Reviews tagging 'Death'
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Young Readers Edition by William Kamkwamba, Bryan Mealer
9 reviews
jessicamdawn's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Grief, and Medical content
This book contains detailed imagery of people going through a famine and starvation. These were not available as content warnings, but they are a big part of William's life, so please be aware before you start reading.sassmistress's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
4.5
This review is only applicable to the YOUNG READERS EDITION. I understand the original publication may have a few additional content concerns.
I loved this book! It's an inspiring, informational autobiography of a young Malawian inventor that beautifully captures the African spirit. "Where the world sees trash, Africa recycles. Where the world sees junk, Africa sees rebirth." Thank you to everyone who recommended it for our Africa unit study this year; it checks so many of my boxes--rural life, city life, biography, African author, hopeful bent...! As a tech person, I also adore the passionate "you can do STEM as a kid with what you have" message. I also love the implicit acknowledgement that he didn't do it alone, by showing all the ways he was supported by his friends and family (even if he got a little puffed up from time to time).
Target audience: The author is very passionate about the technology he's learned about, so there are a number of (very accessible) explanations of things he figured out how to fix or build from scratch, including his windmill, a light switch, circuit breaker, AC vs DC current, radios, batteries, and many other topics mostly in the category of electrical engineering. Because of this and lengthy descriptions of a severe and tragic famine his family survived, I would guess this is appropriate for middle school or older. I have young children so I can't gauge this well, but Amazon says as low as 5th grade.
I loved this book! It's an inspiring, informational autobiography of a young Malawian inventor that beautifully captures the African spirit. "Where the world sees trash, Africa recycles. Where the world sees junk, Africa sees rebirth." Thank you to everyone who recommended it for our Africa unit study this year; it checks so many of my boxes--rural life, city life, biography, African author, hopeful bent...! As a tech person, I also adore the passionate "you can do STEM as a kid with what you have" message. I also love the implicit acknowledgement that he didn't do it alone, by showing all the ways he was supported by his friends and family (even if he got a little puffed up from time to time).
Target audience: The author is very passionate about the technology he's learned about, so there are a number of (very accessible) explanations of things he figured out how to fix or build from scratch, including his windmill, a light switch, circuit breaker, AC vs DC current, radios, batteries, and many other topics mostly in the category of electrical engineering. Because of this and lengthy descriptions of a severe and tragic famine his family survived, I would guess this is appropriate for middle school or older. I have young children so I can't gauge this well, but Amazon says as low as 5th grade.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Gore
Moderate: Classism, Death, Child death, and Death of parent
Minor: Alcohol, Pandemic/Epidemic, Vomit, Bullying, Alcoholism, Excrement, and Medical content
- The narrator describes local beliefs and customs regarding "witch doctors" and "wizards", but they are portrayed as charlatans. A few stories are told about the rumors people tell about curses and cures, and the narrator in his childhood had someone cut his skin and put a "potion" on it to give him superhuman strength, then realizes he's been had when he starts and loses a fight.- Other spiritual content: the narrator's father is a Presbyterian minister. A habit of going to church is mentioned once. I count four instances of "my God" used as an exclamation equivalent to "wow". Other mentions of God are: "with God on your side, [the wizards] have no power against you," "God has blessed you," "it was as if God was rewarding us for our sacrifice," a heartfelt "I pray God blesses them all," and a one-line explanation of the Noah story when saying his family nicknamed him Noah--"everyone laughed at Noah, but look what happened."
- A number of chapters are dedicated to the 2001 famine in Malawi. This includes mass starvation and all that entails--large crowds begging, babies crying and mothers begging for anything to feed them, people eating what is normally not considered edible, some theft and a crowd panic at a distribution location, detailed descriptions of the physical effects of death by starvation, people dying by the roadside.
- Brief mention of men who waste their lives away taking small jobs to pay for a night of drinking alcohol.
- There's an explanation of the deforestation happening in Malawi, what it does to the rest of the country's environment, and how it affects the health of the people living in the region.
- In case anyone has a problem with insects, there are a few swarms depicted. Botflies coming out of a latrine (when describing a diarrheal disease outbreak), termites destroying a roof and landing all over the boy's bedroom, and ants on the swollen tongue of a dead animal.
- There is a dog
Spoiler
death. The dog slowly starves until the boy is told to put him out of his misery. The dog is tied to a tree overnight and gives up and dies after seeing the boy Wali away.misslynette's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
5.0
This is by far one of the most inspirational stories I've read in my entire life.
One thing that particularly impressed me is the way that Kamkwamba and his co-author are able to describe what he built in a way that even a non-engineer myself can understand.
Brb, recommending it to everyone I know.
One thing that particularly impressed me is the way that Kamkwamba and his co-author are able to describe what he built in a way that even a non-engineer myself can understand.
