about the book
The story begins with Otto. Alone in a forest in which he is forbidden to be, Otto has gotten lost during a game of hide-and-seek, when he meets three very strange sisters, who might be princesses. Not very long afterwards, Otto finds himself in the middle of a quest involving a dangerous promise, a prophecy, and a harmonica. The sisters are imprisoned in the forest and can get out only if Otto accepts the gift they give him.
Decades later, the harmonica finds its way to three children in their turns, each of whom have some problem that only the harmonica can solve. For Friedrich in Germany, the problem is getting his dad, a Jewish sympathizer, out of a Nazi concentration camp. For Mike in Pennsylvania, the problem is that he and his brother are orphans. And for Ivy, a budding musician in California, the problem is her Japanese-American friends, the Yamamotos, and how she and her family must take care of the Yamamoto farm while they are interned during World War II.
Finally, when Ivy uses the harmonica to earn a place in her new school’s band, she passes the harmonica on to its final recipient, the eldest son of the Yamamotos, who, while deployed as a Marine, finds the harmonica has saved his life.
But what is the fate of the three sisters that Otto found in the forest? Did they ever make it out of their forest prison?
about the author
Pam Munoz Ryan was born and raised in Bakersfield, California. Half Mexican, she grew up in a close-knit extended family, speaking Spanish with her grandmother. She loved horses, but since the family struggled financially, she was unable to take riding lessons or even collect the expensive equine figurines her friends had.
But she had her imagination, which often took her on amazing adventures. Bored and hot, Pam would retreat to the local air-conditioned library. By fifth grade, she was an obsessive reader but never thought of putting her imaginative tales down on paper.
After earning a bachelor’s degree, Pam married and had four children. She worked as an exercise instructor, bridal salesgirl, secretary, and bilingual Head-Start teacher. She returned to San Diego State University for her master’s. A professor asked her if she ever considered writing professionally, and at about the same time, a colleague asked Pam to help write a book. She gave writing a try and ended up authoring over thirty books!
Pam lives with her husband and four active teenagers in Leucadia, California, just blocks from the beach. Her house is noisy and cluttered with the kids’ friends, two dogs, surfboards, and a slew of volleyballs. But she can always retreat to her quiet office to capture her imagination on paper!
Sources:
Author website
Author spotlight by Patricia Newman
Author video interview: Reading Rockets
Also by Pam Munoz Ryan:
The Dreamer. Scholastic. 2010.
Paint the Wind. Scholastic. 2007.
Becoming Naomi Leon. Scholastic. 2004.
Esperanza Rising. Scholastic. 2000.
Riding Freedom. Scholastic. 1998.
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