For fans of Balto and other real-life dog stories, here's a heavily illustrated middle-grade novel about a canine movie star of the 1920s, dramatically told in both words and pictures by an acclaimed author and a Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator.

When movie director Larry Trimble travels to Berlin searching for his next big star--a dog --he finds Etzel, a fierce, highly trained three-year-old German shepherd police dog. Larry sees past the snarls and growls and brings Etzel back to Hollywood, where he is renamed Strongheart. Along with screenwriter Jane Murfin, Larry grooms his prot g to be a star of the silver screen--and he succeeds, starting with Strongheart's first film, The Love Master, which is released in 1921. Strongheart is soon joined by a leading lady, a German shepherd named Lady Julie, and becomes a sensation.

Touching, charming, playful, and based on real events, this moving tale by Candace Fleming and illustrated by Eric Rohmann tells all about "the wonder dog" who took America by storm.

A NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY BEST BOOK OF 2018
A CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY BEST BOOK OF 2018

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade Books
Published: 02/06/2018
ISBN: 9781101934104
Pages: 256
Weight: 1.10lbs
Size: 8.10h x 6.10w x 1.20d

Review Citations: School Library Journal 11/01/2017
Kirkus Reviews 11/01/2017
Booklist 11/01/2017 pg. 60
Publishers Weekly 12/04/2017
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 02/01/2018
Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2019 - Below Average, With Minor Flaw

Accelerated Reader Quiz #/Name: 194405 / Strongheart: Wonder Dog of the Silver Screen
Reading Level: 4.1 / Interest Level: Middle Grade / Point Value: 2