My Favorite Reads is a meme hosted by Alyce from At Home with Books. You just talk about one of your favorite books from before you started blogging! Today I'm talking about The Wind Singer
, a YA novel by William Nicholson.The Wind Singer takes place in a dystopian city called Aramanth. Aramanth is organized by an extremely strict caste system, where what family you're born into determines practically everything in your life. The main character is the precocious Kestrel, who stages a rebellion against the caste system in her school that sends her entire family to the lowest rung of the social ladder. But Kestrel doesn't let that stop her from her vision of righting what she sees as the wrongs in Aramanth! When she hears about The Wind Singer--a person who will restore harmony to Aramanth through the power of his/her voice--she sets out on a dangerous adventure outside the walls of Aramanth and into the desert territory of the evil Zars to find him or her. Tagging along are Kestrel's brother, Pinpin, and their classmate and friend, Mumpo (who was my favorite character in the book).
Before writing novels, Nicholson was a screenwriter and wrote several blockbuster films, like Gladiator. This is definitely reflected in The Wind Singer; you're plunged immediately into the world of Kestrel and Pinpin, and the action is pretty much non-stop until the end. Although this is a long book, it goes by really fast. I think I read all 500-ish pages in a day. I literally could not put it down. Plus, I loved all of the main charaters and was fascinated by the world of Aramanth.
Essentially this is a great, fun, easily digested novel with a strong female lead that deals with themes of justice, equality, magic, and courage. I can't recommend it enough!
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