Things that I love to read: middle grade, non-fiction, history, women being absolute champs, and books with pretty art.

So with all that in mind it should be pretty obvious that I just loved both of these books! I’ve read a couple other things from Rebel Girls and have really liked them so I was super excited to see that I was auto approved to read some new titles. I flew through both of these because they were just really well done.

I know that these are middle grade books and therefore easier reads, but they were still super interesting and gave really good insights into the lives of these trailblazing women. I knew who both of them were beforehand and knew about their main accomplishments but getting to learn about their upbringings and what inspired them was really great. I also just loved the illustrations that are all through the books. They’re so pretty and colourful and give such a good visual to the story.

Honestly these books are just exactly what they say they are – you get an in depth look into the lives of women who ran stuff and made names for themselves. I enjoyed reading both of them and definitely want to read the other titles from this series.

Rebel Girls, chapter-book, mini-biography, computer-programmer, women-in-science, women-in-history, measles, computer-science,****

I knew that Ada Lovelace was unjustly eclipsed by Babbage, but there is an important fact that I didn't know, and parents (and children) need to pay attention to. Ada's life was sidelined for several years by the aftermath of MEASLES.
In this fictionalized mini bio much of her life is covered and much is told about the world she lived in during her short (36 years) life. Very well written in a meaningful way.
The illustrations by Marina Muun are beautiful, delightful, imaginative, and colorful.
Well suited for reading WITH someone of any age including ESL, and great for gifting to anyone, but especially to a school or public library!
I requested and received a free temporary e-book on Adobe Digital Editions from Rebel Girls via NetGalley. Thank you!

I had never heard of Ada Lovelace before reading this book. I admire her determination in a time where woman were not appreciated or thought to have a brain. She was a pioneer well before her time. Her love of math allowed her to help develop coding which in later years would lead to computers. Ada Lovelace is an inspiration to all young girls who want to think outside the box of the norm for women. She is a woman who should be admired by all those who read about her.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

As a woman in tech the book was everything I wanted . The book follows Ada a woman who was absolutely in love with math and science . Ada loved computers and she made it her passion to learn more about machines . It's an ode to women in tech and I cannot recommend it enough. Brilliantly written .

I had never heard of Ada Lovelace before I read this book. Her story was such an inspiration, I loved reading about her. The Rebel Girls series, of which this book is one of, is incredible. What I liked the most, was Ada's story is written about her entire life. Sometimes you get a book about a historical person, and it is only about the "important" part of their life. I enjoyed reading about how she grew up and how she was influenced by her circumstances and also how she related to the world around her. My least favorite part was the illustrations, they didn't go with the historical feel of the book. I would recommend this chapter book for children interested in computers, little talked about history makers and of course women who made a difference.

Thank you netgalley for this ARC. I am leaving an 100% honest review.

Ada Lovelace Cracks the Code adds a bit of whimsy and fiction to bring to life the real story of Ada Lovelace. An amazing mathematician who truly proved woman are just as intelligent as men.

An uplifting story with beautiful images.

My family is no stranger to Rebel Girls, but this was our first chapter book. As most of the other books seem to be 1-2 pages about each woman, it was nice to have more detail and information about Ada Lovelace. While my kids are a bit young for some of the content, I think exposing them to all types of backgrounds is very important and I want to start the conversation early. The activities in the back of the book are a fun addition as well.
Thank you Rebel Girls for the digital copy through NetGalley!

We are huge Rebel Girls fans in our house - I am always so excited to be selected for the ARCs! My 8yo science and math loving son very much enjoyed reading this basic account of Ada Lovelace.

Ada Lovelace Cracks the Code is a short novel with gorgeous illustrations. I very much look forward to adding a hardcopy to our collection and seeing what future novels will be released!

Thank you to NetGalley and Rebel Girls for this ARC!

This was brilliant! I have always loved reading about Ada Lovelace and her friend Charles Babbage and their work, and even though this is written for early chapter readers, it's up there with some of my favorite stories about them.

The writing is SO good. It's easy to read and understand, and my third grader would have no trouble with it. At the same time, it tells Ada's story in a really powerful way that sucks you in and has you instantly empathizing with her as she struggles with her loneliness and her mother's strict rules and frequent changes of governess.

When she is struck with a new idea, you can really feel her excitement and eagerness and brilliance. For most of the book it felt like being dragged breathlessly along behind as she charged ahead with new ideas.

The author chooses to end the story with her feeling sharp pains but imagining what the future of computers will look like. Then in a note at the end, it says she died very shortly thereafter. I like this choice because sensitive kids can read it and not be too upset by it (in my experience, kids don't particularly like reading the notes at the end). And even if they do read it, it is related in a very dry factual way that is less impactful than ending the story (which is quite emotional) with it.

Even so I found myself tearing up a little at the end -- and when was the last time that happened with an early chapter book? Not for a Very long time.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Rebel Girls for providing an early copy for review.

Rebel Girls books are among my favorites to show my elementary aged daughter. I cannot wait till the release of this one to read together with her. I highly recommend this book to anyone with elementary aged daughters, though to be fair, all children would enjoy this piece of Ada Lovelace’s story. We recently read this new Rebel Girl’s Chapter book as well as a Madam CJ Walker story. I recommend them both!

This is another publication by the Rebel Girls who show girls how they can become everything they want to, this time in the biography of Ada Lovelace, daughter of the poet Lord Byron and later getting her husband´s surname. Many girls (or children on the whole) will identify with the girl Ada who´s more interested in geography because of the places, and literature and everything fantastic. With the right teacher she realises that mathematics can also lead to inventions, as she became well known for writing the first computer code. The story is described with nice details as her cat, but also shows the lonely life of a single girl living in a rich house. I´m not sure if children will understand everything technical, but if so, Ada´s development of the codes should be explained in detail. The end is a bit rushed.
Thanks to Rebel Girls and Netgalley for a free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

“From the world of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls comes a story based on the exciting adventures of Ada Lovelace: one of the world’s first computer programmers.”

