The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. By William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer

I was in need of  a book and wandering through Barnes & Noble’s when I stumbled on this one. Because I was going backpacking I did not want a War and Peace sized book, this one was just right, paperback, about 300 pages, with good reviews.

What I found was a treasure. William is a Malawian boy who tells us a story about overcoming hardship in Africa from being poor, to not being able to attend school because his family could not pay, to surviving famine, and more. BUT… then he shows how clever he is and how he teaches himself physics and about electricity to bring windmills to his small village allowing his family to read at night and ultimately to irrigate their land.

Wow, I could not put this book down. I loved it and was inspired from it. I highly recommend this reading this story about a young African boy who makes it to Dartmouth, TedTalks, and a hero in his own village in Malawi.