The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a fascinating read on several levels. I knew next to nothing about Malawi, it's customs and history. I had to keep reminding myself that this novel was set in the early 2000's as William described a rural farm community without electricity or running water, yet they built play cars from recycled trash. The famine sounds devastating--both for its intensity and for the fact that in this century, they were not able to get humane relief from it. William's windmill defies his circumstances, educationally, financially, culturally. His parents are good role models--thinking outside the box to survive the famine, but William transcends even them and shows us what imagination, curiosity, and ingenuity can accomplish.
My main complaint is the title of the book. I didn't want to read this solely because it sounded extremely boring and it is not. Seriously, with a better title, this book would have done much better. William calls his windmill "electric wind"--couldn't they have utilized that into something better? "William's Electric Wind" or "The Boy with the Electric Wind"--anything!!!

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