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The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
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The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate (2009) (edit title/settings)

by Jacqueline Kelly (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

Calpurnia Virginia Tate is eleven years old in 1899 when she wonders why the yellow grasshoppers in her Texas backyard are so much bigger than the green ones.With a little help from her notoriously cantankerous grandfather, an avid naturalist, she figures out that the green grasshoppers are... read more

Summary edit see section history

The evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly is about an eleven year old girl who has to be a perfect housewife. Her nickname is Callie Vee. She is bound by household responsibilities, and hates it. She wants to spend time with her grandfather and explore science instead! When she... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

The evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly is about an eleven year old girl who has to be a perfect housewife. Her nickname is Callie Vee. She is bound by household responsibilities, and hates it. She wants to spend time with her grandfather and explore science instead! When she finds out why the yellow grasshoppers are bigger than the green grasshoppers, she strikes a friendship with her grandfather who gives her the idea of being a scientist. Then her mother makes her cook, sew and knit. Her best friend, Lula, becomes appealing to three of her brothers Lamar, Sam Houston and Travis. That leds to a lot of fighting among them. Callie Vee finds a vetch and her grandfather believes that it is a new species of plant. Now if you want to find out more you have to read the book. Callie Vee's dream to see snow was fulfilled on the first day of 1900.

Characters/People edit see section history

  • Calpurnia Virginia Tate: A really fun girl. She loves science and does not want to become a housewife. Also known as Callie Vee. Age 11-almost-12. Loves learning about nature and hanging out with her grandfather, who loves to study and experiment.
  • Granddaddy - Walter Tate: Naturalist who develops a strong bond with his only granddaughter;he spends much of his time trying to make an alcoholic beverage out of pecans and watching and discovering hairy vetch mutant.
  • Margaret Tate: Calpurnia's mother; Margaret is a perfect housewife who dreams of Callie being as such.
  • Harry Tate: A handsome young man,the oldest of the family is growing into a man and is starting to date. Age 17.
  • Lamar Tate: Calpurnia's brother
  • Lula Gates: Callie's best friend.Three of Callie's brothers have crushes on Lula. Lula is a typical girl in the later 1800s/early 1900s
  • Travis Tate: One of Callie's brothers. He is very gentle and loves animals.
  • Petey: Callie's pet caterpillar
  • Mr. Hofacket: Photographer. Owner of Hofacket's Portrait Parlor.
  • Sam Houston Tate: Calpurinia's 2nd youngest brother.
  • Viola: The Tate family's cook.
  • Mr. Fleming: The telegram deliverer.
  • Jim Bowie Tate (JB): Youngest child.
  • Alberto: Alberto is someone who works for the Tates
  • Sul Ross Tate: Calpurnia's sibling
  • Jesse James: Travis' most loved cat
  • Mrs. Gates: Lula's mother
  • Minerva Goodacre: Harry first flame. Not a good match.
  • Dovie Medlin: "Simp" Snotty
  • Mr. Grassel: Postman
  • Charles Darwin: Naturalist. Author of The Origin of the Species.
  • Calpurnia: An eleven year old girl living in Texas. She has six brothers, and lives on a farm. her grandfather is a scientist, and she wants to be like him.
  • Alfred Tate: Calpurnia's father. Owns and runs the cotton gin.
  • Miss Brown: Piano teacher.
  • Reggie: Reggie is Travis's pet turkey.
  • Calpurnia Virginia Tate: Calpurnia, Callie Vee, is a brave girl leaving in the 1899s. She dreams of becoming a scientist, which is rare for a women at that time. Her mother, on the other hand, wants her to become a good housewife.
  • Calpurnia Tate: An eleven year girl who forms a special bond with her grandfather who teaches her to be herself and reach for her dreams.
  • Maggie Medlin: Telephone operator. Backy Medlin's great niece. Dovie Medlin's sister.
  • Miss Harbottle: Calpurnia Tate's teacher. Rather strict.
  • Mr. O'Flanagan: Surly man who works at the gin.
  • SanJuanna: Maid
  • Idabelle: Inside cat
  • Ajax: Lead dog. Inside dog. Other dogs: Homer, Hero, Zeus.
  • Rev. and Mrs. Goodacre: Minerva's Aunt and Uncle in Prairie Lea
  • Ulysses: Horse
  • JB's kittens: Doc Holliday, Billy the Kid, Jesse James
  • Backy Medlin: Old man
  • Toddy Gates: Lula's brother "feeble-minded"
  • Mouser: Old barn cat
  • Honoria Goates: First telephone operator. Frightened of electricity because her Uncle Homer Ray Goates was struck by lightning.
Show all 40 characters
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Quotes edit see section history

