Echo - 5 stars

Even though Finn can speed read through chapter books now, I still read him a chapter or two of a book every night.  It is one of my favorite moments of the day, when all stress and business is put aside and we just enjoy a book together.  I try to choose books with topics I think we should discuss together.  Our latest book was Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan.  It is a beautifully written book that tells the story of three separate children living in different parts of the world during World War 2.  The first child, Fredrich, is a boy dealing with the implications of a disfiguring birthmark in Nazi Germany.  The second child, Mike, is trying to protect his brother at an orphanage in Pennsylvania.  Ivy, the third child, is dealing with prejudice in California while also worrying about the safety of her brother fighting in the war.  The stories of all three children are linked by a magical harmonica that brings them comfort during hard times.  I loved the children's' stories and the opportunities they provided for Finn and I to discuss hard topics like how the Nazis treated people they considered to be disabled or imperfect and the Japanese internment camps.

Suggested age range: 9 and up

 Finn - 5 out of 5 stars.  "I really liked Echo because I liked that all the stories connect to each other.  I also like at the end they combine all the stories and, though the characters don't know it, they are with the people that basically changed their lives.  My favorite story of the three was Ivy's story because her story talked a lot about how her brother almost died in the war.  It scared me when the same telegram deliverer that had delivered the telegram to her friend Susan's family that one of their two sons had died, came to Ivy's house.  In the end story, it tells you that Ivy's brother actually lived....and I don't want to spoil the rest.  Also, I really liked Kenny Yamamoto, a Japanese soldier fighting in the war, how he nearly died...but I don't want to spoil that either."