Historical, Literary 

Detroit in the 1890s. In bicycle shops around the city, men are experimenting with the internal combustion engine in an effort to make horseless carriages. It is the crucial time in the development of Detroit as the automobile center of the world, and this books brings to life the excitement and individual nature of the early development of the automobile. A bicycle shop owner named William Metzger was one of the pioneers of the auto industry. Into his shop comes twelve-year-old Charlie O'Brien, a young man with an astounding ability to draw, to make automobile ideas come alive. Charlie moves into Metzger's shop, and together they work toward the development of the automobile. They ride with Charles King in the first car to drive the streets of Detroit. They spend evenings with the Dodge brothers working on ideas. They do not miss baseball at Bennett Park, which would later be called Tiger Stadium, and many of the other attractions of Detroit in the 1890s. The novel is very accessible for young readers who are drawn into Charlie's world. Charlie is a fictional character, but Will Metzger was a real Detroiter who opened the first automobile dealership in Detroit in 1890s, was the M in EMF cars-an early competitor of Ford-built cars for Pierce Arrow, was a founder of the Detroit Athletic Club and of the American Automobile Association. - from Amzon