Echo

This is one of the best books I have read in a very long time.  I was swept up in the stories and could not step away from it.  I was spellbound.  Pam Muñoz Ryan wrote this amazing fantasy and historical fiction story.  It is broken into the stories of three young children set around the time of World War II.  Their lives are each touched by the same harmonica that will ultimately determine the fate of three sisters cursed by a witch.  Frederick lives in Germany as it is being taken over by Hitler.  Mike and his brother are orphans who live in Pennsylvania at about that same time, and Ivy lives in California just after the U.S. is drawn into the war.  Their three stories eventually merge beautifully.  A must-read!!!!  (FIC RYA)

One Came Home

Although this started with a bang, it took a while to hook me.  In this historical fiction mystery story, a young girl sets out to find out if the body delivered to her family is her beloved sister's.  I enjoyed it, but found the 19th century vocabulary very advanced.  I think it is a great addition to a middle school library.