(3) 4-6 A middle-school project prompts violin prodigy Charlotte (known as Charlie) to research the great-aunt for whom she was named and who disappeared during the Holocaust; her persistent detective work leads to unexpected discoveries about her family. Sweet twelve-year-old Charlie's story provides an accessible entry point into the Holocaust and its connections to people living today, with a dash of hopefulness amid the difficult history.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(3) YA Blood Rose Rebellion series. After Anna (Blood Rose Rebellion) broke the Binding spell, supernatural creatures roam free in Europe. Meanwhile, Anna is still unsure of her chimera nature as well as the path she desires in a frustratingly unjust world. Bouncing from opulent Hapsburg-ruled Vienna to the bandit-controlled Hungarian backroads to the supernatural realm, this historical fantasy integrates beings from Eastern European and Slavic lore into its nineteenth-century setting. Author's note appended. Bib., glos.

Reviewer: Jeannie Coutant

(3) YA In Wintersong, Elisabeth (Liesl) miraculously escaped the Goblin King's underground realm alive. Now Liesl travels with her violinist brother to Vienna as his composer. Yet as a painful new distance opens between the siblings, so too does the veil between the Underground and the nineteenth-century world. Fluctuating between mania and melancholy (Liesl, per the author's note, has bipolar disorder), this historical fantasy overflows with beautiful and terrifying emotions.

Reviewer: Jeannie Coutant

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Katie Harnett. After World War II, the world's magic "has come and gone," and the remaining dragons must fit into Vienna society under government regulation. Fire-breathing dragon Grisha meets a girl, Maggie, whose creative nature lets her see the world's remaining magic, and together they devise a plan to free the dragons. Each chapter of this enchanting historical fantasy begins with a full-page scene-setting illustration.

Reviewer: Jessica Bushore

(3) 4-6 Seven-year-old orphan Pierrot is sent to live with his aunt, who works as a housekeeper in Hitler's home in the Austrian Alps. As he grows up, Pierrot (renamed Pieter to sound a little more German and a little less French) develops a relationship with Hitler and grows into a cruel, immensely unlikable young man. Pierrot's evolution will encourage much discussion in this thought-provoking story.

Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello

(3) YA Translated by Shelley Tanaka. Over the course of a year, Charlotte's parents divorce, and the fifteen-year-old tries to make sense of her own complex emotions about the very human messiness of love. There is a lot to like in this slim Austria-set German import, including a strong main character, a great supporting cast, and the raw emotions of high school.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(3) YA A grim tone governs Rehr's graphic-novel "docudrama" of the man who assassinated Austria's Archduke Franz Ferdinand, thus precipitating WWI. Princip, sent to study in Sarajevo, fails at school but becomes heatedly engaged with anarchist political philosophy. Rehr successfully shows the tangle of alliances, imperial dominions, and grueling poverty furnishing Princip's rage and gloom; gray borders and dark graphics deepen the effect of misery.

Reviewer: Deirdre F. Baker

(3) YA Nicolò Zen, an eighteenth-century orphaned teen in possession of an enchanted clarinet, goes from disguising himself as a girl to join Antonio Vivaldi's orchestra in Venice to finding fame on the stages of Vienna, helped by two benefactors who are doubles of each other. A fresh blend of historical fiction and inventive magical realism, sweeping romance and escapist fun.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Alison Jay. It's morning in Vienna when Oskar begins seeking the perfect birthday gift for Mama. And there it is: a yellow rose. But Oskar trades the gift for another, then another, and on. Eventually, through an act of kindness, he's empty-handed...until the act is repaid. Lodding's full-circle story is as charming as the quaint, cobblestone-street setting, pictured brilliantly in Jay's glowing crackle-varnish paintings.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(3) 1-3 Horse Diaries series. Illustrated by Ruth Sanderson. Horse Maestoso Petra narrates his life in Austria under German occupation during WWII. A Lipizzaner stallion, Petra is thrilled to perform with the Spanish Riding School, run-ins with Nazis and bomb raids not withstanding. Kendall effectively incorporates history and horsemanship into her engaging story. An appendix gives more information about horses; additional details about historical fact versus fiction would have been welcome.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(3) YA In eighteenth-century Vienna, fifteen-year-old Theresa Maria discovers that her murdered father, a violinist in Franz Joseph Haydn's orchestra, was also a spy investigating the persecution of Hungarian gypsies. As she moves between the court of Prince Nicholas Esterhazy and the gypsy camps, the strong-willed Theresa tells her own story. The details of this historical novel, part mystery, part romance, are intriguing.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) 1-3 Magic Tree House series. Illustrated by Sal Murdocca. Jack and Annie time travel to 1762 Austria. Their mission: to persuade an artist to share his gifts. However, they're hampered by Wolfie, a mischievous boy. With the help of a magic flute, the kids (inadvertently) complete their task as they find out "Wolfie" is young Mozart. Readers will learn a little about the composer's early life while being entertained by his exploits.

