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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
A truly amazing story about a kid in a very poor village in Malawi who, after not having money to go to school, learned to build a windmill from books in the library and used it to power his family's house. He got a lot of attention for his work and it spread to other houses and other villages. While the story is amazing, only about 30% of the book is really about the windmill--the rest is a focuses on the Malawian famines that hit the country so hard in over the past 15 years or so. I would have loved to have learned more about how the idea spread after he got it built and the longer-term impact of his work. Amazing kid, great story, decent book.
This is an unbelievably inspiring story that makes me want to putter in my garage until I've invented an alternative energy source. What he did was so simple and so brilliant, and the stuff he taught himself about electricity just blows me away. Coiling his own whatever-ma-callits to increase voltage, and making his own circuit breakers out of magnets and ball point pens. He's like a real-life MacGyver. And he did it during a famine. And he couldn't even buy the parts. He had to find them in the junkyard. And the whole time he was chatting up your mom.
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
This was a really amazing story. Well written, insightful, inspiring and informative. Very excited to share this with my class even if they will cry.
the dog dies
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind was my Malawi pick for my around the world journey - and it was a good one. Only a small part of the autobiography focusses on the building of the wind turbine. The rest gives the reader a view into the life of a village boy in rural Malawi. One minor aspect of the book I loved - it is an ode to libraries. Provide books and resources to people for free, and let their ingenuity be revealed.
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
A wonderful autobiography about William's life and family and also about building the windmill. Really amazing stuff!
If you want to be reminded that you are an over-privileged, lazy, pathetic slacker -- this is a must read. Nevertheless, the book is well composed and incredibly inspiring.
This was interesting and inspiring, but didn't grab me like I was expecting. Not sure exactly what it was: I think it was just too long. When he finally gets to the part about him building the windmill and the aftermath of that (about 2/3 of the way through the book), I really enjoyed it.
I enjoyed this. The book tells the story of William Kamkwamba, who as a young man in Malawi figures out how to build a windmill to power his family's house and farm. Despite the title of the book, most of it does not actually focus on the windmill itself -- there is a good amount of setup. That said, the setup is pretty important in terms of establishing the living conditions and educational challenges that William overcomes in order to build the windmill. Very inspirational, if sad at times.