Great Middle Grade Reads discussion
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Echo
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BOTM for October is Echo
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SaraKat
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rated it 5 stars
Oct 01, 2020 04:59PM
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I know that Echo won the Newbery, but really, the amount of ethnic stereotyping in Pam Munoz Ryan’s narrative and her weak connections really are taking any reading pleasure far away.
I read echo a while ago and it was a great book. although I haven't read it in about a year, so I can't remember every thing about it.
I enjoyed it. Right from the outset where it was like reading a Grimm's fairy tale, to the touching stories of the lives of the three children around the two decades of WW2. I thought the author wrote beautifully; where it was magical, she made it enchanting, where it was tragic she made it heart-breaking.I also love the music theme at the centre of every story, and this mysterious harmonica that was the common denominator in all of them.
As for it being the book of the month, the only question mark I had was its relevance to the Grandparents theme. I don't recall any grandparents in the story.
I really enjoyed the individual stories that made up this book and liked how it wrapped up in the end. Who knew a harmonica could make such a difference. :)I'm not a huge fan of singing and sound effects in audiobooks, but I felt there was a decent balance so it didn't overwhelm the story.
I hadn't thought about the grandparent connection until I read Justine's comment and now I'm curious, too. Did anyone catch the connection?
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I was really glad that this tangential Grandparent relation was used to recommend this book. I liked it quite a bit. I loved how the stories were related by the harmonica and how their lives were intertwined in other ways that they will never know! This one was a winner for me.
SaraKat wrote: "The middle of the three stories had a Granny that had to give up the boys. She wasn't actually in the story, but she was spoken of quite a bit. I was really glad that this tangential Grandparent ..."
That's right! I figured it had to be there somewhere and had forgotten about that. I'm also glad this one was recommended. It was very enjoyable.
SaraKat wrote: "The middle of the three stories had a Granny that had to give up the boys. She wasn't actually in the story, but she was spoken of quite a bit. "Oh yes, of course. She was a key figure in his life as well! How could I have forgotten that?
