We listened to FDR’s historic speech where the U.S.
They read the books as fast as I could gather them up! We searched online and found photographs of Hitler saluting the troops as they invaded Poland, workers digging trenches in the hard labor camps and posters demanding the relocation of all Japanese Americans to internment camps. My students were hungry for information about World War II and life in Nazi Germany. These deep discussions solidified our understanding of cause and effect.Īs we continued to read, a new book basket was needed in our library. The timeline was the tool that helped us realize the impact of the historical events on the lives of the characters. We wondered and predicted how their stories would somehow be connected in order to fulfill the promise and the prophecy, with one simple harmonica. Soon after we started reading, we needed a timeline so we could see how Friedrich’s, Mike’s and Ivy’s lives were woven into the events of the war. We used the On This Day archive from The New York Times. I need to do some research on this Hitler guy.” There was so much more they wanted to know! Why would someone join the Nazi party? How could Hitler get away with such terrible things? One afternoon, Jena walked out of class shaking her head, mumbling to herself, “I can’t believe this. And for many of my students, it was a warm welcome into the genre of historical fiction.įrom the beginning it was impossible to just sit back and enjoy Echo. It became an appreciation for beautiful music and composers and a journey into the lives of three very ordinary children who persevered through extraordinary challenges unheard of by 9 and 10-year-olds. So what began as a sit-back-and-enjoy-the-magic-of-this-author’s-writing became an in-depth exploration of the rise of Hitler and the Nazi Party, the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the impact of World War II. Or worse, at the end of an entire storyline! A Warm Welcome Into the Genre of Historical Fiction “How can she do that to us?” they would moan as we were left hanging again and again at the end of a chapter. Each day as I closed the book my students cried out, “NO!” and begged me to keep reading. With magic, music and stories of bravery, we were mesmerized. Pam Muñoz Ryan took my class across the world to a time and place that absolutely intrigued us. By this time, I not only had one copy of the book, but also I had a second book, signed by the author herself. But, with so many books and so little time, Echo, and its nearly 600 pages, just sat there … waiting to be read.īefore long, Twitter came alive with announcements of all the awards this book was receiving. Pam Muñoz Ryan is one of my favorite authors, and Echo had been on my stack since the week it was published. When I decided to read Echo (Grades 5-9, Lexile 680) with my class, it was for selfish reasons. Author signing at the ILA conference in St.
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