Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: The Wind Singer (The Wind on Fire, Book 1) by William Nicholson, Peter Sis ISBN: 0-7868-1417-9 Publisher: General Pub. Date: 01 May, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.56 (57 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: SPECTRUM Children's Book Club Recommendation
Comment: Reading Level: Ages (Young Adult)
Kestral Hath is a square peg in a round hole. She lives in a society that neatly tests, evaluates and classifies all of its people. The Wind Singer is a solid, fast-paced adventure for young readers with interesting characters and a theme to which most students and educators can relate: standardized testing. What if your whole life was measured by a series of tests, standardized and thus seemingly fair to all who took them? What if your family's status within the community depended on the accumulated scores of parents and children? What if you just don't fit into this system?
At the heart of this book is an examination of social structure. Like Swift's Gulliver, Kestral and her brother, Bowman, journey beyond the confines of their society and encounter two cultures-the peaceful, agrarian Mud People and the mobile, warring cities of Ombaraka and Omchaka. These societies seem strange even though they are logically based on the philosophical and physical dispositions of their people. But Kestral is no more an alien in these societies than she is in her own.
That is not to say The Wind Singer is a heavy-handed lecture on the ills of society. First and foremost, this is a tale of adventure. The author, a screenwriter (Tomb Raider) and director, draws vivid action scenes and moves the plot along at a motion-picture pace.
There is not a lot of depth to the characters in this first volume of a trilogy because, like J. K. Rowling, the author lets us learn about the characters through their actions rather than long passages describing who they are and justifying their personalities. As the trilogy continues to grow, so will its characters. In the end, the entire cast of characters are interesting and immensely enjoyable. I am particularly fond of Hanno Hath, the patriarch of the Hath family and a most unlikely revolutionary.
The Wind Singer is a very good entertainment that should have a broad appeal to boys and girls alike.
- KB Shaw, Publisher
SPECTRUM Children's Book Club
www.incwell.com
Rating: 5
Summary: Very funny!
Comment: A Review by Drew
"The Wind Singer" is a very fantasy type book. It starts out with a young teenage girl who lives a city run by The Morah, a very powerful god. The city is based on class, if you lived in the White part of town you were considered like a queen or king. Now if you were the Grey part of town you were the lowest of lowest classes. In the city of Aramanth you were placed in your classes by yearly exams. A young teenage girl named Kestrel Hath, Bowman (her twin sister), and Mumpo. (A friend) Are sent on a journey to go out a find a piece of wood that fits into the wind singer, to make it sing again. The wind singer is a windmill type of object with a organ in it, so that when the wind blows it blows through the pipes to make a very pretty sound. As they go through the quest to find this piece of wood, they travel through strange lands and strange cities. They know that they must fight the Morah in order to get the piece of wood. In order to find out what happens, finish the book to see.
In my opinion I thought was an excellent book. It kept me on my toes at all times. The author was very good on describing things, in fact on of my most favorite lines is how the Hath's family talks when they are angry, "Saga hog!!!! Pompaprune!!!! Saga-saga- HOG!!!" (p.235). This is a very funny line!! Also another great way the author talks is when he talks about the new land that kids have never seen before, "Now the children watched in a fearful wonder, a third level of wooden buildings loomed into view. This level was a far more elaborately constructed, a classical sequence of houses with beautifully carved windows and handsome porticoes, gathered around three buildings, and up through the two father levels above. Now the wheels on which it moved became visible, each one higher that a house." Now if that were not descriptive I wouldn't know what is. Yes, indeed this author is a very good one. He is also famous for the screenplays, Gladiator, Shadowlands, Sarafina!, Nell, and First Night.
Rating: 5
Summary: A great book for everyone!
Comment: Imagine living in a society where your house, your clothes, your friends, and your social status are all determined by one test. That society is Aramanth, where living conditions range fron the packed rooms of the Grey district to the two-storied homes of the Orange district, to the mansions of the White district. But, one day, the Hath family, from the Orange district, decides to disobey the law and the plot is set into motion.
Kestrel and Bowman, twins, run away from school and Kestrel finds an old man living in a tower in the town. He gives her the map to find the key to the wind singer, a mysterious device in the middle of town. The key, which makes the wind singer work, was given to the Morah in exchange for calling off the Zars army. The man in the tower says that when the wind singer works again the happiness will be back in Aramanth. Kestrel, Bowman, and their tag-a-long classmate Mumpo leave on a journey to recover the key. While they are away though, their parents each formulate plans to cause unrest in the society of Aramanth.
William Nicholson, the author, writes in a very similar style to The Giver. But, he writes it differently enough to separate it from other books of its kind. This book does a great job of teaching tolerance for other types of people, even if they aren't as good at something as you are, which is the exact opposite of how the people of Aramanth act. It also teaches that people have a good side, even if they are disgusting, like Mumpo who always has snot on his upper lip.
I would recommend this book to young adults ages 12-16, since it does take on some older concepts, but usually puts them in a way that kids can understand it like people living in less fortunate conditions. I really liked this book and I can't wait to read the second and third parts of the trilogy.
 |
Title: Wind on Fire Trilogy, The: Slaves of Mastery - Book Two by William Nicholson, Peter Sis ISBN: 078681800X Publisher: General Pub. Date: October, 2003 List Price(USD): $11.99 |
 |
Title: Wind on Fire Trilogy, The: Firesong - Book Three by William Nicholson, Peter Sis ISBN: 0786805714 Publisher: General Pub. Date: 01 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $17.99 |
 |
Title: The Amulet of Samarkand (The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Book 1) by Jonathan Stroud ISBN: 078681859X Publisher: General Pub. Date: September, 2003 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
 |
Title: The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau ISBN: 0375822739 Publisher: Random House Children's Books Pub. Date: 13 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
 |
Title: Inkheart by Cornelia Funke, Anthea Bell ISBN: 0439531640 Publisher: Chicken House Pub. Date: 01 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
