Parents' Guide to Echo

In ECHO, author Pam Muñoz Ryan strings together three very different stories of young people facing injustices, all of which are tied together by a fantastic prophecy and a magical harmonica. In Germany in the 1930s, Friedrich's father is arrested by the Nazis and sent to a labor camp after having a Jewish friend over to play music with him. Friedrich, also a talented musician, fears he will have to be sterilized, and perhaps even euthanized, because of a birthmark on his face. In Pennsylvania during the Great Depression, Mike and his younger brother are living in an unloving orphanage where they're hired out to work and must wear raggedy clothing. They're adopted by a strange rich woman, but when they learn she might be sending them back, Mike must make plans for them to stay together. Then, in the 1940s, Ivy moves with her farmworker family to Southern California, but once there she learns she must attend the inferior school for Mexicans. She also learns about the injustices suffered by Japanese families, such as the farm's owners, who are sent to live in internment camps. All the main characters have musical ability, and when they're playing a magical harmonica they feel better about themselves and inspire others with the beauty of their music. Eventually readers learn more about how their interwoven stories connect.