Stories That Echo Through Your Heart

I want to write this post with as much zeal as I put into explaining and recommending to my mom that she read the middle grade book, Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan.  So, imagine this as an impassioned monologue as to why anyone should read this story.

The prologue reads like a fairy tale.  It begins with a boy named Otto, who gets lost in the woods and happens upon three sisters under a witch's spell. The sisters entwine their lives with the boys by taking his harmonica and each in turn blowing a note.  They tell him that the harmonica will bring him much happiness, but in time he must let it go so that it may pass on to someone else who needs it.  This harmonica will find its way into the hands of three young people who make quite heart-wrenching stories. 

The book contains the stories of Friedrich, Mike, and Ivy.  To save time, I will cover Friedrich's story and let you read the rest of the book.  

Friedrich's story takes place during the rise of Hitler.  It was fascinating to read a story from the point of view of a German family that did not support Hitler.  Friedrich's loves are symphony and his harmonica.  Freidrich's dream is to be a conductor.  His father encourages this love by asking him to play his harmonica, taking him to concerts and after retirement from the music world, hosting chamber concerts at their house.

Friedrich and his father receive quite a shock when his sister comes home for a short stay and informs them she has joined the League of German Girls.  Friedrich's father decides that they will lie to his sister and pretend they sympathize with Hitler's cause because Friedrich's father would do anything to protect his children.  

During an impromptu chamber concert where his father gets into trouble for being a suspected Jew lover and is sent to Dachau.  Friedrich and his uncle plan to rescue his father and run away from Germany.

The plan is for Friedrich to deliver bribe money to the commandant of Dachau so that his father may be released and then they will meet up with his uncle several days later.  The day of, Friedrich acts like it is a normal day at work, but realizes he kept his harmonica is his pocket even though he was told not to take any valuables with him to Dachau.  He then places his beloved harmonica in a shipment bound for America, hoping it will find a new loving owner.  Friedrich boards the train on his way to Dachau only to be removed by the same police who took his father away.  Part 1 ends...yes, it ends there.

Two more intriguing stories to become involved in and then the very end ties it together.

Bravo, Pam Muñoz Ryan, bravo.

Book Review: Five Flavors of Dumb

The book title is SOOOO good, I don't even need to think of a quirky title for my post.  As I was reading this book by Antony John, I kept thinking my 5th graders would love this book...except there is cursing in the book.  I would recommend this book for middle school students and above.  It is an enjoyable read and there were nights I didn't want to go to bed just so I could get a little peek at the next event in Piper's life.

The story centers on high schooler, Piper, who criticizes a hot new school rock band, Dumb, then ends up being their manager.  The catch, Piper is deaf.  The band gives her the challenge of landing them a paying gig within one month of her managerial position.  The other catch, Piper has NO idea about hard rock.  

The other players in the story:
Josh, pretty boy/lead singer
Tash, punk rocker/guitar
Will, silent type/guitar
Ed, member of chess club with Piper & eventual drummer
Kallie, eye candy & eventual "can't quite cut it" guitar
Finn, Piper's younger brother, guitar mentor to Kallie & Tash

The reader really gets to understand Piper's relationships with the band and at home.  Her parents throw a slap in her face when they take money out of her college fund to provide cochlear implants for their youngest daughter, Grace.  She is becoming more distant from her mother and to top it off her father never learned signed language (which is her preferred method of communication) even though she can read lips and her hearing aids work somewhat in completely quiet areas.

I really don't even know how to sum up more of the story other than to say, Dumb is Piper's new beginning even if the band breaks up, gets back together, breaks up...well, you get the picture.

Antony John did his research well!  I loved reading the author's note talking about the different people in my hometown of St. Louis that he wanted to thank for assisting him in the history of rock and roll, what it is like for a deaf person in society, hearing aids, and ASL classes.  


Book cover taken from antonyjohn.net

Chris Raschka and All That Jazz

Listening to John Coltrane's "My Favorite Things" and drawing what the music makes you feel or see.  My kindergarten students created works of art based on a piece of jazz music.  The lesson started off with an introduction to John Coltrane and then I explained to my students that the author/illustrator, Chris Raschka, listened to Coltrane's "Giant Steps" while he illustrated the story of the same title.  Raschka pieced together the music using a box, snowflakes, raindrops, and a kitten. 

The narrator welcomes readers to the performance.  The illustrations move along in primary colors providing the piano, bass, melody, and tempo.  The book provides a basic intro to jazz and Coltrane.  I read aloud the book first, then played the song while reading aloud the certain parts.  Students and I worked on identifying the saxophone, piano, and the bass.  The song makes it easy to identify some parts because the saxophone will rest through part and the piano can be heard over other instruments.

I loved providing my students the opportunity to be like Raschka and draw how they heard the music from "My Favorite Things" or what it made them think about.  This was a meaningful way for me to bring Black History alive for my younger students while combining multiple media for them to work with.

Book cover image from Simon&Schuster.com

"My Favorite Things" video from Youtube.com