Callie’s inquiring mind takes flight when her Grandaddy sets out to teach her the secrets of scientific discovery. With little more than a notebook for making observations, Callie learns the mystery and wonders of evolution in her backyard at a time when the concept of evolution was considered heresy.
While Callie dreams of becoming a scientist, her mother wants to prepare her for domestic life. What are the possibilities for a girl at the turn of the nineteenth century? Can Callie achieve her dreams or is she damned to a life of knitting, darning and baking?
This is Calpurnia Tate’s battlefield.
While much of Callie’s tale is laugh-out-loud funny, there’s heartbreak and the despair of being female in 1899 Texas. Callie’s unresolved tale will linger with me for a very long time.
Title: The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
Author: Jacqueline Kell
Publisher: Square Fish, $15.99
Publication Date: 24 January 2011
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780312659301
For ages: 8 - 12
Type: Middle Fiction
