The Wind Singer

The Wind Singer
William Nicholson
Hyperion Books for Children
Copyright 2000
Pages: 358
Reading Level: 9-12 years
Genre: Science Fiction
Summary:
The Hath family consist of Hanno, Ira, Bowman, Kestrel,  and Pinto (who's nickname in Pinpin). It's the day of Pinpin's first examination, when she will first contribute to their family's rating, even though she is only two years old. Pinpin doesn't open up to the examiner, and because she doesn't answer a single question, she recieves a zero. The family's rating is effected and they move down a color in the rating system and have to move. Kess gets fed up with the rating system in school and ends up in the center of the city shouting profanities into the wind singer (which projects her voice). She gets sent to a special school, which is full of old children, and runs away, ending up in the emperor's chambers. The Emperor sends Kess on a quest to find the voice of the Wind Singer (which had been given to the Zars to prevent war, but was then given to the Morah [who feeds off dispair]). Kess sneaks back home and gets council from her father before she and her twin, Bo, leave to retrieve the voice. Mumpo follows them into the under city, where they find that life can be very different than it is in Amarath. On their journey, they meet the Ombaraka who, after convincing, help them get closer to their destination. Mumpo ends up getting turned into an old child and races into the fire that is the entrance to the Halls of the Morah. Bo and Kess follow him and find the voice of the Wind Singer in the hair of the Morah. Bo pulls it out, but wakes the Morah when he pulls a strand of her hair. Bo gets caught up in the eyes of the Morah and starts to think like the Zar. Kess snaps him out of it, they find Mumpo, who was turned into a Zar, and get him to go home with them. The three friends have to race the Zar to Amarath so they can put the voice of the Wind Singer back and, by doing so, stop the Zar, and end the effects of the Morah on the people of Amarath. The kids get to Amarath during the high examinations and have to doge the Examiners to get the voice back where it belongs. As soon as it is in place, the Zar freeze in place and age rapidly, leaving the people of Amarath to come back to their senses and be free of the Morah. At this point, the Chief examiner claims Mumpo as his son, as he was ashamed to do while the Morah ruled, and the Emperor was able to leave his tower to rule his people on his own.
Recommendations and Conflicts:
I recommend this book to advanced readers who want to read a book that will challenge them, but still entertain them. The conflicts that I see in this book are the "profanities" which are nonsense words, the government of Amarath, which controls everything the people of Amarath are allowed to do, the cruel way in which Mumpo is treated in the first half of the book, the old children who  suck away your youth, the army of young soldiers who sing "kill" over and over again, and the fact that a father refused to recognize his son as his own.
Reaction:
I enjoyed this book, Kess, Bo, and Mumpo are realistic characters, and you want to know what's going to happen next to them.