Echo (Muñoz Ryan Novel)
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''Echo'' is a
middle grade Middle grade literature is literature intended for children between the ages of 8 and 12. While these books are sometimes grouped together with books for other age bands and collectively called "children's books", middle grade is distinct from pict ...
historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...
novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...
written by
Pam Muñoz Ryan Pam Muñoz Ryan (born December 25, 1951) is an American writer for children and young adults, particularly in the multicultural genre. Biography Muñoz Ryan was born in Bakersfield, California. She is half Mexican with Basque, Italian, and Okla ...
, illustrated by
Dinara Mirtalipova Dinara is a mountain range in the Dinaric Alps, located on the border of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. It has four major mountains or peaks, from north-west to south-east: * Ilica or Ujilica (1,654 m) * Sinjal or Dinara (1,831 m), eponym ...
, and published by
Scholastic Press Scholastic Corporation is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, teachers, parents, children, and other educational institutions. P ...
in 2015. It is set in Germany and America, primarily in the years leading up to
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and details how a mysterious
harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...
and the music it makes ties together the lives of three children: Friedrich Schmidt, an intern at the
Hohner Hohner Musikinstrumente GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of musical instruments, founded in 1857 by Matthias Hohner (1833–1902). It is a subsidiary of Matth. Hohner AG. The roots of the Hohner firm are in Trossingen, Baden-Württemberg ...
factory; Mike Flannery, an orphan in Philadelphia; and Ivy Maria Lopez, daughter of migrant farm workers. It was named a Newbery Honor book in 2016.


Plot summary

The framing story is set in Germany circa 1864; while playing hide-and-seek with his friends, Otto becomes absorbed in a book he had purchased from a Gypsy entitled ''The Thirteenth Harmonica of Otto Messenger'', which relates the story of three unwanted princesses given over to a witch for safekeeping. Their father, the king, had given each of them to a midwife shortly after their births while he was waiting for a male heir; the midwife, in turn, passed them on to her cousin, a witch. After the heir arrives, the princesses are informed of their royal birth and prepare to rejoin their family; however, rather than releasing them, the witch curses the girls: Otto is so engrossed in the story that he has wandered into the woods where the princesses have been trapped. He has in fact brought a harmonica with him (one pressed on him by the same Gypsy who sold him the book) and is able to retrieve their spirits, now stored in the harmonica. When the story resumes almost 70 years later, the harmonica is discovered in a storage room of the Hohner factory by Friedrich Schmidt; it is in a box marked "Marine Band/1896" with a matching cover plate for export to the United States and is distinguished by a red script letter M on the pearwood comb. The novel traces the journey of the harmonica from Friedrich to two orphan brothers, Mike and Frankie Flannery in Philadelphia, and then to a migrant worker's daughter, Ivy Maria Lopez in California. Each child has unusual musical talent and faces unique challenges in their lives: Friedrich, who dreams of being a conductor, was forced to drop out of school after the bullying that resulted from his appearance, and is threatened with sterilization in
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
; Mike, a talented pianist, wishes to join
Albert N. Hoxie Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert Computers, Inc., a computer manufacturer in the 1980s * Albert Czech Republic, a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street mar ...
's
Philadelphia Harmonica Band of Wizards Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
as a way to escape the orphanage and poverty while taking care of his younger brother, Frankie; and Ivy, just discovering her talent and love for music, is forced to attend a segregated school while helping her father and mother take care of the Yamamoto family farm after the Yamamotos were forced into internment camps after the attack on Pearl Harbor.


First Part

The harmonica's first messenger after Otto is Friedrich Schmidt. Set in October 1933, Friedrich is a German boy afflicted with a birthmark on his face that people of his town consider a deformity. After Friedrich was bullied and beaten up at school for his looks and conducting obsession, he works and is taught at the Hohner Harmonica Factory in the town Trossingen in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, where his father used to work. While eating lunch, Friedrich hears music being played and discovers a harmonica with the letter M on it. He pockets the instrument and rushes back to the factory. Friedrich's father is outspoken about his friendship with Jewish people and his belief that Hitler is wrong, but his daughter, Elisabeth, who briefly comes home from nursing school espouses Nazi beliefs and has joined the girls' arm of the Hitler Youth. She encourages Friedrich to undergo the sterilization process demanded of people considered to have undesirable genetic conditions. Eventually, Friedrich's father is taken in for questioning by stormtroopers of the Third Reich and sent to Dachau concentration camp. Friedrich and his uncle Gunter hatch a plan to escape and to attempt to get Friedrich's father out of the camp, but Friedrich is stopped at a train station by police. Part one ends with Friedrich being arrested as he conducts a symphony only he can hear.


