Author: Jacqueline Kelly
Publisher: New York: Macmillan, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-312-65930-1
Summary: Calpurnia Tate is your average Southern
eleven-year-old girl in a houseful of brothers, a mother trying to teach her to
be a lady, a cantankerous grandfather, and a taste for forbidden books. Actually,
this budding scientist isn’t ordinary at all as she strives to learn all she
can about the natural world with her grandfather and Mr. Darwin’s help and as
she strives to avoid her mother’s attempts at bringing up a proper young lady
in 1899.
Critical Analysis: Jacqueline Kelly’s debut novel is full
of character and science. Calpurnia and her grandfather are the main characters
but Calpurnia’s world does contain others; her parents, brothers, and servant
Viola—all well-loved people. To a lesser extent you have a few friends and a
love interest of Calpurnia’s brother, characters used primarily to move the
book along.
Calpurnia is a
great character and narrator; she’s spunky and entertaining. Her grandfather is
gruff and mysterious. They’re both interesting and multi-faceted, but together
they are dynamic. Calpurnia is polite in a genteel Southern way—mam’ and sir
being second nature. The talents and skills expected of her as a Southern lady
are accurately described, as well as her distaste for them.
Her grandfather
is not only a character, he is also the driving force behind the science
contained in the novel. His interest in nature began when he made friends with
a bat during the Civil War. The story of the bat in his tent is the only war
story you get to here this veteran tell. He pushes Calpurnia’s scientific
studies by allowing her to work with him in his field studies.
The book is
episodic in its plotline. Short, primarily funny, vignettes occur and
in-between the stories Calpurnia grows a little. Kelly’s writing is smooth and
vivid, drawing you into the sweltering Texas summer or tension-filled piano recital.
The author makes
no reference to sources used for the book, although the acknowledgments section
thanks several people and institutions connected with science and history.
Kelly was a practicing medical doctor for many years before switching careers;
she draws on Charles Darwin’s Evolution
of Species and her personal knowledge of the natural world for the science
in The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate.
Although the
novel has a specific setting and time period, it is not focused around a
historic event. The historical aspect of this novel comes into play primarily
in the attitudes and expectations of society toward young women. Calpurnia’s
chafing against those expectations is universal and continues to this day as we
push against what society expects of us.
Awards:
2010
Newberry Honor Book
2010
YALSA Best Book for Young Adults
2010
ALA Notable Book
2009
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews:
“Readers will finish this witty, deftly crafted debut novel rooting for ‘Callie
Vee’ and wishing they knew what kind of adult she would become.”
The
Horn Book: “Kelly, without anachronism, has created a memorable, warm, spirited
young woman who’s refreshingly ahead of her time.”
The
New Yorker: “…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.”
Neat
Stuff to Learn:
Learn more about Grasshoppers:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/73/tree/all
This is a picture of a flower similar to that
discovered by Calpurnia and her grandfather. What would you name a plant?
This is a picture of a flower similar to that
discovered by Calpurnia and her grandfather. What would you name a plant?
Check out
my Book Trailer:
Cotton:
Cotton is THE cash crop of Callie’s Family. Learn more about where your t-shirt comes from by watching this prezi by Matthew Green. Then go to kqed.org for more great information about your t-shirt.
review created for Texas Woman’s University course LS
5603.21
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