| The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate | |
| Author: | Jacqueline Kelly |
| Cover Artist: | Beth White, April Ward |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Genre: | Young adult, Historical fiction |
| Publisher: | Henry Holt and Company |
| Pub Date: | May 12, 2009 (1st edition) |
| Media Type: | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages: | 340 (Hardcover) (1st edition) |
| Isbn: | 0-312-65930-X |
| Isbn Note: | (1st edition) |
| Oclc: | 262143062 (1st edition) |
| Congress: | PZ7.K296184 Evo 2009 |
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate is a 2009 historical young adult novel by Jacqueline Kelly that received a 2010 Newbery Honor Award . It is the story of a young girl growing up in Texas.
In the summer of 1899, Calpurnia Virginia Tate is about to turn twelve and worries about the adult responsibilities that loom on the horizon. She would much rather swim in the river near her family's pecan plantation just outside the tiny town of Fentress, Texas than learn to cook, knit, and play the piano. One day, noticing two different types of grasshoppers in the lawn around the house, Callie finally decides to find a copy of Charles Darwin's infamous book The Origin of Species. After a disastrous encounter with a lady librarian, Callie is forced to search for the illicit book elsewhere. Little does she know that there is a copy in her very own house in the personal library of her Granddaddy. An imposing and distant figure, Callie must work up her courage to ask him about her grasshopper conundrum and relay her own theory about why the grasshoppers around the house are two different sizes. This begins an easy sort of friendship between granddaughter and grandfather. Soon, Callie is spending most of her time with Granddaddy, catching specimens of wildlife for his collection -- including discovering a new type of hairy vetch -- and learning about natural sciences at his side.
When she is not tramping and trapping with Granddaddy, Callie finds herself sadly incapable at the skills her mother so desperately tries to teach her. She can't cook anything other than soft-boiled eggs and cheese sandwiches. Her needlepoint is "straggly and pitiful." Her piano-playing, while adequate, is unexceptional. All of this is painfully obvious to poor Callie when she is compared to her best friend Lula. Lula is a perfect lady, excelling at all the pursuits at which Callie fails so miserably. In fact, her proper ladylike demeanor has three of Callie's six brothers falling in love with her during the course of the summer.
Callie fears that her free-roaming days may be at an end, though, when she receives a frightening Christmas gift: a book from her mother entitled “The Science of Housewifery.”
Throughout the novel, Callie must learn to balance her own independent and curious personality with the restrictions placed on a girl at the turn of the 19th century. As new inventions are presented in Callie's life, she adjusts and evolves, first with the wind machine her brother brings home, then with a marvelous new beverage called Coca-Cola. Ultimately, though, it is the introduction of the telephone in the small Texas town that symbolizes the changes ahead for Callie. As Granddaddy tells her, "The old century is dying, even as we watch. Remember this day." As the book ends, the 20th-century dawns, and a rare snow occurs, leaving the reader hopeful that it will bring with it new opportunities for the feisty young Calpurnia.
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate is an episodic, character driven novel. rather than facing and overcoming a particular obstacle.
Published in 2009 by Henry Holt and Company.
An audiobook version featuring the voice talents of Natalie Ross was published later in the same year by Brilliance Audio on CD. Ross's reading of The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate won the "Best Children's" title at the 2011 APA Audie Awards, as well as an Audiofile Magazine Earphones Award.[1]
Each chapter begins with an epigraph from Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species."
The women mentioned are
Kirkus Reviews wrote "Readers will finish this witty, deftly crafted debut novel rooting for "Callie Vee" and wishing they knew what kind of adult she would become."[2] while Publishers Weekly found that "Callie's transformation into an adult and her unexpected bravery make for an exciting and enjoyable read." and "Kelly's rich images and setting, believable relationships and a touch of magic take this story far."[3] Common Sense Media described it as "a wonderful book about coming of age in a fascinating time, and that's what will leave an impression on tween and teen reader" and "It's easy to see why this coming-of-age story earned a Newbery Honor: Readers will find plenty to like."[4] The New York Times found it "fits an old notion of literature for young people: It is slow-moving, morally grounded and filled with the young narrator’s careful descriptions of the natural world ..."[5]
It was the recipient of numerous awards including a 2010 Newbery Honor Award,[6] and also honored with the IRA Children's Book Award, the North Carolina Young Adult Book Award, the TN YA Volunteer State Book Award ML,[7] the Virginia M. Law Award.,[8] the Josette Frank Award and the Judy Lopez Book Award.[9]
It was included in Chicago Public Library Best of the Best list, the Illinois Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Choice Award Master List, the Texas Lone Star Reading List and was a 2009 Junior Library Guild Selection.