William recounts his life as the only son in a poor farming family in Malawi. Through fruitful times on the farm to terrible famine, he simply tells what it was like for him. Along the way we learn about daily life in Africa, the way national politics affect the life of the farmers, the scourge of drought, the cycle of deforestation, the fear of disease, from AIDS to cholera. It's all here, told in William's easily accessible prose. He also speaks of his insatiable curiosity, his desire to know how things work. It was this curiosity that lead him to the little library in his town--three shelves of old books sent from Britain and America. Although his English wasn't good, he studied ferociously, reading and working through diagrams until he taught himself the basics of electricity and physics. Then he went to work, scouring back yards and garbage piles searching for the perfect parts to build his dream--a windmill to bring electric power to his village! William's story is terrible and wonderful, full of despair and hope. Above all, it's so inspiring to see what a young person can achieve through curiosity mixed with hard work and persistence. ( )

This is a wonderful memoir about a boy from Malawi who built a windmill from scavenged parts and provided electricity for his home. Reading this memoir is like sitting across from William in a coffee shop, chatting about life. Raised in a terribly poor country, unable to afford schooling beyond the primary school in his village, William taught himself about windmills and electricity from books in the three shelf library in his town. This is a riveting story. ( )

http://thenovelworld.com/2009/10/26/t... ( )

The author writes in simple but compelling prose the story of his childhood and upbringing. His family were victims of famine, and poverty kept him out of school for years. Yet he taught himself physics from old books in his three-shelf village library and brought electricity and running water to his home and village. An uplifting tale of Africa and of human ingenuity. ( )

I finished this book ten days ago and am still having trouble trying to find the words to convey the powerful impact it has had on me. This year I started a project to read about Africa, naively thinking it would make a good year’s study. I now realize that I will be reading in the area for several years and will even then have more to explore. My focus right now is to read books written by Africans to get the personal perspective of those who live there. I was delighted to receive this ER book because it not only is a personal memoir of a young man in Africa, it also takes place in an area where I have a personal connection. The son and daughter-in-law of a friend of mine live in Malawi and are the directors of an orphanage there. I have visited with them when they are on home leave and heard about and seen pictures of their work there. This is an area where I have some personal knowledge of what is happening and it made the book very vivid for me.

William Kamkwamba begins his story by telling of his childhood and relating how many of the values he learned were shaped by the folk tales that were told to him when he was a child. In the first part of the book we learn about daily life in Malawi, social customs, family and community relations, and a little about the politics from the time of their independence until now. We see some of the influences which shaped Williams personality and contributed to his determination to try to help his family. We also see the beginning of the dream of being able to bring electricity to his house and to his community to improve both life and working conditions there.

The second part of the book tells of the devastation of the famine of 2002 for most of the people in the country and how one of the consequences for William and his family was that they now could not afford to send William to school. How William deals with this disappointment without losing sight of his dream and what he eventually accomplishes with the help of his friends and later with the help of “strangers” makes for one of the most inspiring memoirs I have ever read.

Bottom Line: I am grateful that this book was about Africa because otherwise it might never have attracted my attention and I would have missed a wonderful experience seeing what the power of the human spirit can transcend if in the face of all obstacles it still strives to accomplish its dream. Highly recommended ( )