The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

They story of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, is a story of desperation, but also a story of inspirastion.  It is the story of a boy filled with determination to learn and to make his families life better.  Through a beautifully illustrated book William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer tell Williams story of growing up desperately poor and starving in Malawi.  A story of how drought brought famine in 2001 and how his family was trying to survive on one meal a day.  But almost more devastating to William was being told there was no money for him to continue with school.  When he remembers the library in the village he immerses himself in books, using his dictionary to piece together an understanding of how engines work. "Slowly, he built the sentence: 'Windmills can produce electricity and pump water." As he attempts to fulfill his dream of building a windmill the locals said, "This boy is misala. Only crazy people play with trash!" but soon friends joined his efforts and his belief that they could make electric wind. 

Kamkwamba draws you into the world of his childhood, dreaming of magic and ghost dancers to bring the rains as well as learning how the music comes from the radio.  Written and illustrated as a picture book young students can be engaged and inspired by the story.  It is also a great short read aloud for a middle grade class studying renewable resources and attempting their own engineering feats.  Coauthor Byran Mealer provides and accounting of Williams life growing up in the drought and famine that killed over 10,000 Mawali people.  Mealer explains in further detail the parts that William used to build his first windmill at age 14 and how he later improved it as well as being discovered by journalists and his invitation to a TED talk. As a University student he dreamt of being an engineer and returning to Malawi to work on renewable energy for his people.  

The illustration (below left) and photograph (right) bring together the illustrated story and the real life windmill that William built. 

What I like about using this book in the classroom is educators can introduce renewable energy to a class and that the brook brings a personal story in to inspire other students.  I would suggest a companion book, A Long Walk to Water, to be used along with The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind for older grades.  Linda Sue Park tells the story of Nya and Salva side-by-side with a remarkable conclusion.  Educators can use A Long Walk to Water to further a lesson as students also learn about the civil unrest in Africa and the Lost Boys of Sudan.  Both of these stories teach resilience, compassion and the value of learning.  

The following links would support further learning in the classroom:

https://movingwindmills.org/

https://www.lspark.com/images/pdfs/dg_longwalktowater.pdf

https://www.waterforsouthsudan.org/

Kamkwamba, W. & Mealer, B. (2012). The boy who harnessed the wind.  New York, NY: The Penguin Group

Narrative nonfiction's are a powerful part of literature.  They can bridge the gap between fiction and nonfiction readers, leading each group to explore the other.  When I read I like to get 'lost' in the story, which isn't a typical reaction to a nonfiction book. But a narrative nonfiction does just that- I feel invested in a character, I hurt for them and I root for them.  It was after I started reading narrative nonfiction that I found myself looking at more nonfiction books.  I've always loved reading cookbooks, crafting, sewing, and gardening books, procedural and informative.  It was information I could readily put to use.  However, now when I read a narrative nonfiction I am left wanting to know more about the history, facts or events in the book- and that is the power of this genre of books! The fiction reader is now looking for nonfiction explanatory texts.  I also believe narrative nonfiction books are great read alouds or discussion books for classroom learning.  When students can relate to a character they most likely want to know more, cue discussion and research in the topic.

My latest narrative nonfiction read was Too Young To Escape.  I didn't know what to expect, I certainly didn't expect to feel such strong emotions around the decision Van's mother was forced to make. This books forces the reader to think about the decision she made as well as Van's fathers decision when he fled, and the outward actions of her aunt and uncle.  The risks they all took and the courage every member of the family have.

"She's gone to Canada to be with your Ba and Linh." Ba Ngoai explained to Van when she asked if her Ma was home yet.  Marsha Skrypuch, author of Too Young To Escape, first wrote Adrift at Sea, telling the story of Vans brother Tuan Ho, who escaped Vietnam with his mother and two sisters by boat.  Skrypuch and her readers always came back to ask the question, what happened to Van?  The result was the collaboration between Skrypuch and Vanessa Ho Gatensby to tell Van's story of being left behind and the eventual reunion with her immediate family.  The book focuses on Van and her relationship with only three members of her family left in Vietnam.  I appreciate that Skrypuch mentions later in her notes that she left out other extended family members to keep the focus and clarity of the book on Van's narrative.  Follow up interviews with Van's father and mother are also shared at the end.  This gives readers a better glimpse into the turmoil that her parents faced with each decision they made.

