“I went to sleep dreaming of Malawi, and all the things made possible when your dreams are powered by your heart.”

“Cool! Where did you get such an idea?” “The library.”

This is the memoir of a boy who grew up in rural Malawi and taught himself how to build a windmill to provide electricity and water to his village. William Kamkwambe was born in 1987 in Wimbe, Malawi, where his family grew maize and tobacco. William grew up in poverty, exacerbated by the terrible famine of 2001-2002. His parents were unable to afford for him to complete highschool. He spent 5 years unable to attend school, so spent much time in the library educating himself. From reading something in a book he had the inspiration to build a windmill. As a penniless but determined 14-year-old, he set about building his windmill out of local scraps and materials, despite the villagers calling him crazy. Eventually his success led to recognition and he was sponsored to finish his schooling. A movie has been made about William’s amazing achievements.

The book gives considerable insight into life in rural Malawi. The devastation of the famine and perpetual hunger was heartbreaking. The belief in witchcraft was widespread and entrenched even in the 2000s, and could lead to revenge killings. There is also some discussion of politics. Hastings Banda was president of Malawi for the 30 years between 1964 to 1994. Having grown up as a farmer himself he was very pro farming and provided fertilizer and seed at subsidized prices. The next President, Bakili Muluzi, was more concerned about business than agriculture, and removed many of the subsidies. He also sold off the government reserves of food used to supplement the families in times of crisis, with tragic consequences during the famine. William does not shy away from pointing out corruption and mismanagement where he sees it.

The book was written in conjunction with Bryan Mealer. The style was extremely simplistic and not overly well written, but still does not fail to deliver an amazing, inspirational story. I am embarrassed to say that despite the incredible human suffering portrayed, the scene that made me cry was the story of William’s dog, Khamba. ( )

This is an excellent children's book (possibly for 8 years and up). Told by William himself, it is a story about social injustice, science, public health, and creativity. William is a genius, he is brave, he asks questions, finds his own answers, and doesn't give up. The world needs more people like William! ( )

3.5 ( )

This is an inspiring story about a boy who defies the odds and brings electricity to his village. This story can teach children how to shoot for the stars and reach their goals no matter how impossible they may seem. ( )

William Kamkwamba grew up in a village in Malawi without electricity or running water. His family lived comfortably until the famine of 2002. Like many in the country, his family subsisted on a few mouthfuls of food a day. With food prices soaring, William's father could no longer afford to send him to school, and for the next five years, William relied on a tiny village library and his friend's class notes to try and keep up. Most of the books in the library were donations from the US, and amongst them he found a few physics books. Fascinated with the diagrams, William began scrounging materials to do experiments. His dream was to build a windmill so that his family could have light at night and a pump to irrigate their fields and never go hungry again. He succeeds beyond his wildest dreams.

The book starts slow with lots of world building and stories that he heard as a child about witches and magic. The plot picks up with the famine and William's experiments. It's amazing and inspiring to read about his efforts to self-educate and to help his family. The co-author of this memoir lived with William's family for several months and interviewed his friends and family to verify details. The photos and William's crude drawings of his machines are a nice touch. I'm glad my copy of the book included an essay by William at the end which covered the time since the book was first published and the work of his foundation, Moving Windmills. ( )