"Echo" Book Review
SOME SPOILERS
I have recently finished "Echo" by Pam Muñoz Ryan. It was such a captivating book which I am glad I read. This boo follows 3 different stories, but all connected by one thing. A harmonica. Each of these stories is very different with completely different plots and characters but with all of them, the harmonica brings them joy and comfort.
The first story follows a boy named Friedrich in 1933 in Germany in the time when the Nazi party is taking power. He has a face deformity and is often made fun of for it. But it also means he is more of a target to the Nazis, because he is not "perfect". Friedrich has a sister, Elisabeth, who has always protected and stood up for him. But since moving away from home, she has joined the "League of German Girls" which is a division from the "Hitler Youth" group. Her ideals have changed and shes not the same. Friedrich's dad works at a harmonica factory and one day at the factory Friedrich finds a special harmonica. Friedrich's dad later gets taken away later for being accused of opposing Hitler. Friedrich and his uncle have to go on a journey to get back his dad and the harmonica gets passed along...
The second story follows 2 orphaned brothers, Michael and Franklin in 1935, Pennsylvania. They live in an orphanage with a very mean warden, just as there is in every story with orphans haha. They grew up with their grandmother but she sent them away when she became too old to care for them. One lucky day, they get adopted by Ms. Eunice Dow Sturbridge. They move into her large estate and Mike feels it's too good to be true. He continues to try to protect his little brother. He asks around with their caretaker who Ms. Eunice has given them off to as well as the gardener and cook and finds out they were only adopted because her dad had left it in his will that she must adopt a child when he passed away in order to get her inheritance. He also finds out that shes trying to reverse the adoption because the will did not say she had to keep the kids. In the end he makes a deal with her having to do with a certain harmonica so that Frankie can stay with her instead of being sent to the "Halfway house"
The last story is the one of Ivy Maria Lopez, California 1942. This family has moved so many times for Mr. Lopez's job and finally Ivy is starting to feel at home at La Colonia with her best friend, a school and teacher that she loves. So she is very sad to hear they will be moving again to Orange county. Ivy meets a new friend and some who are more hostile and racist than she has seen before.
In the end, this is such a heart warming book about how music can bring comfort and knit family's and community together. It is also eye opening to history and current day when people are treated different because of race. I like how it's made very clear when they switch to a different story and how they all come together in the end.(not saying how) All of these were stories of hope and very uplifting. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an interesting, and multi layer book. (It's in Mr. Mitchell's mini library)
I have recently finished "Echo" by Pam Muñoz Ryan. It was such a captivating book which I am glad I read. This boo follows 3 different stories, but all connected by one thing. A harmonica. Each of these stories is very different with completely different plots and characters but with all of them, the harmonica brings them joy and comfort.
The first story follows a boy named Friedrich in 1933 in Germany in the time when the Nazi party is taking power. He has a face deformity and is often made fun of for it. But it also means he is more of a target to the Nazis, because he is not "perfect". Friedrich has a sister, Elisabeth, who has always protected and stood up for him. But since moving away from home, she has joined the "League of German Girls" which is a division from the "Hitler Youth" group. Her ideals have changed and shes not the same. Friedrich's dad works at a harmonica factory and one day at the factory Friedrich finds a special harmonica. Friedrich's dad later gets taken away later for being accused of opposing Hitler. Friedrich and his uncle have to go on a journey to get back his dad and the harmonica gets passed along...
The second story follows 2 orphaned brothers, Michael and Franklin in 1935, Pennsylvania. They live in an orphanage with a very mean warden, just as there is in every story with orphans haha. They grew up with their grandmother but she sent them away when she became too old to care for them. One lucky day, they get adopted by Ms. Eunice Dow Sturbridge. They move into her large estate and Mike feels it's too good to be true. He continues to try to protect his little brother. He asks around with their caretaker who Ms. Eunice has given them off to as well as the gardener and cook and finds out they were only adopted because her dad had left it in his will that she must adopt a child when he passed away in order to get her inheritance. He also finds out that shes trying to reverse the adoption because the will did not say she had to keep the kids. In the end he makes a deal with her having to do with a certain harmonica so that Frankie can stay with her instead of being sent to the "Halfway house"
The last story is the one of Ivy Maria Lopez, California 1942. This family has moved so many times for Mr. Lopez's job and finally Ivy is starting to feel at home at La Colonia with her best friend, a school and teacher that she loves. So she is very sad to hear they will be moving again to Orange county. Ivy meets a new friend and some who are more hostile and racist than she has seen before.
In the end, this is such a heart warming book about how music can bring comfort and knit family's and community together. It is also eye opening to history and current day when people are treated different because of race. I like how it's made very clear when they switch to a different story and how they all come together in the end.(not saying how) All of these were stories of hope and very uplifting. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an interesting, and multi layer book. (It's in Mr. Mitchell's mini library)
Good review! This sounds like a really interesting book that I would like! You did a great job of explaining the three different stories and how they are all connected by a harmonica. I also like your conclusion at the end about racism and its appearance in the book. I will hopefully be able to go to a library soon, so I may check it out! Great job!
ReplyDeleteAwesome review! It sounds like a really intriguing book that I might put on my bucket list of books to read. I thought you did a really nice job connecting the three different stories and talking about how each one relates to each other. Again, awesome review!
ReplyDeleteGreat review! You did a great job explaining the book. It sounds really interesting! I like how you pointed out how the music brings people together throughout the book, which is a really heartwarming position that's difficult to find in most books. I'll definitely check it out! Good job!
ReplyDeleteNice review! I am normally not the biggest fan of split stories, but the cohesion in this book could make me like it, especially when everybody meets up at the end. Your summary of the themes of music, race, family, and community wrapped up the idea of the book well.
ReplyDelete