Ada Lovelace is a hero of mine. Just imagine being the first person to create a computer program, or to envision that computers could be created and do more than just mathematical computations! This fictionalized biography of Ada Byron Lovelace covers her childhood, marriage, and friendship with Charles Babbage - inventor of the Difference Engine. The afterword even explains that the Department of Defense created a programming language and named it Ada.
There are activities in the back matter including using symbols to decode the punchline to jokes, programming a friend with simple arrows for movements, and using a binary alphabet code to spell out answers to questions. Young readers interested in programming and coding will breeze through these games and ask for more.
There is a note on the copyright page that explains the book is as accurate as possible, but that the author may have changed some details "to suit the needs of the story." It is an engaging story and will appeal to young programmers.
After the incredible success of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls and its sequel, it is nice to see that full-length books are being published on personalities from those stories. Keep an eye out for more titles coming soon. I won this book in a giveaway by the publisher.
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