Echo (2015) by Pam Muñoz Ryan is a lyrical and ambitious novel that transcends genre, weaving together historical fiction, fairy tale, and musical allegory into a profound meditation on hope and human connection. Framed by a haunting prologue set in a mystical forest—where a boy named Otto encounters three prophetic sisters and an enchanted harmonica—the story unfolds in three meticulously researched historical settings, each linked by the harmonica’s journey.
In 1930s Nazi Germany, Friedrich, a young musician with a facial birthmark, battles prejudice and the terrifying rise of fascism while clinging to his dreams of conducting. In Depression-era Pennsylvania, orphaned brothers Mike and Frankie face the cruelty of child labor and the foster system, their bond tested by desperation and a stolen chance at adoption.
Finally, in 1940s California, Ivy López, the daughter of Mexican migrant workers, confronts racism and injustice as her family tends the fields of a wealthy landowner whose son is drafted into war. Ryan’s prose sings with emotional precision, whether describing the swell of a harmonica’s note or the quiet anguish of a child forced into silence. The narratives converge in a breathtaking WWII-era climax, where the harmonica’s magic—and the universal language of music—reveals how seemingly disparate lives harmonize across time and distance. A Newbery Honor book, Echo is both a testament to resilience and a love letter to the transformative power of art, proving that even in the darkest eras, a single melody can carry the weight of a thousand untold stories.
“Ryan spins history into myth, and myth back into a history that beats with a human heart.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred)
