Echo

Mrs. Potter is an employee of Eunice who runs most of the household affairs alongside her husband, Mr. Potter. She helps Mike and Frankie adjust to their new home, particularly when Eunice herself is still reluctant to see them.

Mr. Howard is a lawyer to Eunice who has known her since she was young and is secretly in love with her. He helps to arrange her adoption of Frankie and Mike so that she can fulfill the terms of her father’s will.

Mr. Potter is the husband of Mrs. Potter and an employee of Eunice. He becomes a musical mentor to Mike, teaching him how to play the blues on the harmonica.

Elisabeth is Friedrich’s sister who joins Hitler Youth. Although her acceptance of the Nazi Party and its cruel ideals causes her to reject her family, she starts to redeem herself when she sends the money that Friedrich uses to free their father, Mr. Schmidt.

The midwife is from the fairytale frame story. She helps the king hide his three daughters (Eins, Zwei, and Drei), but instead of leaving them for dead, she drops them off with a witch, promising that one day in the future they’ll have better lives.

Albert Hoxie was a real person who formed an all-boy harmonica band in Philadelphia. A fictionalized version of him in this book is impressed by Mike’s audition.

Anselm is a boy from the harmonica factory who keeps trying to bully Friedrich into joining the Hitler Youth. He is the one who reports Friedrich’s family to the police.

The witch is an evil character who forces Eins, Zwei, and Drei to work for her. When they try to leave, she curses them to inhabit a harmonica and only be freed after they save a life.

Mrs. Ward is the wife of Mr. Ward and mother of Donald, Tom, and Susan. The Ward family keeps to themselves, intriguing Ivy at first, and she eventually learns that they isolate themselves because they’re still grieving Donald’s death in the war.

Rudolph is a friend of Mr. Schmidt’s whom Mr. Schmidt hopes will be able to get Friedrich into a conservatory, but that plan falls apart once Mr. Schmidt learns that Rudolph has become a Hitlerite.

Josef is a Jewish musician friend of Mr. Schmidt’s. Although they used to play together with Rudolph, Rudolph’s conversion to become a Hitlerite makes him unwilling to play with Jewish people anymore.

Mr. Daniels is an orchestra conductor who becomes Ivy’s favorite teacher after her family moves to a new home. He stops other kids from picking on her and encourages her to take up the flute, which she goes on to play professionally.

Guillermo is Papa’s cousin and the husband of Bertina. When he has to go with his family to Texas, this creates an opportunity for Papa to take over the farm he’s been watching.

Bertina is Guillermo’s wife. When she and Guillermo move to Texas, this creates an opportunity for Papa, Mama, and Ivy to take over the farm that Guillermo had been caring for.

Miss Delgado is a music teacher who recognizes Ivy’s talent early and encourages her by offering her a solo during a performance on the radio, which Ivy never gets to play because her family moves.

Araceli is Ivy’s best friend in La Colonia. Although Ivy is sad to leave her, she learns to let go and make new friends.

Pennyweather is a cruel supervisor at Mike and Frankie’s orphanage who uses and abuses orphans to make money for herself.

Mathilde is a friend of Otto’s and the only one who believes his story of seeing the three sisters Eins, Zwei, and Drei in the woods. She grows up to marry Otto.

Dr. Braun is a doctor who helps Mr. Schmidt with Friedrich but whose ability to help is limited by the strict regulations of the Nazi government.

Donald is the dead son of Mr. Ward and Mrs. Ward. He’s the reason why they have a flag with a gold star on their house. He also used to be a friend of Kenneth’s.

Mr. Golding is a lawyer who works with Mr. Howard and assists in the adoption process of Mike and Frankie for Eunice.

Faber and Eiffel are the German soldiers who seize Mr. Schmidt and who later try and fail to arrest Friedrich on a train.

Mouse is a boy at Mike and Frankie’s orphanage who runs away.

Tom is Susan’s brother who is fighting in World War II and still alive.

Granny is Mike and Frankie’s grandmother, whose death leads to the boys moving to the orphanage. She cared for them for a while after their parents died, and she encouraged their musical talents. Granny was also responsible for giving them their first harmonicas.

Henry was Eunice’s son. He drowned at age three due to his father’s neglect, and his death devastated Eunice.