Echo Mountain

Echo Mountain

• Genre: Middle-Grade Historical Fiction
• Originally Published: 2020
• Reading Level/Interest: Grades 4-8; Lexile 690L
• Structure/Length: 73 chapters; approx. 368 pages; 9 hours and 12 minutes on audio
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: Following the Great Depression, 12-year-old Ellie and her family move to the wilderness. When Ellie’s father has an accident and falls into a coma, Ellie must travel to the top of Echo Mountain to pursue the healing powers of a woman referred to as “the hag.”

Lauren Wolk, Author

• Bio: Born in Baltimore; currently lives with her family on Cape Cod; works as a novelist, visual artist, and poet; graduated from Brown University
• Other Works: My Own Lightning (2022); Beyond the Bright Sea (2017); Wolf Hollow (2016)
• Awards: Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction (2018); Newbery Medal (2017)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• The Duality in All Things
• The Force of Healing
• Persistence in the Face of Great Obstacles

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:

• Develop an understanding of the historical context of the Great Depression and how it affects the novel’s conflicts and the obstacles its characters face
• Analyze short, paired texts and other resources to make connections via the novel’s themes of The Duality in All Things, The Force of Healing, and Persistence in the Face of Great Obstacles
• Create an artistic interpretation of a symbol or archetype from the model to develop higher-level thinking