  • “I consoled myself with Granddaddy's words on the fossil record and the Book of Genesis: It was more important to understand something than to like it. Liking wasn't necessary for understanding. Liking didn't enter into it.”
    Granddaddy
  • “It means that we should celebrate today’s 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.”
  • “One day I would have all the books in the world, shelves and shelves of them. I would live my life in a tower of books. I would read all day long and eat peaches. And if any young knights in armor dared to come calling on their white chargers and plead with me to let down my hair, I would pelt them with peach pits until they went home.”
  • “I loved this particularly fine thing about the dogs: Despite a lifetime of denied entrance, hope never died in their hearts.”
    narrator
  • “It’s amazing what you can see when you just sit quietly and look.”
  • “But I was not alone, was I? I had learned that there were others of my kind out there.”
  • “My mother had got one girl out of seven tries at it. I guess I wasn’t exactly what she’d had in mind, a dainty daughter to help her bail against the rising tide of the rough-and-tumble boyish energy that always threatened to engulf the house. It hadn’t occurred to me that she’d been hoping for an ally and then didn’t get one. So I didn’t like to talk patterns and recipes and pour tea in the parlor. Did that make me selfish? Did it make me odd? Worst of all, did it make me a disappointment?”
    narrator
  • “How satisfying to have a bloodless war in which each side was equally convinced of its own triumph.”
  • “He had never spoken to me directly that I remembered, and I wasn’t entirely convinced he knew my name.”
    narrator
  • “But my mother’s life was a never-ending round of maintenance. Not one single thing did she ever achieve but that it had to be done all over again, one day or one week or one season later. Oh, the monotony.”
    Narrator
  • “'Too bad, because it’s so much fun',” I said. No mere Becky Thatcher I, but crafty old Tom himself.”
    Caplurnia
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • “It means that we should celebrate today’s 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.”
    Highlighted by 30 Kindle customers
  • One day I would have all the books in the world, shelves and shelves of them. I would live my life in a tower of books. I would read all day long and eat peaches. And if any young knights in armor dared to come calling on their white chargers and plead with me to let down my hair, I would pelt them with peach pits until they went home.
    Highlighted by 26 Kindle customers
  • I loved this particularly fine thing about the dogs: Despite a lifetime of denied entrance, hope never died in their hearts.
    Highlighted by 25 Kindle customers
  • “It’s amazing what you can see when you just sit quietly and look.”
    Highlighted by 20 Kindle customers
  • But I was not alone, was I? I had learned that there were others of my kind out there.
    Highlighted by 19 Kindle customers
  • My mother had got one girl out of seven tries at it. I guess I wasn’t exactly what she’d had in mind, a dainty daughter to help her bail against the rising tide of the rough-and-tumble boyish energy that always threatened to engulf the house. It hadn’t occurred to me that she’d been hoping for an ally and then didn’t get one. So I didn’t like to talk patterns and recipes and pour tea in the parlor. Did that make me selfish? Did it make me odd? Worst of all, did it make me a disappointment?
    Highlighted by 18 Kindle customers
  • How satisfying to have a bloodless war in which each side was equally convinced of its own triumph.
    Highlighted by 17 Kindle customers
  • He had never spoken to me directly that I remembered, and I wasn’t entirely convinced he knew my name.
    Highlighted by 15 Kindle customers
  • But my mother’s life was a never-ending round of maintenance. Not one single thing did she ever achieve but that it had to be done all over again, one day or one week or one season later. Oh, the monotony.
    Highlighted by 14 Kindle customers
  • “Too bad, because it’s so much fun,” I said. No mere Becky Thatcher I, but crafty old Tom himself.
    Highlighted by 11 Kindle customers
Show all 21 quotes from this book

Setting & Locations edit see section history

Austin, Texas where Calpurina lives.

First Sentence edit see section history

By 1899, we had learned to tame the darkness, but not the Texas heat.

Table of Contents edit see section history

1. The Origin of Species
2. The Measure of the Morning
3. The Possum Wars
4. Viola
5. Distillations
6. Music Lessons
7. Harry Gets a Girlfriend
8. Microscopy
9. Petey
10. Lula Stirs Up Trouble (But Doesn't Mean To)
11. Knitting Lessons
12. A Scientific Study
13. A Scientific Correspondence
14. The Short Hoe
15. A Sea of Cotton
16. The Telephone Comes
17. Home Economies
18. Cooking Lessons
19. A Distillery Success, of Sorts
20. The Big Birthday
21. The Reproductive Imperative
22. Thanksgiving
23. The Fentress Fair
24. Harry Woos Again
25. Christmas Eve
26. Word Comes
27. New Year's Eve
28. 1900

Glossary edit see section history

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

  • Living up to expectations: This book explores the difficulties of trying to be who you want to be when your family and society expects you to be somebody entirely different. Calpurnia has a passion for studying evolution and science. She is encouraged and taught by her grandfather, whose own curious experiments in his "laboratory" are a lot more fascinating than learning to tat and knit and cook. But a new century is coming and things are changing. Is there hope for Calpurnia (and everyone else)?

Series & Lists edit see section history

This book is in Newbery Honor Roll. (community list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Jacqueline Kelly (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Henry Holt
Country: United States
Publication Date: 2009
ISBN: 9780805088410
Page Count: 340

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: PZ7.K296184Evo 2009
  • Dewey: Fiction

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • Return to the Willows
  • The Secret Garden

Books That Influenced This Book edit see section history

   
  • The Origin of Species

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