Dear Nannerl—

How is Mama? And how are you, my dear Horseface? I suppose I should say: cara sorella mia.

Do you know what that means? "Cara" is dear; and "sorella" is sister; so, it's "my dear little sister." You see, I've been studying Italian!

You should have seen the Alps before we came into Innsbruck this afternoon! They were glittering with ice. The Alps, in our Austrian Tyrol, rise up steep—stark white and silver—against a blue, blue sky, like a cathedral organ ready to burst into a hymn to God...

Here, in this ebullient novel based on letters written to Mozart's sister, Nannerl (affectionately called Horseface), F.N. Monjo recreates the sights, sounds, and pleasures of Italy and the young prodigy's ingenuous reactions. For over a year Mozart traveled with his father, meeting dignitaries and musicians, from Mantau to Naples to Milan, where he composed his first successful full-length opera—at the age of fourteen.

With over forty drawings done in the manner of an eighteenth-century sketchbook, Don Bolognese and Elaine Raphael highlight the lively panorama that the youthful Mozart saw and deeply enjoyed.

From the dust jacket