The Kingdom of Back

January 27, 2020
Lu (Rebel) deftly layers fantastical elements and historical fiction to craft an expansive tale of rivalry based on two Mozart siblings, both talented pianists and composers. In 1759 Salzburg, eight-year-old Marianne “Nannerl” Mozart is poised to play in front of royalty, but the audience she must first impress is distracted when her younger brother, the nearly four-year-old Wolfgang “Woferl,” enters the room, leading to a small error in her playing. Blaming Woferl for the mistake and fearful of his burgeoning talent, Nannerl makes a wish that is heard by a magical entity, Hyacinth; he promises to help Nannerl achieve immortality through her music if she helps him regain his crown in the Kingdom of Back. Initially the siblings are intrigued, enjoying adventures in the
fantastical kingdom, where they explore magical grottos and outsmart a witch, but when things take a darker turn, Nannerl begins to understand that she has entered a Faustian pact. Carefully constructing a magical kingdom while crafting the historical cities of Europe where the Mozarts played as children, Lu shows her knack for creating detailed worlds while seamlessly building a complicated sibling relationship with a balance of rivalry and love. Ages 12–up. Agent: Kristin Nelson, Kristin Nelson Literary Agency.

Starred review from January 1, 2020

Gr 7 Up-Sci-fi/fantasy heavy-hitter Lu brings her talents to historical fiction in this magic-infused telling of the lives of the young Mozart siblings. Nannerl Mozart, elder sister to Wolfgang, is skilled enough at the clavier that her father believes she could gain renown as a child prodigy. Her passion for music extends beyond her exacting father's expectations-she composes music in secret, dreaming of achieving fame despite it being a craft forbidden to women. But as she grows and Woferl's superlative talents begin to become apparent, Nannerl realizes that it is assumed she will eventually abandon her art to become a wife and mother while Woferl pursues musical glory. Hope arrives unexpectedly one quiet afternoon when a magical world opens up to the siblings: the Kingdom of Back, a faerie realm illuminated by twin moons, populated by forests of mysterious trees whose roots stretch up into the sky, with edelweiss blanketing the ground. Hyacinth, the mysterious fae-like boy who inhabits the forests, promises that if Nannerl completes tasks for him, he will grant her deepest wishes. But as the years pass and events in the Kingdom of Back correspond unsettlingly to real-world calamities, Nannerl begins to question Hyacinth's true motives and weigh her intense desire to be remembered against potential consequences and her fierce love for her brother. Lu strikes a perfect harmony between fantasy and historical fiction that is at once satisfyingly intricate and excitingly paced. In Nannerl she has created a passionate voice that will resonate particularly with readers learning to wield small defiances as the large weapons they can be. VERDICT A beautifully composed historical fantasy that will enthrall readers, especially those with music in their hearts. A first purchase.-Darla Salva Cruz, Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 15, 2020
The year clavier prodigy Maria Anna Mozart's younger brother, Wolfgang Amadeus, begins to show an even more astonishing musical genius, a mysterious boy from a fairy land enters her life. Lu (Rebel, 2019, etc.) interweaves 18th-century historical figures and events with a fantasy land called the Kingdom of Back, an alternate world actually invented and named by the real Mozart siblings, Nannerl and Woferl, where trees grow upside down and a prince and princess are missing. Hyacinth, a beautiful, shadowy boy, pale and blue-eyed, is the go-between who offers Nannerl figurative immortality in return for her help. As Nannerl craves her father's attention and wishes to escape the inevitable anonymity that womanhood promises, she agrees. Over the next decade, she straddles both worlds, performing, composing, and navigating relationships with Woferl and her domineering father in one while battling supernatural foes for Hyacinth in the other. But as she grows, so do her doubts. Is Hyacinth the benevolent fairy he claims to be? Is success at her brother's expense really what she wanted? Lu's melding of history and fantasy is a clever idea, but the Kingdom of Back and its denizens feel like stock figures compiled from generic fairy tales in contrast to her portrayal of the real Mozarts' lives, which is much more remarkable, emotional, and compelling than the fantasy land. A historical fiction/fantasy mashup with crossover appeal. (maps, author's note) (Historical fantasy. 12-18)

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December 1, 2019
Grades 8-12 The author's name recognition, a beautifully evocative cover, and a feminist angle on Mozart's older sister, Nannerl (a talented pianist and composer in her own right), will have readers grabbing for Lu's latest title. Basing her story loosely on facts?Wolfgang and Nannerl were indeed very close, the children were in fact paraded through the courts of Europe, and their father absolutely did not nurture what could have been a wonderful musical career for Nannerl, because of her gender?Lu uses the Mozart children's history as backdrop for what is primarily a fantasy revolving around a Faustian deal. Nannerl meets the compelling Hyacinth, princeling of an enchantingly beautiful magical kingdom that she and Wolfgang visit, and he agrees to help her achieve recognition of her musical talent?for a price. Betrayal, illness, and estrangement follow, and Nannerl ultimately accepts her fate as a wife and mother rather than musician and composer. An affecting epilogue finds Nannerl a grown woman with children of her own, revisiting her beloved brother's memories and the disintegration of her own dream.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: As Lu adds to her ever-expanding repertoire with this historical fantasy, her legion of fans will only grow, too.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)