Brb, recommending it to everyone I know.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Minor: Vomit and Child death
skyllarduncan's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
slow-paced
4.5
This was a really inspiring, emotional story about hope and innovation. It was a little slow and took time for me to really get into it, and some of the technical descriptions got very detailed so it was easy to let my mind wander–but overall I learned a lot through this novel and it was a story filled with nothing but heart from William Kamkwamba.
Spoiler
Yes, I cried when the dog died.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Animal death
100_pages_hr's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Bullying, and Death
jgintrovertedreader's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.0
William Kamkwamba is a Malawian boy who is fascinated by science. His farming family wants him to continue his education past roughly the elementary level but they just don’t have the tuition money after a famine spreads across the country. As the famine worsens, families who have even a few bites of food each day are considered fortunate. Life gets harder and harder.
Eventually the famine does start to ease and William begins visiting the library regularly. He finds a couple of physics books and becomes fascinated with the idea of wind power. He looks around his village, collects mechanical “junk,” and starts to literally build a better life for his family and his village.
What an inspirational story! William and his family have almost nothing by Western standards but they do have each other. William has dreams and the willingness to teach himself and try. That takes him farther than he could even imagine.
The part describing the famine was extremely difficult to read. People starve on the roadsides. Pets must fend for themselves or die. No one can think about anything except hunger. Corrupt politicians make the situation so much worse than it had to be. Government thugs punish local leaders who speak out against the corruption. It’s an unimaginable situation. This section takes up about half the book, so readers who are sensitive to these kinds of things might want to steer clear. It feels important to read though because most Westerners truly can’t conceive of what a famine is like. I know I have a better appreciation now for my local grocery stores and farmers markets.
William persists in his dreams and his self-education despite all the adversity he faces. He truly believes he can make a difference and make life easier for his family. He patiently collects what he needs and one of his best friends, the village chief’s son, believes in William enough to give him the money for parts he has to buy. We don’t all have William’s ingenuity, but we can all help dreamers, even if it’s just by having faith in them.
The edition of the book that I read had an afterward to update us on William’s life as of 2016. He’s come so far and invented so many things that make life easier for innumerable people. I’m proud of a man I’ve never even met. He proves that one person can make a difference to a lot of people. He’s also quick to point out that a lot of benefactors have helped him on his path, proving again that we can all contribute in some way to building a better world.
Some of the content is going to be difficult for some readers but ultimately, this book is brimming with hope and the affirmation that one person can change the world. Highly recommended.
Eventually the famine does start to ease and William begins visiting the library regularly. He finds a couple of physics books and becomes fascinated with the idea of wind power. He looks around his village, collects mechanical “junk,” and starts to literally build a better life for his family and his village.
What an inspirational story! William and his family have almost nothing by Western standards but they do have each other. William has dreams and the willingness to teach himself and try. That takes him farther than he could even imagine.
The part describing the famine was extremely difficult to read. People starve on the roadsides. Pets must fend for themselves or die. No one can think about anything except hunger. Corrupt politicians make the situation so much worse than it had to be. Government thugs punish local leaders who speak out against the corruption. It’s an unimaginable situation. This section takes up about half the book, so readers who are sensitive to these kinds of things might want to steer clear. It feels important to read though because most Westerners truly can’t conceive of what a famine is like. I know I have a better appreciation now for my local grocery stores and farmers markets.
William persists in his dreams and his self-education despite all the adversity he faces. He truly believes he can make a difference and make life easier for his family. He patiently collects what he needs and one of his best friends, the village chief’s son, believes in William enough to give him the money for parts he has to buy. We don’t all have William’s ingenuity, but we can all help dreamers, even if it’s just by having faith in them.
The edition of the book that I read had an afterward to update us on William’s life as of 2016. He’s come so far and invented so many things that make life easier for innumerable people. I’m proud of a man I’ve never even met. He proves that one person can make a difference to a lot of people. He’s also quick to point out that a lot of benefactors have helped him on his path, proving again that we can all contribute in some way to building a better world.
Some of the content is going to be difficult for some readers but ultimately, this book is brimming with hope and the affirmation that one person can change the world. Highly recommended.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Animal death, and Animal cruelty
meaganbrooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, and Death
multilingual_s's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.0
An entertaining book that lives from the fresh and unusual perspective of the narrator. A few more illustrative sketches to go along with the technical descriptions would have been fine, but for me it was understandable. Especially because I took some electrical engineering courses at university this was a nice reminder what human ingenuity can achieve.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Grief, Medical content, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Sexism, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, and Excrement
kimiwriter's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
4.5
The biography of William Kamkwamba who built a windmill in his village in Malawi in order to bring electricity, and eventually running water, to his family and neighbors. This is an amazing story about Kamkwamba's life and his scientific inquires and advancements despite the hardships and obstacles that got in his way of a traditional education.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death and Violence
Minor: Death
This is an account of true events, specifically the famine that affected Malawi in 2001 where many people starved and died.
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