In her multilayered novel Echo, Pam Munoz Ryan, author of
Esperanza Rising, takes us on a journey across time and geographical boundaries
following a very unique harmonica, one that not only changes owners but lives
as well. The first owner Otto is given the instrument when he was lost in the
forest. He is rescued by three sisters who
were trapped there by a witches spell until they saved a life, coincidentally
the girls were also characters in a book Otto bought from a gypsy. He promises
to help them escape and carries their spirits out of the woods in the enchanted
mouth harp. From there the harmonica travels to three different children, an
aspiring Jewish conductor in pre-World War II Germany, two very poor orphaned
brothers in Pennsylvania and the daughter of migrant workers in California. This
special mouth harp works its magic on those it comes into contact with and they
discover not only a love but an exceptional talent for music. Each child’s story gives the reader a good
picture of their time, circumstances and location and while the stories seem to
end badly, please keep reading.
For grades 5-8
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