Rating: 
Summary: A little too young
Review: I didn't enjoy this book a whole lot. There were many different let downs for me. However book two and three in this series are amazing! I reccomend this series because of the greatness of book two and three. The main characters are much older. I . . . the next two booke, where they are under ten in this one. I highly reccomend this series. Getting through this mediocre book is worth it, to get to books two and three.
Rating: 
Summary: somewhat uneven but many strong sections
Review: The Wind Singer is a young adult novel and so comes with all the pluses and minuses of that genre. The pace is quick with little room or time for digression or a lot of descriptive detail. The upside is that the book never once bogs down and keeps pulling the reader along. The downside, though how much of a downside will mostly depend on age and expectations, is that characterization suffers a bit and there are a few places where it would have been nice to have gotten a more full picture (both visually and in terms of plot context/background).
The story is a typical young adult dystopia but with more of a fantasy cast rather than a sci-fi one as is often the case. The city of Amaranth is the dystopia in question. Within its walls the people are strictly divided into castes (denoted by clothing color as well as assigned houses) based on their yearly performances on the "high examination". Individual scores affect family scores (and thus where you live, what your job will be, status, etc.) and expectations are that the people will work hard and strive to be "better today than yesterday. Better tomorrow than today" as empirically and publicly noted by their test scores.
In this world the Hath family sticks out like a sore thumb, as is clearly, warmly, and comically portrayed in the opening scene--the two-year-old's first testing day. It gives nothing to say she does not "pass", and the same is true of the family as a whole. None of them seem to care much for the system and do nothing to succeed in it. This is true of the mother, father, and Bowman the young son who is a well-developed empath with some telepathic power as well. His young sister, Kestrel, is equally unconcerned about her rating but is, unlike the rest of the family, openly rebellious.
It is a single act of brazen defiance on her part that kicks the main part of the story off, setting in motion a chain of events which lead her, Bowman, and a "tag-a-long" loner (Mumpo) to undertake a quest to return the voice of the wind-singer to Amaranth and thus end its enslavement to this rigid system. While the kids are on their quest, the mother and father, separately punished for their children's misdoings and for their willingness to defend their children, begin themselves to defy the Amaranth society.
While the dystopic genre has been frequently mined, the use of actual tests I thought to be pretty original. And while an adult may find the "message" a bit obvious, it isn't too heavily played for the intended age group. The quest is also filled with some highly original and imaginative encounters, especially the mud-people who live below the city and the rolling towns stuck in a perpetual war without casualties. In fact, one of the weaknesses of the book is that the early stages of the quest seem more vivid and interesting than the latter stages, where the children begin to actually fight the book's "big evil" (the morah) and its armies. The exception to this is a battle scene between the Morah's army and the eagles/wolves. Though this is one of the better described and more moving scenes in the book, it is also an example where the author probably could have jumped in even more fully.
The quest story is interwoven with the parents' story back home and while not as dramatic, they add a larger context to the story as well as create some tension by pulling the reader away from the kids. The father's story seems more thought out, however, with the mother's suffering somewhat in comparison.
The ending itself is a bit perfunctory though not particularly unsatisfying. The story as a whole had, as I've said, some wonderfully imaginative sections, its strengths well outweighing its weaknesses (especially considering the age group) and most readers will be quite eager to continue the story.
Rating:
Summary: Good
Review: This book was well written, but it seems like you don't really get to know the characters that well, especialy Mumpo.Though there are some very original ideas in this book it took a bit to long to set up, and then ended too quick. But over all it was a good book to read and recomend it to anyone who likes Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings.
Rating:
Summary: Okay, but nothing special!
Review: This book has a very original concept (a world depending on tests), and some very nice morals (the love between siblings, the terror of racism, the power of love and friendship, the will to fight for a certain goal). Being a screenwriter, William Nicholson knows how to omit any dull parts and how to create characters that capture one's attention and make the reader identify with them.
The Zars (an army of villiains) are indeed creepy, but they are not enough of a villiain. As for the Morah, it (?) only appears in one scene.
Even though the book is entertaining, it lacks suspense, adventure and... well, it does not have the vivid colors or magic of Harry Potter and other such books.
However, the plot develops nicely and quickly, and overally it is a good read, but doesn't have any huge impact on the reader.
Rating: 
Summary: This book took me completely by surprise
Review: I picked up this book not expecting anything special. The very first description of their terrible city grabbed me, and from that point on putting down the book was out of the question. I was up near midnight reading it. The book was in parts more scary than anything I have read, perhaps because I really felt myself in the place of the characters. Everyone should read this.
