Book review: The Boy who Harnessed the Wind

Story Review: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, by William Kamkwamba & Bryan Mealer

This is a true story about WIlliam Kamkwamba making a windmill to make light and electricity.  William, who was a teenager, lived in Malawi, a poor country in Africa, and his village did not have a lot of food.  But his uncle made lots of money by selling tobacco.

William’s family was poor (apart from his uncle) and he wanted to make a windmill so he could listen to the radio and have electricity without needing to pay.  He got the idea for making the windmill from a book from his former primary school library, and he found the parts from the junk yard and from his best friend (as his best friend was the son of the village chief and had money, so was able to help William).

Other people in his village thought he was absolutely crazy because it looked like a weird machine, and they were afraid of it.  Only his family had faith in him.

Once the windmill was made and producing electricity, a man came and asked him to do a TED talk.  He accepted the offer and was taken to the TED talk headquarters.  He spoke to the TED reporters and other people there and had lots of appointments with famous people who wanted to know about his machine which he had created.

He set up a science club at his former primary school for anyone who wanted to join,

and learn about science, and he made a smaller windmill than the one he first created at his house so that the school could listen to music.

At the time of writing the book, William had gone to a new school which was not near his home and he was learning more science.

I enjoyed the book and I would recommend it for anyone who can read long chapter books.