Saturday, April 24, 2010

A New Story that Generates Current and Hope

Most of the time when you read about books on Green Eggs, it will be Jenny reviewing them. This is mainly because Jenny is a voracious reader and I am dyslexic. I love to read, it just takes me a long time to finish a book.


That said, I just finished an inspiring read: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. It is the memoir of William Kamkwamba, a young boy that grew up in rural Malawi who carried his family (and town) out of threat of starvation and poverty by building a windmill out of bicycle parts and junkyard debris. While reading physics textbooks in the local library, he learned about the basic prinicples of electricity, magnetism, and induction. Armed with this small bit of knowledge, a few diagrams, and his strong will, William is able to generate enough electricity to light his house, recharge cell phone batteries, and run a small water pump. The book reads quickly and is easily aproachable as William Kamkwamba and Brian Mealer tell a mesmerizing story of innovation and ingenuity.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for the recommendation. I just put it on hold at the library and I'm 2nd in line.

    Have you read the one about the boy who bought the well for a village? And he became friends with a boy from that village and his parents adopted him?

    Ryan & Jimmy. I had to do a search on Amazon. It's actually a pretty good book for middle-school aged kids. I wouldn't want to read it with younger kids because of the description of what life is like for Jimmy in Africa.

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  2. Thanks for the recommendation; I will add that to my summer reading list! I am always looking for good science reading to pass along to middle school students.

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