Rating:
Summary: Wind "Sing"ing Praises! Lots of Adventure and Excitemen
Review: William Nicholson crafts an exciting and imaginative tale of a brother and sister who dare to stand up against the harsh caste system of their city, Aramanth, whose goal for its people is to better themselves and better their family rating, which will rate them better jobs and better living conditions. While their family's rating is dropping continually, as they are individuals who care only that they love each other. When Kestrel escapes the clutches of cruel city employees and dodges their attempts to imprison her in a "special school" to quiet her "radical" ideas of freedom, her brother Bowman chases after her. They escape the high city walls through the sewer, and find themselves in the world of the mudmen, living in abandoned salt caves filled with the waste of Aramanth. The mudmen help them on their journey to find the voice of the Wind Singer, an ancient and mysterious wind-mill-like creation that is the center of Aramanth, and with its voice, it caries the joy of all the city's people. The voice was given to the evil Morah in exchange for stopping its horrible army of Zars. Now the twins and their schoolmate Mumpo are determined to win back the voice, journey across the treachorous Plains, pursued by chilling "old children" (scarier when you read the book; this book has some really meaningful ideas in it) and return to their beloved parents and younger sister. This book reminds me of The Hobbit, where there is a lot of adventure and venturing into the "world outside." I loved Kestrel and Bowman, and Mumpo, who isn't the brightest crayon in the box, but he is a true friend. The characters do have a tendency to be flat though, without motivation, or something--sometimes the text seems to be lacking somehow, though I can't quite put my finger on it. The style and the idea are quite nice; I'm eager to start on the second book in the series. So four stars for being a thrilling story and the last one is left off for the mysterious flat character/ lacking element. This book is not as multi-faceted as the vivid Harry Potter books; here is a story being told simply, but charmingly. Happy Reading!
Rating:
Summary: A work of imagination
Review: This book is guaranteed to be appreciated by those who covet the Harry Potter series or the Lord of the Rings books. Kestrel and Bowman express an admirable sense of rebellion that is similar to those who go against a communist regime. Kestrel and Bowman want to live in a city where the people are free to make their own decisions, which in Aramanth is forbidden. Aramanth is a type of caste system that is guided by an evil force that Kestrel, Bowman, and their friend Mumpo fight to overcome. Through an imaginative and suspenseful adventure, Kestrel, Bowman, and Mumpo show us what true freedom, friendship, and family mean.
Rating:
Summary: Good Book!
Review: The wind singer is a wonderful book filled with adventure, suspense, and imagination. If you liked Harry Potter, or The Lord of the Rings, there's a good chance you'll like this book, too. Kestrel, a strong individual, is unhappy with the perfect, orderly society in which she lives. The wind singer, a peculiar struture that was supposed to at one time sing and bring peace and harmony to the people of Aramanth, has always been a special interest of Kestrel's. But the wind singer's voice was given to the evil Morah long ago in exchange for his army of Zars to leave Aramanth. Armed with courage and determination, Kestrel, her brother Bowman, and a classmate named Mumpo, must bring the voice back in order to restore happiness and equality to their home and its people.
Rating:
Summary: This is a great fantasy book for all ages!
Review: For anyone who likes fantasy, I recommend this book. It's a great book with a powerful meaning. The story takes place in Aramanth, a corrupt city with a hateful ruling system. Bowman and his twin sister Kestral live in Aramanth. When Kess goes completely out of control, because of her hatred for the city, she is sent to see the most horrible parts of the city as a warning. Despite the warnings, she still rebels against the city's system. In order to save the city, she and her brother, Bo, go out on a quest to find the Windsinger's voice. The Windsinger is an old structure built by nomads a long time ago. Along the way to find the voice, Kess and Bo meet interesting friends and terrible foes. A boy named Mumpo follows them. He was one of my favorites, because he was always happy and always had a very positive attitude. The plot is kind of hard to explain, but just read the book. It's a real page-turner.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: This book was very good. I am not usually a science fiction book kind of person. I was very surprised that I liked this book. It was confusing at first but after a while I started to get hooked. You cannot judge the book by reading just the first couple chapters, you have to read the whole thing. I liked that the characters stuck together but were realistic. My favorite character was Kestrel; she was the most likable to me. I did find Bowman a little annoying. Mumpo was a mystery to me he was annoying but likable. It was a surprise in the to see how he turned out. I would rate this book a 4 out of 5 stars. It was very good but long and boring in the beginning. I would recommend this book to a friend, and I am also getting the second one.
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