Echo
Echo book cover

Echo

Hardcover – February 24, 2015

by
Price
$10.99
Format
Hardcover
Pages
592
Publisher
Scholastic Press
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-0439874021
Dimensions
6.5 x 2 x 8.75 inches
Weight
1.86 pounds

Description

From School Library Journal Gr 5–8—"Long before enchantment was eclipsed by doubt," a young boy named Otto lost in the woods is rescued by three sisters imprisoned there by a witch's curse. In return, he promises to help break the curse by carrying their spirits out of the forest in a mouth harp and passing the instrument along when the time is right. The narrative shifts to the 20th century, when the same mouth harp (aka harmonica) becomes the tangible thread that connects the stories of three children: Friedrich, a disfigured outcast; Mike, an impoverished orphan; and Ivy, an itinerant farmer's child. Their personal struggles are set against some of the darkest eras in human history: Friedrich, the rise of Nazi Germany; Mike, the Great Depression; Ivy, World War II. The children are linked by musical talent and the hand of fate that brings Otto's harmonica into their lives. Each recognizes something unusual about the instrument, not only its sound but its power to fill them with courage and hope. Friedrich, Mike, and Ivy are brought together by music and destiny in an emotionally triumphant conclusion at New York's Carnegie Hall. Meticulous historical detail and masterful storytelling frame the larger history, while the story of Otto and the cursed sisters honor timeless and traditional folktales. Ryan has created three contemporary characters who, through faith and perseverance, write their own happy endings, inspiring readers to believe they can do the same.—Marybeth Kozikowski, Sachem Public Library, Holbrook, NY Awards and Praise for Echo :A New York Times Notable BookA Publishers Weekly Best BookAn ILA Notable Book for a Global SocietyAn ALA Notable Children's BookWinner of the 2015 Kirkus Prize for Young Readers * "The story of Otto and the cursed sisters honor timeless and traditional folktales [and] Ryan has created three contemporary characters who, through faith and perseverance, write their own happy endings, inspiring readers to believe they can do the same." -- School Library Journal , starred review* "A grand narrative that examines the power of music to inspire beauty in a world overrun with fear and intolerance." -- Kirkus Reviews , starred review* "Each individual story is engaging, but together they harmonize to create a thrilling whole." -- Publishers Weekly , starred review"A masterpiece." -- Christopher Paul Curtis, author of Newbery Medal-winning Bud, Not Buddy "Daring and beautiful." --Linda Sue Park, author of Newbery Medal-winning A Single Shard Pam Muñoz Ryan is the recipient of the Newbery Honor Medal and the Kirkus Prize for her New York Times bestselling novel, Echo , as well as the NEA's Human and Civil Rights Award and the Virginia Hamilton Literary Award for multicultural literature for her body of work. Her celebrated novels, Echo , Esperanza Rising , The Dreamer , Riding Freedom , Becoming Naomi Léon , and Paint the Wind , have received countless accolades, among them two Pura Belpré Awards, a NAPPA Gold Award, a Jane Addams Children's Book Award, and two Américas Awards. Her acclaimed picture books include Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride and When Marian Sang , both illustrated by Brian Selznick, and Tony Baloney , illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham, as well as a beginning reader series featuring Tony Baloney. Ryan lives near San Diego, California, with her family. Read more

Features & Highlights

  • 2016 Newbery Honor BookNew York Times BestsellerAn impassioned, uplifting, and virtuosic tour de force from a treasured storyteller!
  • Lost and alone in a forbidden forest, Otto meets three mysterious sisters and suddenly finds himself entwined in a puzzling quest involving a prophecy, a promise, and a harmonica.Decades later, Friedrich in Germany, Mike in Pennsylvania, and Ivy in California each, in turn, become interwoven when the very same harmonica lands in their lives. All the children face daunting challenges: rescuing a father, protecting a brother, holding a family together. And ultimately, pulled by the invisible thread of destiny, their suspenseful solo stories converge in an orchestral crescendo.Richly imagined and masterfully crafted,
  • Echo
  • pushes the boundaries of genre, form, and storytelling innovation to create a wholly original novel that will resound in your heart long after the last note has been struck.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
60%
(1.6K)
★★★★
25%
(663)
★★★
15%
(398)
★★
7%
(186)
★
-7%
(-187)

Most Helpful Reviews

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A GREAT read from start to finish!

