Molly’s Comments (group member since Jan 31, 2018)

Molly’s comments from the Munoz Ryan author study group.

I have a new favorite book: Echo! Wow, this book blew my socks off! Being left at the end of every section on a cliff hanger was so upset. But the beautiful wrap up in the 4th section made all the anger worth it! I loved how the 4th section included more than just the main characters from each story. For example, hearing how Elizabeth had cared for Kenny.

The ending was so beautiful with all the symbolism and wrap up and how everything became so intertwined and obvious! Amazing story! I will continue recommending this book to all friends and high flying students!

I read Becoming Naomi Leon as my third choice. I enjoyed the book and saw a lot of similarities to Echo and Esperanza Rising. Pam Munoz Ryan really has a very strong style of writing that reappears in all of her novels. I do want to check out a few of her picture books yet too to see if that style carries through to her shorter stories.

The story about Naomi showed a few different themes throughout the book. She had to work hard to overcome challenges since they didn't have a lot of extra things in life. Her family was also very close. The showed a lot of love for one another. I would say the closeness of their family and all the love they had for one another was priceless when compared to material items.

I could see myself using this novel as a literature circle with a higher group of readers. I enjoy doing lit. circles the last half of school and this would be a great addition to my library. I think it would benefit my students for them to see a character that doesn't have a lot of things in life.

Katie and I reflected together about how we could use this book. We teach 4th grade together. We actually attempted the soap carving for a possible art project. It didn't go so well with the brand of soap that we had, but we haven't totally ruled this option out yet. We think a different brand my be easier to manipulate, especially for the students.

I'm so glad I got the opportunity to read these books!

It was amazing to see how much she grew in the coarse of the book. She overcame some tremendous challenges. I felt very badly for her when the money orders had disappeared. I loved the moment when everyone was together again! That was my favorite part in the book. The ending wrapped up the story nicely and I felt that I, as a reader, had a full circle out of the story.

The changes that Esperanza has gone through are amazing. She is becoming more understanding and a hard worker. She does such a selfless thing by giving up even more and going to work after the hardships she has already endured.

I certainly hope that she is able to succeed at getting everyone back together. But for some reason I just have a feeling this girl can't catch a break.

I believe she will feel the heartbeat of the world once again. But with all of the personal growth she has done I think the heartbeat has the potential to be bigger, better, and have more meaning to her as an aging person!

I think Esperanza went through one of the hardest things as a child. Her whole world was flipped upside down and no child should have to go through some of the things that she did. It was hard enough to lose a parent but to see family members be so greedy and her and her mother were forced to flee the country. I just thought the whole thing was quite a nightmare.

I do think that she will learn to live her new life, I don't think that it will be easy for her though. Kids adapt easily but she is going through some drastic changes.

I certainly hope that she is able to learn that what needs to be done in life has to be done. I do't think it will be an easy lesson for her. She is going from one extreme in life to the next. But hopefully with some deep refection and watching her mother Esperanza will figure it all out.

I was shocked at the graffiti situation. It would have been so hard to clean up someone else's mess multiple times, but I do get why it needed to be done. Mr. Yamamato's son didn't need to see the property in that condition.

I was surprised to see all the instruments in the house. It fit the story well though.

I hope there isn't bad news in the letter, and that everyone is alright.

I'm hoping for some closure with all the characters and how the harmonica connects them all!

I felt for Ivy as she had to be blind sided about the bus situation and it is unfortunate that she is an educated girl that is going to an underprivileged school (Lincoln Annex) because of her race. The boys from the other school really made the other students felt badly about the school they went too with the mocking etc. It is unfair that she has to go be a tutor instead of being challenged and enriched with her own educations. It is just a poor situation. I look forward with hopes that Ivy can find hope in her music studies!

I think the reaction that Mike and Frankie had was a realistic reaction of what a child in the same situation would have. It would be scary to lose another person close to them. And that is what it would feel like if they were not adopted together.

I definitely think there is another motive that brought these boys to the house. I was glad when they got to stick together and Mr. Howard took both boys. That is what I was hoping would happen.

I think they are willing to do anything to stick together now. They are the only family they have left together and Mike is the caregiver to Frankie.

Cliff hangers are not my favorite but I am hoping that in the end there is a nice wrap up and everything comes together to make a nice and finished ending.

The connection that keeps reoccurring is music. Specifically in the form of the harmonica.

I felt such a connection to Fredrich, so when I turned the page I was a little heart broken to realize that it was over!

The bond that Mike and Frankie have is inspirational. They are so committed to staying together. They even sabotaged possible adaptions to hopefully stay together in the future. That is such a strong bond.

I figured the boys would be adapted because if they just stayed in the orphanage the story wouldn't progress very much.

Some differences are that they are two brothers in an orphanage and didn't have close ties with family. Friedrich was very connected to his family.

Taking Friedrich out of school was a good choice for him because he wasn't getting what he needed at that school. I found it very inspiring how the Father's workplace banded together to help educate Friedrich. After the conversation in the principals office I stopped to reflect about how the education system has changed so much. Friedrich needed enrichment and connections to music to be successful. I was proud of the Father for standing up and doing what was right for his son.

Friedrich was led to the harmonica by fate. Of course he latched onto the musical instrument because of his passion for music in general.

I do have background knowledge about Hitler's intentions to create the "pure race". I do questions what kind of connections my students would make to the Nazi ideas. I don't think my students have much knowledge on the topic so I wonder how they would feel about Elizabeth and her new vision.

I think Elizabeth went with the bandwagon and that is how her believes changed. I do wonder if she was partially trying to protect her father and brother by getting them to hop on the bandwagon too.

The negative space really does set that part of the story apart from the story line of the book. This sparked a lot of interest and questions for me.

From a students perspective I could see them choosing this book because of the different look that the first pages has and the beautiful look with the vines and leaves.

I'm excited to see if my questions are answered and what happens with the sisters!

Hi! My name is Molly Perkins and I am a 4th grade teacher in Bismarck. I am looking forward to reading these books and learning with you all.