Too Young to Escape would be a great addition to a collection on immigration or the Vietnam war.  This along with books such as Americanized: Rebel without a Green Card, The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees, The Turtles of Oman and Caravan to the North: Misael's Long Walk all open discussion to the reasons, struggles  and issues raised with immigration.  While of each of this books focus on different aspects of immigration, discussed together they would cover many facts of immigration

Van was just 4 years old when her ma and siblings escaped Vietnam in the middle of the night. Her grandmother was left to break the news to her. 

Photos of Van taken by her Aunt Di. I find these pictures show the love her aunt had for her, even if she didn't feel it as a guest in their house.  Understanding the consequences of the Vietnam war was more than Van comprehend as a child.  

Extension activities could include http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/immigration/ highlighting how immigration is a major part of American history and is still an ongoing part of American history https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/newamericans/foreducators_index.html.

While Too Young To Escape written for 8-12 year olds and has a lexile level of 740 I believe it could be stretched to higher grades for a lesson on immigration as it provides a broader diversity that isn't immediately considered when we think of immigration today.

Too Young To Escape won a 2018 NCTA Freeman Book Award: Young Adult/Middle School Literature Honorable Mention and was listed on the 2019 USBBY Outstanding International Books List selection, the 2019 ILA Notable Books for a Global Society selection as well as other book lists and nominations for awards in 2020.

Ho, V. & Skrypuch, M.F. (2018). Too young to escape. Toronto, ON: Pajamapress

Soaring Earth

Margarita leaves her childhood behind as well as summer trips to her mother's Cuba.  She dreams of returning to Cuba and traveling the world. This story of her life is written in poetry, short expressions of emotions as she fumbles through the reality of life.  

"How many other illusions do I experience, along with this one that fools me into thinking I'm capable of choosing my own direction." (59)

She gets lost in the idealistic life presented to her by so many others. Self identity is hard in high school, as a Cuban American she struggles with where she belongs.  Margarita grapples with finding her place with older boyfriends, drugs and war protests. 

"Do I need to alter my own definition of self?" (74)

Margarita hopes that she has found her place at UC Berkeley, instead she feels lost as a freshman. Slowly she finds things that she loves such as the beauty of the Hindi language, but she is also easily influenced as she tries to find her identity.  Strikes and riots equal missed tests and flunked classes.  Margarita finds herself lost, easily persuaded as she still holds onto her childhood dreams of Cuba.

"I've lost my identity
no longer a student
my face in the mirror
this dropout
a stranger." (83)

No school, no job, no home Margarita leaves readers wondering why she doesn't go home to start new again.  Instead she joins a commune, learns a trade, she roams the woods and once again is manipulated as she holds on to her dream of returning to Cuba. 

"This time, I won't give up. 
I need to learn how to help feed the hungry
with roots, shoots, seeds, fruit
and perseverance." (147)

"Hope follows wherever we go." (157)

This is Margarita's story of leaving her childhood, having hopes and dreams and teaching us that sometimes we must be lost before we can find ourselves and start again.

Students that enjoy this type of verse novel, although still nonfiction may also enjoy Inside Out and Back Again and Words with Wings.  Nonfiction written in this format is personal and it is because of the format that students can be drawn into another culture or experience.  They are relatable and make a good platform for beginning classroom discussions and would serve as a lead in on each of their own particular topics or together on a broader topic of self-identity.  While these three books range in age recommendations as low as third for Inside Out and Back again, Lexile level of 800, up to 7th grade to high school for Soaring Earth, Lexile level 1190, I think all three would be excellent collections to a school library.

Engle, M. (2019). Soaring earth. New York, NY: Atheneum.
Thanhha, L. (2013). Inside out and back again. New York, NY: Harper Collins
Grimes, N. (2013). Words with wings. New York, NY: Penguin.