Synopses & Reviews
When fourteen-year-old William Kamkwamba's Malawi village was hit by a drought, everyone's crops began to fail. Without enough money for food, let alone school, William spent his days in the library . . . and figured out how to bring electricity to his village. Persevering against the odds, William built a functioning windmill out of junkyard scraps, and thus became the local hero who harnessed the wind.
Lyrically told and gloriously illustrated, this story will inspire many as it shows how - even in the worst of times - a great idea and a lot of hard work can still rock the world.
Review
"...[T]his is a dynamic portrait of a young person whose connection to the land, concern for his community, and drive to solve problems offer an inspiring model." School Library Journal
Review
"[An] inspiring story of curiosity and ingenuity." Publishers Weekly
Review
"A powerful, gorgeously illustrated children's picture book." The Boston Globe
About the Author
William Kamkwamba (williamkamkwamba.typepad.com) currently attends Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. Bryan Mealer (www.bryanmealer.com) lives in Brooklyn, New York. The original version of their Boy Who Harnessed the Wind was a New York Times Bestseller and a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year.
Bryan Mealer is the author of Muck City and the New York Times bestseller The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, which he wrote with William Kamkwamba. Since publication, the book has received many honors and has been translated into over a dozen languages. Mealer is also the author of All Things Must Fight to Live, which chronicled his years covering the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo for Harper's and the Associated Press. His forthcoming book, The Kings of Big Spring, a multi-generational saga about his family in West Texas, will be published by Flatiron Books in early 2018. He and his family live in Austin.
Elizabeth Zunon grew up in Ivory Coast, West Africa, and now lives in Albany, New York.