The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

Jacqueline Kelly

May 2009 · Calpurnia Tate Book 1 · Macmillan + ORM

About this ebook

An eleven-year-old girl discovers the wonder of the natural world—and the drive to blaze her own trail—in this Newbery Honor Award–winning historical novel.

The summer of 1899 is hot in Calpurnia’s sleepy Texas town, and there aren’t a lot of good ways to stay cool. Her mother has a new wind machine from town, but Callie might just resort to stealthily cutting off her hair, one sneaky inch at a time. She’s also spending a lot of time at the river with her notoriously cantankerous grandfather, an avid naturalist.

It turns out that every drop of river water is teeming with life—all you have to do is look through a microscope! But as Callie and her grandfather are about to make an amazing discovery, she turns her inquisitive mind toward questions about her own life. Why should a girl living at the turn of the twentieth century do nothing more than cook, clean and sew?

“The most delightful historical novel for tweens in many, many years . . . Callie’s struggles to find a place in the world where she’ll be encouraged in the gawky joys of intellectual curiosity are fresh, funny, and poignant today.” —The New Yorker

Ratings and reviews

Grade: 5-7 (GR: Not Yet Rated) Rating: B Comments: This book is about a young girl (11 years old) and her summer adventures amongst a family with 6 brothers and as Callie Vee says "Can you imagine a worse situation?" Callie Vee (short for Calpurnia Virginia Tate) enjoys "doing science" with her grandpa more than traditional jobs that girls and women did at the turn of the 20th century. I could really relate to Callie Vee as when I was a kid I liked to collect things and observe science. The vocabulary in this book was a bit advanced. I occasionally had to look things up in my pocket dictionary. I enjoyed the relationship with Callie Vee and her grandfather. I felt myself really wanting to know more about what happened to Callie Vee when she grew up. The book is set at the turn of the 20th century and would make for good discussions about the roles and opportunities of women then versus now.

Newbery Honor book for upper middle school and middle school readers is delightful. Calie finds herself very frustrated to play a female's role in late 19th century Texas. Her grandfather, an amateur scientist takes her under his wing. Callie is a wonderful narrator as she shares her story about being female and wanting more. All characters are well-developed. Callie will stay with you long after you finish the book.

This book is very suspenseful! I advise any girls who are tired of people judging them just by their gender to read this book.

About the author

Jacqueline Kelly won the Newbery Honor for The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, her first book. She was born in New Zealand and raised in Canada, in the dense rainforests of Vancouver Island. Her family then moved to El Paso, Texas, and Kelly attended college in El Paso, then went on to medical school in Galveston. After practicing medicine for many years, she went to law school at the University of Texas, and after several years of law practice, realized she wanted to write fiction. Her first story was published in the Mississippi Review in 2001. She now makes her home with her husband and various cats and dogs in Austin and Fentress, Texas.