Second Part

Part two overlaps the first part by a few months. It is June, 1935 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Brothers Mike and Frankie are living in an orphanage after the death of their elderly grandmother. Mike, the older brother, is hopeful the two will be fostered or adopted out together, but after a disastrous meeting with family in which Frankie bites a man, he is told by the cruel head of the orphanage that she plans to foster out Frankie alone and send Mike out as a day laborer, by claiming he is 16 (he is only 11 but extremely tall). One day, two men come to the orphanage hoping to buy the home's piano. Mike and Frankie, who both have musical talent, are asked to play for the men to show the instrument works. The men are impressed with both boys' talents and reveal they are not there for the piano but to adopt a child with musical talent, and they take both brothers. One of the men, Mr. Howard, reveals to the boys he works for to find her a girl to adopt. She is displeased with the fact he came home with two boys and initially avoids them. Mr. Howard eventually reveals that Mrs. Sturbridge did not want to adopt a child at all, but in fact had to or she would lose her family fortune, per a clause in her father's will. Since the boys' arrival, she has been actively trying to undo the adoption papers. Mr. Howard reveals that Mrs. Sturbridge is suffering from deep depression because of the deaths of both her father and young son and her divorce. Mike, terrified that she will send the boys back, confronts her and makes her a deal: if she promises to keep Frankie, Mike will audition for the Albert Hoxie's Harmonica Band of Wizards. If he makes it, he will leave to travel with the group, and if he doesn't, he will go back to the orphanage and work, as long as he can still see Frankie occasionally. Mrs. Sturbridge agrees, and seems to change her outlook on life, coaching Mike both on the piano and on the harmonica. Mike does extremely well and makes it to the finals, but on the night of the final concert before the results are announced he finds a letter in Mrs. Sturbridge's office stating her appeal to reverse the boys adoption has been approved. Part two ends as Mike and Frankie pack their bags and plan to run away to New York City so they won't be sent back to the orphanage and split up.


Third Part

The third and last part of the book begins in December 1942 and follows the story of Ivy Maria Lopez, a Mexican-American girl living in California. She was friends with a girl across her street whose father hated Japanese people because one of his sons died at Pearl Harbor. Ivy’s brother was also in the war, and she is now even more concerned for his safety. After school, she enters the “White” School’s orchestra. Her family is taking care of a farm owned by a Japanese-American family who have been forced to a concentration camp. One of the two daughters was extremely talented with the flute. Ivy’s neighbor wanted to buy the property, which caused a little drama. Ivy and his daughter remained close friends, despite their differences. Meanwhile, someone vandalized a door on their home, saying that Japanese people were not welcome.


Development

Muñoz Ryan began researching the first successful school desegregation case, ''Roberto Alvarez v. the Board of Trustees of the Lemon Grove School District'' (1931).during her research into integrated classrooms, she found an old photograph of an elementary school harmonica band, which gave her the ideas of a girl in an integrated band and (as in Hoxie's) a band filled with orphans, which developed into the stories of Ivy and Mike, respectively. Contemporary photographs showed the children played the Marine Band harmonica, so Muñoz Ryan contacted Hohner and visited their harmonica museum in Trossingen, where she was inspired to begin developing Friedrich's story. Ivy’s older brother is named Donald after his death in the end of the book.


Reception

In 2016, the
American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...
named ''Echo'' to its list of Newbery Honor winners, alongside
Kimberly Brubaker Bradley Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (born June 24, 1967) is an American children's and young adult book author. In 2016, her children's book '' The War That Saved My Life'' received the Newbery Honor Award and was named to the Bank Street Children's Book ...
's '' The War That Saved My Life'' and Victoria Jamieson's '' Roller Girl''.


References


External links

* {{cite web , url=http://www.pammunozryan.com/echo/ , title=Echo , author=Ryan, Pam Muñoz , website=pammunozryan.com , date=July 2018 , accessdate=16 March 2019 2015 American novels Kirkus Prize–winning works American young adult novels Newbery Honor–winning works Scholastic Corporation books Novels by Pam Muñoz Ryan Children's books set in Germany Children's books set in the 1860s Children's books set in Pennsylvania Children's books set in California Novels set in Germany Novels set in the 1860s Novels set in Philadelphia Novels set in California Children's books set in factories Children's books set in the 1930s Children's books set in the 1940s