The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

My name is Calpurnia Virginia Tate, but back then everybody called me Callie Vee. That summer, I was eleven years old and the only girl out of seven children. Can you imagine a worse situation?


The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate takes place in 1899, at the end of one century and the start of another. There are many changes that take place in this great book about a girl who learns about herself and the world around her.


In this time period, girls were expected to learn sewing, knitting, cooking, and ordinary housework. Callie did not like any of these tasks and she was not very good at any of them, either.


One day, Callie meets the grandfather who has lived in her house all of her life. Grandfather is not social. He keeps to himself in his little laboratory in the backyard. A relationship between the two evolves and grandfather soon shares his passion for science with Callie.


Callie watches the changes in the plants and animals around her while she struggles with the changes in her family. Three of her brothers fall in love with her best friend and just when Callie realizes that her dream is to be a scientist and go to the university, her mom has other plans for her.


Against my will, I had arrived at that age when a young girl began to acquire those skills she would need to manage her own household after marriage. And of course, all the girls I knew expected to get married.


What will she do?


I give this book my highest recommendation. It is a great book for tweens, even though some of the vocabulary was difficult at times. My parents read this book also and we talked about some of the things that I didnt understand. Still, I loved the story.


Whenever I was reading this book, I always wanted to run outside and go explore with Callie. She seemed like such a real person. Sometimes it seemed like Calpurnia was too perfect because she always understood the scientific things that were happening around her and almost always remembered to document them in her notebook. But Callie still made mistakes and she had problems like normal kids have.


My favorite part in the book was the birthday party because it was so energetic and I felt like I was at it.


This book is descriptive and inspirational. Even though Callie cant always do what she loves, she always stands up for herself and fights for what she wants.


A memorable quote from the book tells us that there are no endings. There is always something new to be discovered.


We should celebrate todays failure because it is a clear sign that our voyage of discovery is not yet over. The day the experiment succeeds is the day the experiment ends and I inevitably find that the sadness of ending outweighs the celebration of success."


I was both happy and sad when the book ended. Sad that it was over but happy to have read and learned from it. I wonder what Callie is doing now?