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September 2026 - A Day at the Beach
By Kristen · 5 posts · 48 views
By Kristen · 5 posts · 48 views
last updated Sep 07, 2025 06:50PM
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September Read - The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
By Kristen · 24 posts · 154 views
By Kristen · 24 posts · 154 views
last updated Nov 16, 2009 11:29PM
What Members Thought
I liked this because it was beautifully written and very evocative of place, and I enjoyed how the understanding between Callie Vee and her grandfather developed. (It was funny when he toasted her as his only grandchild - it was clear that he couldn't keep the boys straight either). The brothers were a bit indignant at being forgotten, not realizing she had had to work at the relationship and they had not made that effort, perhaps because they did not see the appeal.
Some have said they were disa ...more
Some have said they were disa ...more
Set in 1899 Texas, this is the story of Calpurnia Tate, the one daughter with many brothers of a prosperous cotton producer. Callie is a remarkably appealing character and Kelly does an excellent job maintaining her point of view throughout. Feisty, fascinated in natural life, in the months this story occurs, she discovers her grandfather (and he her). This patriarch of the family has withdrawn to do science --- investigate, read, and otherwise consider. At the start of the novel he and Callie d
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Grades 4-7. RL 830. This is the best book I have read in a REALLY long time. I don't even know where to start. It is the perfect blend of science, history, humor and relationships. It is really a hopeful, bittersweet story of a girl who, under the caring guidance of her grandfather, learns to be a naturalist and scientist in spite of the fact that girls were socially limited as to what they could do as adults in the early 1900s. But her grandfather sees her potential. He feeds her interest. This
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I feel like handing this book to homeschoolers and other kids who have the time and inclination to run outside with a sketch book and magnifying glass and sit for long periods doing nothing but observe the natural world.
Calpurnia 'Callie Vee' Tate is 12 years old in rural Texas in 1899 and as the only girl among 7 children, her mother's ambition for her is to improve her needlepoint and set her up to come out as a debutante. Luckily, over this hot, dusty summer she falls under the attention of ...more
Calpurnia 'Callie Vee' Tate is 12 years old in rural Texas in 1899 and as the only girl among 7 children, her mother's ambition for her is to improve her needlepoint and set her up to come out as a debutante. Luckily, over this hot, dusty summer she falls under the attention of ...more
While I could enumerate the ways in which this book is technically excellent - the language, the character development, the setting, etc. etc., I would rather just gush. Despite having little in common with Calpurnia, I found her extremely satisfying as a character. You share in her triumphs, you feel her pains, you feel the Texas heat and the deliciousness of unmarred snow. You love Granddaddy as much as she does, you want to go for a swim in the river (even though you're afraid of the microorg
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An old-fashioned setting for a budding feminist/scientist. I loved the chapter with the cat and possum. That is excellent writing. The vivid descriptions and sly humor kept me reading. I occasionally stumbled over some of the old-fashioned vocabulary, so I wonder how much kids will like it.
At first I was pissed with this book because it seemed to be written for a librarian rather than a kid. But then I liked it. The ending is annoying and contrived, but it was still a neat, original book.
Perfect end of the summer read - entertaining & thoughtful. Episodic but with a great overall arc. And oh the characters - I do wish there was a second book here so that I could return to the same world.
Nov 25, 2009
carissa
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
juvenile-fiction,
juvenile-fiction-historical
Recommended Ages: grades 4-8
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 easier to see against the yellow grass, so they are eaten before they can get any larger. As Callie explores the natural world around her, she develops a close relationship with he ...more
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 easier to see against the yellow grass, so they are eaten before they can get any larger. As Callie explores the natural world around her, she develops a close relationship with he ...more
I loved this little scientist and the interactions with her grandfather. I'm very curious as to how children will react to it.
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This could be the definition of "leisurely" with it's episodic nature and lack of narrative drive. Really what we have here is a character study of the Tate family and a picture of a very specific time and place in history - Texas at the turn of the century (19th to 20th). Twelve-year-old Callie Vee (nobody calls her Calpurnia) has recently discovered an interest in both science and her Grandfather, a previously rather scary personage, who it turns out has an interest in science himself.
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Best children's book I've read in a very long time.
A beautiful combination of science and coming of age and feminist history all rolled into one very well written story about a young lady with 6 brothers who is trying to find her place in the world. And that is only a beginning description.
I absolutely loved it.
Seems to me that this one could be sold to both genders - and it's definitely a good one for a book club. ...more
A beautiful combination of science and coming of age and feminist history all rolled into one very well written story about a young lady with 6 brothers who is trying to find her place in the world. And that is only a beginning description.
I absolutely loved it.
Seems to me that this one could be sold to both genders - and it's definitely a good one for a book club. ...more
Turn of the century setting. This would be a good book for the high reading level 4th to 5th grade girl, who likes biology.
Calpurnia is a bit self centered though--it's all about her. ...more
Calpurnia is a bit self centered though--it's all about her. ...more
May 13, 2009
Megan
marked it as to-read
Apr 16, 2010
Geni
marked it as to-read
Jan 21, 2012
Annemarie O'brien
marked it as to-read
Nov 17, 2012
Melinda Caldwell
added it
