Just after the United States enters World War II, the harmonica then makes its way to Southern California in a box of used instruments for poor children as fifth-grader Ivy Lopez learns to play, she discovers she has exceptional musical ability. Next, the harmonica reaches two brothers in an orphanage in Depression-era Pennsylvania, from which they are adopted by a mysterious wealthy woman who doesn’t seem to want them.

In Nazi Germany, 12-year-old Friedrich finds the harmonica in an abandoned building playing it fills him with the courage to attempt to free his father from Dachau. Linking the stories is an ethereal-sounding harmonica first introduced in the fairy-tale beginning of the book and marked with a mysterious M. Sweeping across years and place, Ryan’s full-bodied story is actually five stories that take readers from an enchanted forest to Germany, Pennsylvania, Southern California, and finally New York City.

A multilayered novel set in turbulent times explores music’s healing power.

Echo pam munoz ryan sparknotes