Echo is a beautifully written story about a harmonica. Although the harmonica isn't magical it has a huge impact on the lives of it's various owners. The harmonica makes it's way to three different owners throughout the story. The three children that possess the harmonica are each experiencing some difficult times in their lives. They each have a great appreciation for music. They are also very appreciative for small gifts.
Echo is a beautifully written children's novel that could easily be enjoyed by many adults as well. It's quite long - over 500 pages. Definitely a book for an avid reader. Last year my school had a visit by Marsha Skrypuch. Her books are still requested quite frequently. I think this would be a good suggestion for her fans.
I absolutely loved The Man with the Violin. I did everything I could to drum up votes for this book in my school for the Forest of Reading. Sadly, it only received a few. How can you compete with The Day My Mom Came to Kindergarten.
The Man with the Violin by Kathy Stinson is based on a true story. Joshua Bell an extremely talented and established violinist performed in a Washington, DC. subway station to see how many people would stop and watch him perform. He had one of the most expensive violins in the world. Joshua Bell gave an outstanding performance (you can watch it on YouTube). Only 7 people stopped over 43 minutes. He said that often times children wanted to stop but parents were too rushed.
I played a video of Joshua Bell performing Ava Maria for a class of grade 1/2's and they were mesmerized. I hoped that they would listen to a minute or two. They listened for the whole 4 minutes. I saw a young boy get up to dance and my first reaction was that he was being silly. He wasn't. He was moved. A little girl told me it sounded like a sad love song. I was so impressed with their reactions.
So although this wasn't the Blue Spruce winner at my school I know that the book really struck a chord with them. There were just too many choices.