Meet
Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron the poet, who dreams of being a scientist.
In a time when women with brains were thought to be odd and encouraged to hide
their intelligence to secure a husband, Ada is determined to break tradition.
But
Ada’s dreams of creating machines that fly is crushed when she contracts
measles which leaves her wheelchair bound.
It’s
only after a long convalescence and the encouragement of her mother that she
enters society and discovers a new love of mathematics. There she discovers
machines that can calculate without errors, better known as a difference engine
and its inventor Charles Babbage. Charles and Ada share their love of science
and mathematics and a lifelong friendship is born.
Ada
goes on to marry and become a mother to three children. But she soon misses her
love of mathematics and employs tutors to teach her everything they know in the
quest for knowledge. Reigniting her passion, Ada goes on to help Charles Babbage
with designs for his analytical engine, another new invention he is working on
which will later form the basis for computers and programming; the rest is
history.
Another
book in this series is Madam C J Walker Builds
a Business. Sarah is the first in her family to be born free of slavery in
Louisiana. After experiencing hair loss firsthand Sarah embarks on a new
friendship with Annie who teaches her how to create beauty products that will
assist with fixing this problem. The idea of a burgeoning business starts to
take hold.
These
inspirational true stories of young women who fight against expectations and
limitations imposed by society, demonstrate to generations of young women that
anything is possible.
Title: Rebel Girls: Ada Lovelace Cracks the Code
Editor: Jestine Ware
Illustrator: Marina Muun
Publisher: Timbuktu Labs, $18.99
Publication Date: 12 November 2019
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 9781733176187
For ages: 6 - 9
Type: Junior Fiction
