Emily Arnold McCully

"Even by 1800s standards, Ada Byron Lovelace had an unusual upbringing. Her strict mother worked hard at cultivating her own role as the long-suffering ex-wife of bad-boy poet Lord Byron while raising Ada in isolation. Tutored by the brightest minds, Ada developed a hunger for mental puzzles, mathematical conundrums, and scientific discovery that kept pace with the breathtaking advances of the industrial and social revolutions taking place in Europe....

Pip's two grandmothers, who cannot agree on anything, take Pip and her friends trick-or-treating on Halloween.

This book is based on the real life of Etzel von Oeringen, known as Strongheart, whose hugely popular movies introduced Americans to the German shepherd. The breed, developed in Germany at the end of the nineteenth century, was highly intelligent, brave, and loyal, and was adoped by the German army and police. Larry Trimble, a pioneer movie director and animal trainer, was auditioning dogs to star in a movie when he first encountered Etzel in a...