This was a book I reserved from the library when I saw it on a newsletter of some kind, and it's the sort of YA book that I really wanted to like more than I did. The story centers on the Mozart children: Wolfgang, who everyone knows, and his older sister Maria Anna, who is know as Nannerl in the story, and their fictional world they told each other stories of, called The Kingdom of Back. In the novel (and in real life), Nannerl is also an accomplished musician, and there are indications that she was also a composer. The story of the book involves her going through quests in the portal world and then saving the real world and her brother by making the hard but right choices, and I don't dislike the story, but I found it so frustrating that even in a fictional, fantastical version of this girl child Mozart that I had known nothing about, the best she can be is a person who allowed her brother to become what he did. The metastory is clearly that girls can be anything, but the actual story reflects how untrue that often is in actual history, and that's what it feels like the primary lesson is for the reader, too. I had a hard time with it, and wanted it to be something other than it was, even when I enjoyed it.
Grade: B
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