I read THE BOY WHO HARNESSED THE WIND thinking it would be a story of inventory and innovation. It was. But it also was much more.
William Kamkwamba grew up in a very poor, but loving, family and village in Malawi. I could picture him walking along the dusty roads, trying to find enough money to attend school.
But he has to drop out and spends years working and studying on his own, hanging on to the dream that, one day, he will be able to return to class.
Meanwhile he hangs out in a tiny local library, with books donated by the USA. Not only is this William’s story, to me it also is the story of the amazing impact books can have on a person’s life.

If William had not had access to books and a kind librarian, he might never have achieved what he did: to invent a wind mill, to build batteries, to create power for his home and village and to be ‘discovered’ by scientists and the technology community that brought worldwide attention to this young man.
He deserves all of the credit, but so does the library, the librarian and the people who donated the books.

The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind is available as a nonfiction novel, a picture book and now also as a major motion picture.