[Michlib-l] The Boy Who Harnassed the Wind author William Kamkwamba to speak in Alpena 9/29

[Eric Magness-Eubank]

All things are made possible when your dreams are powered by your heart.  William Kamkwamba.







The Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library has chosen William Kamkwamba’s The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind as this year’s Alpena Reads book.  Tickets for William Kamkwamba’s Alpena Reads author talk are now on sale at the Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library. Tickets may also be purchased online at www.alpenalibrary.org or by calling 989-356-6188, ext. 10. Tickets are $10 each. 



William’s true-life story is amazing. In 2000, when he was thirteen years old, famine struck his home country of Malawi. His family went hungry and lost their livelihood when the crops failed. The following year he was forced to drop out of school because his family could no longer afford his tuition. Fearing a life of ignorance and poverty, the young teen turned to the tiny three-shelf library in his village in search of books he hoped would help him keep up with his friends. In these books, he found his dream: He would build a windmill that would produce power to light his home and irrigate his family’s crops. With insufficient English skills and no teacher, he taught himself the basics of physics and electrical engineering using diagrams in the books. At fourteen, against all odds, he built an electricity-generating windmill that eventually drew the attention of the world.



Kamkwamba’s visit will be the culmination of a community-wide read of his book The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, a non-fiction account of how famine and hardship in his home country of Malawi inspired Kamkwamba to build a windmill that changed his life and his community. 

More information is available on the Library’s website (www.alpenalibrary.org) or by calling 989.356.6188

Eric Magness-Eubank
Library Director 
Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library
emeacl at alpenalibrary.org
989.356.6188 ex 11
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