Echo in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

Aug 13, 2016 Megan rated it really liked it

Shelves: american-stories, international-reads, music, middle-grade-and-young-adult, historical-fiction, europe, art, fantasy, book-riot-2016-read-harder, library-loans

I selected this for the "Read a middle grade novel" category for the 2016 Book Riot Read Harder challenge. Since the book is nearly 600 pages, it could also qualify for the "Read a book over 500 pages long" category too! I wasn't quite sure what to expect reading a "kids" book but figured I couldn't go wrong with one that was awarded the Newbery Honor. This was an incredibly impressive book that wove together historical facts with a fantastical element in an absolutely beautiful way. The author I selected this for the "Read a middle grade novel" category for the 2016 Book Riot Read Harder challenge. Since the book is nearly 600 pages, it could also qualify for the "Read a book over 500 pages long" category too! I wasn't quite sure what to expect reading a "kids" book but figured I couldn't go wrong with one that was awarded the Newbery Honor. This was an incredibly impressive book that wove together historical facts with a fantastical element in an absolutely beautiful way. The author did a remarkable job of introducing difficult subjects and concepts in a way that a young reader could easily digest and want to learn more about and discuss. While many of the topics/concepts are serious presented throughout the book, the overall message is one of hope and the ability to overcome seemingly impossible situations.

The book opens and closes with a fairy tale-like story about a boy named Otto who finds himself entwined in a puzzling quest that involves a prophecy, a promise, and a harmonica. In between those tales, the book is divided into four parts -- the first three focusing on three children whose lives cross paths in the fourth part of the book. Each child is faced with an extremely daunting challenge in extremely difficult periods of time. Part one is set in 1933 in Trossingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany and focuses on a boy named Friedrich whose challenge is to rescue his father -- Nazism and Hitler are changing Germany in dramatic ways, and Friedrich and his family are in jeopardy as a result. Part two is set in 1935 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and focuses on an orphan named Mike whose challenge is to protect his younger brother, Frankie -- a potential adoption opportunity causes Mike to make an impossible sacrifice. Part three is set in 1942 in Southern California and focuses on a young girl named Ivy whose challenge is to hold her family together in the midst of WWII. Each of their stories ends with a cliffhanger that is resolved in the fourth part, which is set in 1951 in New York. Connecting all of the stories is a magical harmonica that touches each of their lives and those of their families. The transformative power of music is central to the story and key to the children's abilities to face the challenges that life has thrown at them.

After I finished the book, I read more about it online because I was curious how an almost 600-page book that deals with serious themes (war, Nazism, discrimination, internment camps, and migration, to name but a few) would be received by its intended audience. I wondered if a sensitive child might end up being stressed out by the cliffhangers and thought how important it would be to have someone encouraging them to keep reading because of how the cliffhangers are resolved in the end. I was delighted to see how positively this book has been received, and I loved finding out that young readers have been so taken with this book that they are leaving notes in library books for other readers to let them know how much they had loved it and how much they knew another reader would too and how it had given them hope. If this book is indicative of the quality of middle grade novels available today, I have no doubt that there is a new generation of curious, thoughtful kid readers who will undoubtedly grow up to become curious, thoughtful life-long readers. ...more

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Dec 10, 2021 Amy Ellis rated it really liked it

This was a family read aloud, and we all enjoyed it. I love how everything came together in the end but also wished there were more magical elements throughout.

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Jun 22, 2025 Isabel Jazmín rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 31, 2016 Beth Given rated it really liked it

Shelves: audio

This middle-grade Newbery Honor book brings together two genres, standard historical fiction and fairytale-retelling, by weaving together several strands of story into one lovely tapestry. I don't think this book is quite as beautiful or cohesive as Pam Muñoz Ryan's Esperanza Rising (one of the best middle-grade books out there!), but this was still a charming story ... or, rather, stories.

The book begins with Otto, a German boy who is magically pulled into a beautiful fairy tale story -- and th ...more

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