The Wind Singer

Nicholson, William.  The Wind Singer. New York: Hyperion, 2000.

It's been a very long time since I found a book I genuinely wanted to keep reading to the point of ignoring my other responsibilities.  It's been a very long time since I woke up thinking, "I had better get my stuff done quickly so I can get back to my book."  The Wind Singer is a book like that.

The Wind Singer is the first book in the "Wind on Fire" trilogy, but it would stand alone just fine.  When Kestrel tires of constant examinations and the focus on ranking of families, she rebels against the system.  Consequently, she and her family are punished and demoted from their status as Orange to lowly Grey.  Furthermore, her father is sent for reschooling. Kestrel, her twin brother, and a classmate have heard the legend of the wind singer's voice, and they choose to leave their highly ordered society and journey to find the voice for the wind singer, a voice that is supposed to solve all the problems and hopefully will allow them to save their family.

This book is similar to The Giver in that the society is highly controlled and a child chooses to break from that mold.  This book is similar to the Lord of the Rings in that the children embark on a dangerous journey, battle the bad guys, and return victorious. This book is similar to the Chronicles of Narnia in that the three children learn some important lessons along the way.

This is a great fantasy tale, free of objectionable elements and enjoyable.  I'll have to see if my local library carries the next two books in the series.  If I had a classroom, I would definitely put this book on my shelf.