I read this book along with my fifth-grade daughter's book club, and ended up finishing it before she did! This is an excellent story that can be appreciated by children as well as adults. While the story line did not interest me initially--an enchanted harmonica comes into the possession of several children over the course of several decades and then unites them in the conclusion--I could not put this book down. The book deals with difficult times and circumstances in our world's history (early-Hitler Germany, race and class relations in the United States) with directness that is heart-wrenching at times as we experience them through the book's multiple characters, all of whom were beloved to me by the time the book ended. I highly recommend this one!
26 people found this helpful
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A True Masterpiece

Christopher Paul Curtis (author) states on the back jacket of this book, "This is a beautifully crafted story...it has mystery, adventure, and a powerful sense of hope and heart. A masterpiece." No one can review this book any better than that! I am not one who reads all kinds of things, especially not fantasy. Nor do I choose books just by "top" reviewers. Also, I had just finished a story that moved me beyond anything I had ever read before. So, I was determined to try this thinking that I would be safe from all of that...WRONG. This story is very moving, very real-to-life with fantasy swirling all around you. For those that reviewed it as being confusing...give it another shot because you will figure it all out...just keep reading. That's what great challenging books do...they make you embrace every fiber of your being. This is now one of my favorite books.
19 people found this helpful
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Lush Writing and a Memorable Tale

Classified as magical realism, I loved Echo's light touch, but most of all I was impressed with the book’s beautiful structure.

Echo tells the stories of three young people in the WWII era, who are connected by, well … an enchanted harmonica. Now, as weird as that sounds, it is an amazing tale, full of music and heartbreak, pathos and redemption.The whole thing is bracketed in an original fairy tale. The ending is one of the most satisfying I can remember. Don’t let the harmonica-fairy tale thing throw you. This book is swoon-worthy.
19 people found this helpful
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A Harmonious Story

Pam Munoz Ryan really captured my attention when I read Esperanza Rising as part of a class dealing with literature for the diverse classroom. A story of Mexican immigrants during the Great Depression, Esperanza became a go to novel on my guided reading lists for the girls in my classroom.

With Echo, Munoz Ryan has hit closer to home for mas a music lover, and has really captured my heart.

Focused on three interweaving stories set during the mid 20th century and revolving around a magical harmonica, Ryan has hit a home run with Echo. A bit magical realism with a lot of historical background, Echo is a masterful tale.

The three book sections are each unique unto themselves with the harmonica as the constant; Frederich in Nazi Germany, Mike in the Great Depression, and Ivy in California (and very reminiscent of Esperanza Rising). The incredible thing is how Munoz Ryan ties them all together in the final section of Echo.

Throughout all three sections, Munoz Ryan build a lush story filled with historical details that, simply put, feel authentic. It's one of her trademarks, and really brings an extra sense of depth and world building into her narrative that just isn't always there in other YA fiction. As such, Echo is a fantastic bridge novel for the Language Arts and Social Studies classroom.

As usual, Munoz Ryan builds fantastic, round characters in Frederich, Mike, and Ivy, all with their own unique quirks and voice. At the risk of hyperbole, with Echo Munoz Ryan is really showing off her storytelling mastery.

I can't help but recommend Echo enough. It's one of the best books I've read in the past 12 months, YA or otherwise.
19 people found this helpful
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My 11 year old loves this book! (She said this one was easier to follow than Esperanza Rising).

My now 6th grader loves this book. She read Esperanza Rising in 5th grade, for school, and talked non-stop about how much she enjoyed that book, so I bought Echo for one of her summer reading books. It’s a winner! bought Echo because I thought she may like it since it’s written by the same author, but I noticed it’s a well liked book as it is. She told me I would like it as well, so I’m next. Maybe I’ll add to this review when I’m done, but I know for sure that one 11 year old girl loves it!

By the way, Esperanza Rising is a wonderful book that I highly recommend for young people, especially during these challenging times with the virus and changing economy (for some) etc.
9 people found this helpful
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No one is too old for this book

I just finished this book. It is an enchanting, beautiful, and riveting story, set in WWII, with changing locations and main characters. It starts out very simply with a childish fairy tale tone, but that quickly changes. Although it is full of action, it is sensitively written with characters that are almost too real. It was hard for this mama to read at some points, giving me a lump in my throat, and yet it was not gratuitously sentimental. I will be putting it on my novel list as a choice for the literature papers students write in Semester 2.
9 people found this helpful
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Magical, historical and lyrical tale woven of fantasy and reality