Reviewer:

(3) YA Weaving together fact and fiction, this story imagines the life of Mozart's sister. Herself musically gifted, Nannerl is nonetheless eclipsed by her virtuoso brother, her talent squelched by their overbearing father. Meyer portrays Nannerl as a winsome heroine who suffers and overcomes innumerable disappointments in both her musical career and personal life. The historical setting is richly displayed.

Reviewer: Marika Jeffrey

(2) 4-6 Giants of Science series. Illustrated by Boris Kulikov. Krull introduces Freud as the man who brought empirical research into the canon. After several missteps, such as his early advocacy for the widespread use of cocaine, Freud found his niche, but not universal acceptance. Clearly and without sensationalism, Krull presents Freud's theories on dividing the personality into Id, Ego, and Superego. Back matter includes a listing of Freud's works. Websites. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2006

(4) 4-6 Ilse and her Jewish family flee Austria in 1939. Unable to obtain visas, they battle poverty in the squalid ghettos of the only country that will take them: Japanese-occupied China. Ilse's friendship with a young street criminal is undeveloped, but Ruby's sense of detail and scale makes this a moving historical portrait.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Barry Blitt. "FACT: Ludwig van Beethoven lived in 39 different apartments." This information provides the slim premise for this amusing and imaginative explanation of why the famous composer lived in so many places and how he moved his pianos so frequently. Blitt's exaggerated caricatures of Beethoven, his neighbors, and the unfortunate moving men provide plenty of visual humor.

Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Bill Farnsworth. This is the true story of the liberation of Mauthausen concentration camp by U.S. Army soldiers on May 6, 1945. In gratitude, the survivors sewed an American flag from scraps of sheets and jackets. The inspiring, though unfocused, text is effectively illustrated with somber paintings. Directory, reading list, sources, websites. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Ed Spicer

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Kevin Hawkes. Annika has been raised by cook Ellie and housekeeper Sigrid, but despite her love for her adoptive family, Annika is thrilled when an aristocratic woman shows up to claim her as her daughter. Ibbotson's latest has all the eventfulness of a Victorian orphan adventure and is shot through with good-humored matter-of-factness, and especially with Ibbotson's affection for her setting--1908 Vienna.

Reviewer: Deirdre F. Baker | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2004

(4) 4-6 Countries of the World series. The land of schnitzel and Schwarzenegger is profiled in this country study. Encyclopedia-quality prose describes the nation's history, geography, and culture and touches on the work of Freud, the music of Mozart, and many children's first introduction to Austria, The Sound of Music. The book includes photographs, fast facts, and a glossary of German and English words. Reading list, websites. Ind.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(4) 4-6 Easy Menu Ethnic Cookbooks series. These introductions to world cuisines have been updated to include low-fat and vegetarian options. Introductory material focusing on culture and cookery will be useful for school projects. Color photos and definitions of cooking terms and unusual ingredients will aid novice cooks. The recipes themselves are for the most part too complex for junior cooks to tackle solo but should whet their appetites. Glos., ind. [Review covers these Easy Menu Ethnic Cookbooks titles: Desserts around the World, Cooking the Australian Way, Cooking the Austrian Way, and Cooking the North African Way.]

Reviewer: Norah Piehl