The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

Kelly, J. (2010). The evolution of calpurnia tate. New York: Henry Holt and Co. 

Plot

 In 1899, twelve year old Calpurnia Tate is doing everything wrong. She loves adventure, science, and the natural world, which are all things a girl should not be doing. Calpurnia, or Callie as her six brothers call her, takes solace in her Granddaddy's lessons and their many scientific discoveries. During a time when young ladies are tied up in corsets and cooking lessons, Calpurnia is discovering herself as she blossoms into a brilliant and intriguing young woman. Readers will love mentions of familiar discoveries such as the instillation of the town's first phone, and the beginning of the National Geographic Society. 

Review

After reading this book I immediately found author Jacqueline Kelly on Facebook and emailed her my thoughts on this book. I am a guilty of judging books by their genre and this book sat on my desk for almost a month. When I finally picked  it up again, I fell in love by the first page. This is not a boring historical fiction book (which I am not fond of), but a brilliant summary of a young girls' self discovery in such an interesting way. Readers will love the history and familiar mentions such as Darwin and moonshine. Parents need to know that there is mention of alcohol making and consumption as well as some mentions of animals mating and words like "hell" and "damn", other than that, it is a great history lesson and fun story all in one. 

Genre

Historical Fiction

Reading Level/Interest Level

5th-8th grade/ Tweens

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Awards

IRA Children's Book Award; IRA Teachers' Choices; Newbery Honor Book; CPL: Chicago Public Library Best of the Best; Illinois Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Choice Award Master List; North Carolina Young Adult Book Award; Texas Lone Star Reading List; TN YA Volunteer State Book Award ML; Vermont Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award Master List

Readers Annotation

Calpurnia is a girl growing up during the turn of the century and while everyone has their own plans for her, she is fighting to create and control her own destiny.