THE EVOLUTION OF CALPURNIA TATE by Jacqueline Kelly

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Kelly, Jacqueline. THE EVOLUTION OF CALPURNIA TATE. 2009. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 978-0312659301

PLOT SUMMARY

Calpurnia Tate or Callie Vee is eleven years old and the only girl of seven children. She lives on a wealthy cotton and pecan farm in Texas during 1899, where they have learned to master the dark but have yet to master the heat. While her mother is set on teaching Callie Vee how to be an adequate lady in the fine art of cooking, cleaning, household management, and piano playing, Calpurnia wishes to explore the nature that surrounds her. Her cantankerous old grandfather is her accomplice in her secret exploration, smuggling out the banned book by Darwin, The Origin of Species. As she navigates her life through her tight-knit family and her want to not be a “lady,” Calpurnia finds that life is what one makes of it. She learns what it is to be a young girl during the Turn of the Century.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Jacqueline Kelly writes an amazingly witty and crisp take on the life of a young girl in the South during the 1800s. She paints a surprisingly conspiratorial pair of Calpurnia and her grandfather that effectively bridges a generational gap through the shared love of the outdoors. While Grandfather Walter Tate is obviously the educator and she the apprentice, he learns just as much from her as she does from him. The conversations, misconceptions, and resolutions are perfectly intertwined with the beautiful learning and personal growth of a young girl in a rustic setting. Kelly accurately captures the feel and visions of steaming Texas heat and the forced mannerisms of a genteel, southern lady.

Small and enjoyable snippets from Darwin’s The Origins of Species provide a visible parallel between the instructive text and the idealism of young Calpurnia. Her inquisitive nature and the social trappings of the period cause an internal conflict in the novel that surpasses the characters themselves. In the form of rebellion and a pinch of feminism, Kelly reveals the impending change brought on by the industrial revolution and the feminist movement.

The jacket of the book pairs perfectly with the yellow, dry grass of the Texas frontier, and contrasts well with the shadowed profile of a young girl in an apron surrounded by bugs and wildlife. The vines creep around the edges seemingly attempting to engulf the child carrying the bug net. It is a truly masterful work of art capturing the naturalistic tone and the era preceding the industrial boom.

BOOK EXCERPT(S)

IRA Children's Book Award

IRA Teachers' Choices

Newbery Honor BookChicago 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

“The book ends with uncertainty over Callie's future, but there's no uncertainty over the achievement of Kelly's debut novel.” — School Library Journal

“Interwoven with the scientific theme are threads of daily life in a large family—the bonds with siblings, the conversations overheard, the unspoken understandings and misunderstandings—all told with wry humor and a sharp eye for details that bring the characters and the setting to life. The eye-catching jacket art, which silhouettes Callie and images from nature against a yellow background, is true to the period and the story. Many readers will hope for a sequel to this engaging, satisfying first novel.” – Booklist

“The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate is 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

“In her debut novel, Jacqueline Kelly brings to vivid life a boisterous small-town family at the dawn of a new century. And she especially shines in her depiction of the natural world that so intrigues Callie . . . Readers will want to crank up the A.C. before cracking the cover, though. That first chapter packs a lot of summer heat.”—The Washington Post

CONNECTIONS

This is an excellent book to inspire children to explore nature and the conventions of the past.

Other books that would be great for inspiration and conversation:

Vanderpool, Claire. MOON OVER MANIFEST. ISBN 978-0375858291

Lai, Thanhha. INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN. ISBN 978-0061962783

Gantos, Jack. DEAD END IN NORVELT. ISBN 978-0374379933