A young journalist’s interview with a world-famous violinist reveals his family’s secret story of World War II and the Holocaust and the power of music to transform and heal. Paolo Levi won’t perform Mozart because it was poisoned for him when he was forced to play it in a concentration camp. Many years later, though, it reunited his family. The subdued watercolors of beautiful Venice canals and dark death camps enrich this multilayered nar ration. Author was 2003–2005 British Children’s Laureate. mjw

Originally published by Walker Books Great Britain, in 2007.