Magical, historical, lyrical - this fairy tale of a magical harmonica and the many lives it touches combines a fantastic tale worthy of the Grimm Brothers and three episodes in history where the best and worst of people have been seen. Each of the children come into contact with this charmed harmonica in three different places from 1933 to 1942. Each is affected by hardship, racism, fear and each tries to escape by playing music. We are taken to Germany to witness the rise of Hitler's new order, to an orphanage where there is no escape of poverty and bondage and to racism in California just after Pearl Harbor. The thread of the separate stories is woven together to finish off the fairy tale beautifully. This should be on everyone's reading list as there are so many topics for discussion. Hope and love conquer fear and hate.
8 people found this helpful
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she thought it was one of the best books ever written

I picked this up on recommendation from the librarian at my child's school .. she thought it was one of the best books ever written, so my expectations were high. Overall, I would say it's worth a read if you are into youth fiction, but don't go in expecting the next Harry Potter or Hunger Games.

I think the biggest problem with the book is the format. The work opens with a fairy tale, which sets the stage with a kind of "mystical" harmonica.. this harmonica then becomes the device that weaves itself in and out of each of the three novellas that follows, covering a period from just before to just after WWII. Each story involves a child in some form of displacement.. be it a boy caught up in the madness of Nazi Germany, two brothers dealing with being orphaned in small-town USA, or a young girl seeing the paranoia of post-Pearl Harbor California. Each story winds itself up to a cliffhanger, and then moves to the next. It can be hard at first jumping suddenly into a new story, but each manages to make you care about its characters. You find yourself anxious to reach the Coda that concludes all three.

And it is in this Coda that the book sadly falls apart. Rather than returning directly to each cliffhanger, we instead jump forward 10 years as each of the lead characters is conveniently brought together in one event. This Coda covers all of three short chapters.. and we get our resolution to the dramatic stories in brief memory flashbacks. This unfortunate conclusion takes all wind out of the sails of what has come before. The Coda is then followed by a brief return to the framing fairytale.. and it is at this point that we realize all the setup with the harmonica really comes to nothing. It plays a small part in each story, but hardly in a groundbreaking or vital way. There is no "mystical" element to the proceedings that might justify the inclusion of a framing fairytale.

I would say the author had a decent idea here, but didn't quite execute it as well as she might have. Perhaps if she had closed out each novella and THEN come to a Coda, there would have been less anticipation of a thrilling wrap-up.. then she could have focused on brining her themes together of hope and endurance in a much less disappointing manner.

If you are a fan of youth fiction, you might find something to enjoy here. I wouldn't call it a waste of a read. But I can't really tell you to rush out and buy it either. But I do hope to see more from this author as she really does show promise. She is a good storyteller, to be sure.
5 people found this helpful
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A beautiful novel that my 5th grader loved.

This novel is easily drawn into. The reader immediately cares about what happens to these characters. The plot is tightly woven connecting these characters through the instrument. Their hopes, dreams, and fears.
My 5th grade student was drawn in and couldn't put the book down, she was even discussing it with her friends.
5 people found this helpful
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Echo was not what I thought it’d be...

I’m not really sure what to say before I get to reviewing Echo. I won a giveaway for it and originally Brianna was going to read it, but I got to it before she did. Exams are always nice days for reading, I get so much done!

What I Liked:
-The summary was so magical and very promising. I loved the cover and the beginning.
-Echo wasn’t very magical (see below) except in the opening chapters. I LOVED it, and what I liked most about it was the writing. It was a magical journey of it’s own. If the writing was bad, I would have stopped reading it ages ago.

What I Didn’t Like:
-Echo…wasn’t what I thought it was, and I think that’s what had me so disappointed. I thought that it would be a magical journey where they would carry the harmonica or lift a curse or…something. But nothing like that happened. They just found a harmonica, there was nothing really magical about this, other than the writing (which was super good!) There’s nothing magical here and I guess I was just hung up on that aspect too much to enjoy it.
-The story is told in three parts, one for each of the main characters. The endings to these parts were cliff hangers and unsatisfying, however there was a reason for this. But if I wasn’t doing exams, and if I didn’t need a book to read, I would have dropped this after the very first part. I felt like they all were uneventful, maybe I’m just used to more action/thriller books.

Fable's Final Thoughts:
-Echo was not what I thought it’d be, it was slow, uneventful and not very magical. However, the writing was beautiful and gave the story a mystical aura :)
4 people found this helpful

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