Thursday, July 08, 2004
The Wind Singer by William Nicholson
The Wind Singer by William Nicholson is first in the Wind on Fire trilogy. It is my first time reading this author so I didn't buy the second book in the series...yet.
I know this book won the Nestle Smarties™ Prize, and I LOVE Smarties™ but I thought it was a bit wordy. Some ideas/information like the use of gobbeldygook swear words and the colour stratification of the society were stated over and over and over. The book seemed written for older children but the redundancy spoke of a younger or less smart audience.
The Hath family does not strive for continuing excellence and this is a stumbling block in their city. The people of Aramanth pledge to always do better than before; it is the national pledge. Kestrel and Bowman, twins, to not try harder and challenge the system to do any worse to them than bump them to the back of the class. The whole family rebels, even the baby pees on authority's leg. While Kestrel is running from the strange, energy sucking "old children" she meets the emporer who pleads with her to save the city/state and gifts her with a map to the Voice of the Windsinger. Kestrel, Bowman, and their tagalong friend Mumpo head off to find a way to defeat the terrible Zars though they know nothing about them. The trios journeys and struggles include run-ins with several groups which adhere to rigid sets of thinking - anyone who is not us is the enemy - and the trio uses inclusionary practices and logic to find their way through trouble. The Zars are a conglomeration (think the Borg) of minds put to one joyous yet hideous purpose.
I would recommend this book to a 14 year old boy who likes made-up swear books but can read the violence and state mandated single-mindedness of "The Wind Singer" without losing sight of the message the author seeks to send.
I know this book won the Nestle Smarties™ Prize, and I LOVE Smarties™ but I thought it was a bit wordy. Some ideas/information like the use of gobbeldygook swear words and the colour stratification of the society were stated over and over and over. The book seemed written for older children but the redundancy spoke of a younger or less smart audience.
The Hath family does not strive for continuing excellence and this is a stumbling block in their city. The people of Aramanth pledge to always do better than before; it is the national pledge. Kestrel and Bowman, twins, to not try harder and challenge the system to do any worse to them than bump them to the back of the class. The whole family rebels, even the baby pees on authority's leg. While Kestrel is running from the strange, energy sucking "old children" she meets the emporer who pleads with her to save the city/state and gifts her with a map to the Voice of the Windsinger. Kestrel, Bowman, and their tagalong friend Mumpo head off to find a way to defeat the terrible Zars though they know nothing about them. The trios journeys and struggles include run-ins with several groups which adhere to rigid sets of thinking - anyone who is not us is the enemy - and the trio uses inclusionary practices and logic to find their way through trouble. The Zars are a conglomeration (think the Borg) of minds put to one joyous yet hideous purpose.
I would recommend this book to a 14 year old boy who likes made-up swear books but can read the violence and state mandated single-mindedness of "The Wind Singer" without losing sight of the message the author seeks to send.
# posted by JJ @ 12:50 PM 
