troubles of of darkness and hunger. In Malawi, the wind was one of the few consistent things given to us by God, blowing in the treetops day and night. A windmill meant more than just power, it was freedom. This story about a boy who grows up in poverty in the farming villages of Malawi, survives famine and diseases, drops out of grade school because of poor grades, and ends upI once listened to an interview with Sydney Poitier, in which he said that the people who ultimately sent a man to the moon played cricket on the open fields and beaches with sticks and stones. They did not even know what a computer was as young children but they had the imagination to find their toys in the right places. They made something from nothing.It is for this reason that I wanted to read this book of the young Malawian boy who made life better by using his intellect, despite being
William Kambkwambwa was always a curious child. His curiosity about the workings of the world took a hit when his family was unable to afford to keep him in school. But he tried to keep up, going to the library and reading everything he could. He was particularly taken with books on science and on how things work. In this engaging and uplifting story, the young inventor tells of his experience in Malawi constructing a working windmill from bits and pieces retrieved from junkyards, using a design
I was surprised that the boy who harnessed the wind didn't get around to that wind harnessing until well into the second half of the book. Prior to that, the book might have been titled "Growing Up in a Small Village in Africa" - the first half of the book really is there to set the stage on the location, the people, and the situation. What the reader will remember is the description of the famine that hit the author's country. When the author finally gets around to his windmill, I was pleased
"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 was nearly too much to
Finally good news.I can't begin to tell you what a joy to read this book was. Every adult and every kid should read it (except for those kids whose parents are not ok with them reading vivid descriptions of someone dying from gonorrhoea - but even those kids should probably rebel against their parents and read it anyway).As any review will tell you 'The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind' is about a boy who did just that - he built a windmill from junk using some second-hand book about physics that was
A wonderful story of innovation, persistence, curiousity, and heart.
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