My Mom's Last Letter

My Mom's Last Letter by Chrissy Washburn

Commentary:

This short story shows how love can make live worth living up until the time of one's death. It's a heartwarming story of a mother who was kind, caring and full of positive energy, and how she faced death with extraordinary valor and peacefulness. The fact that Chrissy's mom left the world in the most serene manner reflected how she was a blessed soul, She left a legacy of love and kindness that everybody should emulate.

You may request a free copy of the book HERE. 

Giveaway:

I'm giving away my copy, courtesy of the author. If you're living in SLC, UT, and would like to read the book, please contact me at aikychien@yahoo.com. You can come pick up the book later.

Book Review : The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba
Hardcover, 270 pages
Published October 1st 2009 by William Morrow

William Kamkwamba, the youthful author of this book, was born in Malawi, an African nation best known for its harrowing poverty, its AIDS epidemic, and its long-term food crisis. In 2001, William was just 14 years old when the country was struck by the greatest famine within memory. With his family now too poor to pay his $80-a-year tuition, this eager learner was forced to leave school. Against those staggering odds, he continued to read, learn, and experiment. Inspired by a few old school textbooks, he devised a primitive working windmill, cobbled together from bicycle parts, blue-gum trees, and other makeshift scraps. With his homemade invention, he gave his family and himself electricity and a new start. Inspiring and refreshing as the wind.

I started reading this book last year, but had to stop it halfway through because of my upcoming SPM exam. After the exam, I forgot about it until an online chat with a fellow friend on Facebook. I instantly picked up this book and continued to read where I last stopped. Good thing I put a bookmark inside.

The first half of the novel focuses on the situation in Malawi: poor farmers shedding their sweat and tears in their crops, politicians giving empty promises, famine striking the country once in a while and killing thousands, children couldn't continue their studies due to the expensive fees, uneducated people preferring to consult a magician instead of a doctor when they fall sick... the list goes on and on.

William is a normal boy who suffers the fate of most of the Malawians - he comes from a poor family whose parents are unable to send him to school for a long time. The cost is just too high for them to burden. However, instead of giving up, William chooses to go to the library to learn by himself. At first, he struggles to grasp English, but he chooses to reread the pages again and again until he is finally able to understand the meanings. He is very interested in Physics, and the book he found in the library proves to change his life in a way that he can never imagine. He learns about windmills - how they are used to generate electricity. With his understanding of the Physics concepts and his willingness to pick through junk to find the hidden gems, along with the support from his helpful friend, he manages to build a mini windmill which actually works - his first taste of success.

Following more success and a few failures, he eventually receives recognition internationally. He has the chance to continue his studies and visit other countries to learn about their technology. Going back to his country, he vows to make Malawi a better place in the future with his skills and knowledge. I loved how inspiring this book is, and a sentence that William mentioned in this book grips me entirely: If you want to do something, all you have to do is try.

Every teenager should read this amazing book and learn how knowledge, hard-work, perseverance and determination can make a difference.

Rating:

William Kamkwamba was born August 5, 1987 in Malawi, and grew up on his family farm in Wimbe, two and half hours northeast of Malawi’s capital city. William was educated at Wimbe Primary School, completing 8th grade and was then accepted to secondary school. Due to severe famine in 2001-2002, his family lacked funds to pay $80 in school fees and William was forced to drop out in his freshman year. For five years he was unable to go to school. Rather than accept his fate, William borrowed books from a small community lending library, including an American textbook Using Energy, which depicted a wind turbine. He decided to build a windmill to power his family’s home. First he built a prototype, then his initial 5-meter windmill out of a broken bicycle, tractor fan blade, old shock absorber, and blue gum trees. He was able to power four light bulbs and two radios, and charge neighbors’ mobile phones. He then added a car battery for storage, as well as homemade light switches and circuit breakers. Subsequent projects have included clean water, malaria prevention, solar power and lighting for his family compound, a deep water well with a solar powered pump, a drip irrigation system, and the outfitting of the village team Wimbe United with uniforms and shoes. In September, 2008, William started as one of 97 inaugural students at the African Leadership Academy, a new pan-African prep school based outside of Johannesburg, South Africa whose mission is to educate the next generation with rigorous academics, ethical leadership training, entrepreneurship and design (africanleadershipacademy.org).

