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The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope

William Kamkwamba

and Bryan Mealer

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The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
 

Marketing Campaign

Advertising:
• Social Education 
• Chronicle of Higher Education
• Literary Journals, including The Believer, BookForum, Bomb, Granta, n+1, A Public Space, Rain Taxi, or Tin House
 
Publicity:

• National Radio Campaign 
• New & Noteworthy Paperbacks Columns
• Tie-in with HarperCollins Speakers Bureau
• Author Appearance at NEIBA

Marketing and Online:
• Include in First Year Experience Catalog
• E-card to HS/College Professors
• Reading Group Outreach, Including Promotion on BookClubGirl.com, ReadingGroupGuides.com, and ReadingGroupChoices.com
• Reading Group Guide on HarperPerennial.com
• Reading Group Coordinator Seasonal Mailing
• Feature in the Book Chatter e-Newsletter (19,000 subscribers) 
• 10-Stop Blog Tour, Including Reviews, Interviews, Features, and Guest Posts
• Social Networking Campaign on Facebook
• Author Videos Available
• Outreach to “Green” Organizations and Websites
• Cross-promotion with the author’s documentary Moving Windmills - details TK
• Author Website: http://williamkamkwamba.typepad.com/
 
 

William Kamkwamba

William Kamkwamba was a student in the inaugural class of the Pan-African Leadership Academy in South Africa. A 2007 TED Global Fellow, Kamkwamba was a finalist for the Tech Museum Award. He is an accomplished speaker who has delivered an address at the 2008 World Economic Forum. In Fall 2010, he will begin his freshman year at Darmouth College.



Photo Credit: Gilbert Mofat


 

and Bryan Mealer

Bryan Mealer is the author of All Things Must Fight to Live: Stories of War and Deliverance in Congo, which chronicled his experience as a war reporter in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A former Associated Press staff correspondent, he contributes to several magazines, including Harper’s and Esquire. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.



 

Backlist

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
William Kamkwamba, Bryan Mealer
  • Hardcover
  • 9780061730320
  • 9/29/2009
  • $25.99 ($27.99 Can.)
  • Marketing Code: AV
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind LP
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind LP
William Kamkwamba, Bryan Mealer
  • Large Print
  • 9780061884986
  • 10/13/2009
  • $25.99 ($33.99 Can.)
  • Marketing Code: AV
 

Also Available

Extras


Quotes

“The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is the inspiring story of a young man in Africa who used the only resources available to him to build a windmill and elevate the lives and spirits of those in his community. William Kamkwamba’s achievements with wind energy should serve as a model of what one person, with an inspired idea, can do to tackle the crisis we face. His book tells a moving and exciting story.”


— Al Gore, former Vice President and Nobel Laureate
 
 
"This is an amazing, inspiring and heartwarming story! It's about harnessing the power not just of the wind, but of imagination and ingenuity. Those are the most important forces we have for saving our planet. William Kamkwamba is a hero for our age."


— Walter Isaacson, author of Einstein and Benjamin Franklin
"This is an uplifting story, showing that big change can start small."


- New York Post
"The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind [is] an autobiography so moving that it is almost impossible to read without tears. In understated and simple prose, Kamkwamba and Mealer offer readers a tour through one Malawian boy's inspiring life....The telling of his story is surprisingly levelheaded....As you read this book (I'd suggest keeping a box of tissues handy) you can be sure that William Kamkwamba's future is bright. If this tale is any indication, we'll be hearing his name again in the years ahead."


- Christian Science Monitor
"We seldom post about books at Gizmodo, but if this story of a self-taught Malawian boy using junkyard parts to build windmills and bring life-changing electricity to his village doesn't make you misty-eyed, then you must be one cold-hearted bastard."


- Gizmodo
"This exquisite tale strips life down to its barest essentials, and once there finds reason for hopes and dreams, and is especially resonant for Americans given the economy and increasingly heated debates over health care and energy policy."


- Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A moving, touching, important story. One more reminder of how small the world is and how powerful the human spirit can be."


- Seth Godin, author of Tribes
"The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is a stunning narrative, a description of persistence and accomplishment told matter-of-factly...of greater worth is the humbling and inspiring example of intuition, inventiveness and determination that fuel Kamkwamba's journey."


- Denver Post