A review by emily_m_green
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Young Readers Edition by William Kamkwamba, Bryan Mealer

adventurous hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer is William’s story of how he not only built a windmill, but was able to bring power, in more ways than one, to his home country of Malawi. 

 

William loved to go to school. School was a great privilege, as it was costly. His parents did everything they could to pay for his education—until they couldn’t. When a famine hit his home, there was no money, not even for food. As William describes it, the famine was as terrifying and deadly as a tornado or other natural disaster, but the famine took longer to kill people. Eventually, the famine ended, but the consequences lingered, including the economic impact. With no monetary reserves left, and the family only beginning to have enough food, there is not enough money for William to go to school. 

 

He tries to sneak in, but it is eventually detected. He tries to learn from a friend who is still in school, but it is not enough. Eventually, with the hope that he will not fall too far behind his peers, William goes to the library. It is a small library, with only a few shelves, but William finds books that he can read. As he is reading, he gets the idea to build a windmill. 

 

Most of the book focuses on William’s journey to build the windmill. There are many steps in building it, beginning with a dynamo, which allows William to create electricity from another form of energy. At first, it is through pedaling a bicycle. Over time, William gathers parts as he can find them--mostly discarded pieces, but there are times when he must scratch up the money for something that can only be bought. Through imagination, experimentation, and perseverance, he is able to create a working windmill. 

 

Eventually, word of William’s windmill gets out. Journalists come to interview him and to take pictures of his windmill. A blogger hears about it, and writes an article, which spreads word of him further. William becomes a TED fellow. From there, people and groups help him so that he is able to gain more education and knowledge. 

 

It is an incredible story, but also frustrating. Why can’t help come from within? Why does the money have to come from outside of Malawi, even outside of Africa? The disparity in wealth and resources is unconscionable. 

 

Would I teach this book? The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is a choice for a non-fiction unit I teach. Students chose it, but it was not nearly as popular as the sports choices. 

 

Those who did choose the book did not seem nearly as inspired as the book is meant to be. To think that someone would work so hard to achieve such a goal is something I find amazing--but an American middle school student might find this further outside the bounds of their imagination. With such blessings as running water, electricity, and education, it is hard to fathom what life might be without these things. However, even if a book cannot bring the understanding entirely home when they are an adolescent, it may plant an idea that they will return to later and it might inspire them to do good things.