Book Review : Case Closed?: Nine Mysteries Unlocked by Modern Science by Susan Hughes

Case Closed?: Nine Mysteries Unlocked by Modern Science
by Susan Hughes (Writer), Michael Wandelmaier (Illustrator)

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 88 pages
• Publisher: Kids Can Press (August 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1554533627
• ISBN-13: 978-1554533626
• Available at Amazon / Barnes & Noble / The Book Depository
  

Egypt's first female pharaoh disappears around 1457 BCE -- was she murdered? Find out how DNA closes the case. The ancient Arabian Peninsula city of Ubar vanishes, seemingly without trace. Find out how old maps and modern space shuttles help solve the mystery. Sir John Franklin's 1845 expedition to find the Northwest Passage is never heard from again. Find out how spectroscopy points to some probable explanations. Case Closed? examines these and six other mysteries from ancient and modern times. Accompanied by photos, maps, diagrams and illustrations, this book reveals how modern science sheds new light on people, vessels and entire civilizations throughout history that simply vanished. In some cases, the mystery has been solved. In other cases, readers can examine the latest evidence and decide for themselves.

Case Closed? Nine Mysteries Unlocked by Modern Science is an amazingly interesting book which discloses the ways people solve ancient mysteries using modern-day Science and advanced technology. Although this book is oriented towards kids aged 8-12, I'm sure adults will also find this 88-page book engrossing, for it presents a bucketful of historical and scientific knowledge.

With her straightforward and highly-detailed explanations and the accompaniment of photos, maps, diagrams and coloured illustrations as evidences, Susan successfully creates a wonderful, entertaining book which guarantees fun and effective learning. We get to learn about mtDNA, for example, which is used to establish links between groups and civilizations, and to identify the time period a specimen may have come from. We also learn how people can manage to rediscover the Lost City of Ubar with high-end technologies and teamwork.

Cased Closed is a great book! I enjoyed this book thoroughly and will recommend it to everyone who is curious to find out the truths behind the 9 great mysteries! Pick it up, whether you're a science-loving kid, historical buff or a bibliophilic adult!

Rating:

Many thanks to Susan Hughes and Octavia Sloley from Corus Entertainment for sending me a hardcover copy of this book for this review.

Susan Hughes is a writer and editor, and has been writing children's books and articles for nearly twenty years. She writes both fiction and non-fiction. She is often asked to write a book on a topic she knows little about! So she does lots of research and briefly becomes an expert on that subject. Sometimes she works with experts, for example when she wrote about the Megalodon, the prehistoric shark, or Titanic. She lives with her three children, her boyfriend, and his two children. One of her favourite parts of the day is when all the kids come home after school and she gets to visit with them and hear stories about their day. You can read more about Susan on her website.

Currently Reading... #3

I'm currently reading Case Closed?: Nine Mysteries Unlocked by Modern Science by Susan Hughes (Author) and Michael Wandelmaier (Illustrator). It's really interesting and informative, and the illustrations are nicely drawn. The book itself is of good quality; it is a hardcover with 88 glossy pages. I'm sure any child would enjoy reading it. I will post my review for this book within this week.

Case Closed?: Nine Mysteries Unlocked by Modern Science

by Susan Hughes, Michael Wandelmaier

About The Book:

Egypt's first female pharaoh disappears around 1457 BCE -- was she murdered? Find out how DNA closes the case. The ancient Arabian Peninsula city of Ubar vanishes, seemingly without trace. Find out how old maps and modern space shuttles help solve the mystery. Sir John Franklin's 1845 expedition to find the Northwest Passage is never heard from again. Find out how spectroscopy points to some probable explanations. Case Closed? examines these and six other mysteries from ancient and modern times. Accompanied by photos, maps, diagrams and illustrations, this book reveals how modern science sheds new light on people, vessels and entire civilizations throughout history that simply vanished. In some cases, the mystery has been solved. In other cases, readers can examine the latest evidence and decide for themselves.

Available at Amazon / Barnes & Noble / IndieBound