Strongheart: Wonder Dog of the Silver Screen

By: Candace Fleming

Narrated by: Fred Berman

For fans of Balto and other real-life dog stories, here's a middle-grade novel about a canine movie star of the 1920s, dramatically told by an acclaimed author.

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 protégé 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 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

Critic reviews

"With the story’s most incredible plot developments based on fact, this fascinating and heartwarming piece of historical fiction will be met with wonder."—Booklist, starred review

I loved this book

I read this with my friend and we both wish that there were more books like it.