Echo

See why the audio won awards, because it creates all the music the characters play rather beautifully. I loved the three stories but the framing story was week and hopefully kids wouldn't get stuck there before moving into the much better stories. Definitely recommend the enhancement of the audio over simply reading the book!

This is another book I probably wouldn't have come across if not for the Bookriot challenge, since I read a lot of YA but not much middle grade. Like a lot of the other reviews say, this is one to listen to instead of read - a lot of the book focuses on the power of music, and being able to hear the music the characters are playing and reacting to makes a big difference than just reading the descriptions. I wasn't super-interested in the fairy tale-ish framing device, and some of the writing came off a little bit after-school-special, but each of the stories were interesting, and I found myself getting caught up in the plots and pleasantly surprised by how they all came together at the end.

(Bookriot Read Harder 2016 Challenge: #5 Read a middle grade novel, and #9 Listen to an audiobook that has won an Audie Award)

Such a beautiful story. I highly recommend listening to the audiobook to fully enjoy the musical components included throughout the novel.

The author did a truly phenomenal job presenting different stories and characters without losing the reader (or listener). Each primary character is connected by the common thread of a harmonica, which was cleverly woven throughout. I don't know that I've ever read a book quite like this one. There were tears, gasps, and sighs of relief as the story unfolded, and I enjoyed every “page”. Children and adults alike will come to love Otto, Friedrich, Mike, and Ivy. It's hard to recall when I last felt as content and filled at the end of a novel as I did with this one.

Echo pushes the boundaries of genre, form, and storytelling. I highly recommend listening to the book rather than reading it because it has fantastic music. It's available on Spotify and Audible.

The book is about the journey of Harmonica and the role it played in different kids' lives across the war period in the 1940s. The audiobook allowed me to experience these different narratives through the voices of Mark Bramhall, David de Vries, Andrews MacLeod, and Rebecca Soler.

“Echo” is a musical. It is the story of how music transcends words or action, how melody and harmony blend to elevate the mundane to the extraordinary.

This was one such book that I could have finished early but I lingered and did not want the book to finish .... and now that I am done listening, I feel empty!

If you have kids (8+) around you, this could be a great listen-together experience.