This is a charming addition to the Rebel Girls library. I like how they’ve taken the original concept of a brief description of a Cool Girl (as my kids call them) and expanded it into a short chapter book for middle graders.

I love the gentle way the story is told.
I love the extra bits, her cat, for instance, that probably are more artistic license, but give the story more heart.
I particularly loved the illustrations.
My KIDS loved the supplemental activities at the back of the book, and spent a tonne of time writing coded notes to each other.

The story could have been more clear on Ada’s role in writing some of the first computer code, but other than that, it was a big thumbs up from this family.

7.5/10

Thanks to NetGalley, Rebel Girls, and Penguin Random House Audio for this ARC.

One thing I am happy I get to read them now as a reviewer, but I so wish that when I was in my tweens/teens that Rebel Girls had existed as I could have gone down a completely different track with my career as I would have been exposed to more female role models, as it was I had ones like Ann M. Martin, Beverley Cleary, Judy Blume, Louise May Alcott, and Laura Ingalls Wilder, Jacqueline Wilson, and Francine Pascal and then their book characters like Elizabeth Wakefield, Harriet the Spy and Mary Ann Spiers. This makes sense as to why I went down the track of reading and writing, and even so with this I often wish I had parents at the same time that encouraged me as I would be on a completely different life path than I am now. Who knows where I could be if only we had books like Rebel Girls in the 90s and early to mid-2000s? Working for the House of Science as an EA, I am now exposed to females in the STEM field and one of those talked about and celebrated is Ada Lovelace. Ada Lovelace grew up in 19th-century London and helped developed computer codes and computer science. She was before her time as it would be about two hundred years later, that Ada's work would be recognized and relooked at with the developments of computers, and in the end, she would be seen as one of the first-ever female coders in history and a pioneer for Computer Science. Rather than written as a purely factual book, Ada Lovelace Cracks the Code is written like a junior chapter book and at the end of the book contains some activities related to Ada Lovelace's work in both computer coding and mathematics. This is the perfect book for any female who loves STEM and computers/coding aged between 7-12 years old.

This biography gives a great look at Ada Lovelace's life and lays out her accomplishments in a way that a young audience can be inspired by, appreciate, and understand.

Why haven’t I come across the Rebel Girls stable before? This is a brilliant initiative to raise the profile of STEM among girls of the right age. My girls of the right age are rapidly growing out of it.

This engaging story takes the few facts we have about Ada Lovelace and turns it into a biography. It may be based on very little, but invents a believable and accurately imagined world. She may have had some of these adventures, and definitely did have others. It’s an excellent mix of cause and effect. I found it all the more believable because the young Ada suffered so many of the same problems I would have done in her era. My mind would also leap on a piece of information in a geography lesson and go off into a reverie of how the local people might have lived, worked, and what the countryside was like.

I had been somewhat confused by how the young Ada Byron managed to turn into Lovelace. She married someone else entirely. That was solved near the end. Having finished with childhood, the book skipped over marriage and children (many!) to the point Ada got her name linked to computing. By that time she had become Lady Lovelace (hubby inherited the title).

Some reviewers disliked the amount of ‘invention’ required. But to me it was perfectly ‘right’ for the age and for the little we actually know. The rest is deduction, Dr Watson, and very well done indeed.

Absolutely delighted to read a Rebel Girls Chapter book. My 9 year old adores the whole series and loves exploring all the bios of immensely inspiring role models. Now, there is so much more detail to enjoy, whilst still providing all the extras we love from the series - beautiful illustrations and fun activities. After reading about the wonderful life of Ada Lovelace in just enough detail for a junior reader, there are a host of fun code puzzles to enjoy cracking. We cannot wait to read more Rebel Girls chapter books. #adalobelacecracksthecode #rebelgirls #netgalley

Inspiring short story, wonderful for children. Illustrations are very pleasing. Easy to understand. Obviously this is only the basic story.

I would like to thank Rebel Girls for providing me with an ARC.

The illustrations throughout this book were really good. This book is a fictionalized account of Ada Lovelace's life. The transitions between time in the story felt very sudden. The plot also did not seem to be well fleshed out. It really just gave the very basics of Ada Lovelace's life as it is intended for younger readers. There were some great activities in the back of the book that directly relate to the story.

My daughter has really enjoyed several of the other Rebel Girl books we have read together over the last couple of years and she was thrilled to get her hands on this one and really enjoyed this new format. She read it in one sitting and really enjoyed the more detailed account of the remarkable Ada Lovelace. She loved it and really enjoys the new chapter books that she can read independently. The book also sparked some great conversation after she had read it. 5 stars from the 8 year old here and a big recommend. She plans to buy her friend a copy for her birthday next month, the ultimate praise.

I received an electronic ARC from Rebel Girls through NetGalley.
Rebel Girl has branched into chapter books based on the lives of famous women who may or may not have been recognized during their lifetimes. Readers meet Ada Lovelace as a child and follow her explorations into mathematics and other sciences. They see the challenges she faced from illness and lack of support. They also see supportive relationships with her husband and her friend, Babbage. Her grasp of math is emphasized as is her awareness that she won't be taken seriously in the field. The author continues the story to share the recognition she received posthumously when scientists rediscovered her work.
Easy to follow text pulls readers in to her world, and the illustrations offer further glimpses into her life. I appreciate the challenges for readers provided at the end. They are a simple and needed introduction to computer programming.