Girl's Curiosity Focus of Coming-of-Age Novel 'The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate' JoAn Watson Martin - The Daily News
go to original December 13, 2012

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly Check it out on Amazon.com

Calpurnia’s notoriously cantankerous grandfather lived with the family, but all the children were afraid of him.

Because of her curiosity, Calpurnia was braver than the boys. She began to visit him out in his lab and ask questions. His typical reaction, at his age, to new inventions — the telephone, the automobile, an electric fan — surprised her. He called the fan “a wind machine” and used it during the 106-degree heat of the 1899 Texas summer.

Her grandfather showed her the life in every drop of water. When Callie — her family nickname — looked at it through a microscope, her ambition became to be a “naturalist.” She trained earthworms to come to the top of the grass by pouring water in a spot. In a dry hot summer, they came everyday when she walked to the spot to pour the water. She insisted they felt the ground shake and hurried to get to the spot.

These interests and ambitions were not appropriate for a girl. She asked for a science book for Christmas. She received The Science of Housewifery.

Her mother refused to allow her to cut her hair. Callie’s scheme: cut 1 inch a week. Viola, the cook, gave her a look but didn’t tell. No one else noticed her hair getting shorter instead of longer until the fourth week.

Her mother insisted she be trained to be a lady. Thus coming-out parties, cooking lessons and learning to tat. Calpurnia received third prize in tatting. Only three contestants entered. Dealing with corsets, petticoats, hankies, thimbles, bonnets and pinafores became the bane of Callie’s existence.

Her six brothers had to share two rooms — three younger boys in one bedroom and three older boys in another. Callie had a room to herself, the “only good thing about being a girl.” She’d sneak out to the San Marcos River, walk through sticker burrs and go swimming in her chemise. Her mother’s nerves required her to take medicine: Lady Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound. “You wouldn’t believe the amount of commotion six brothers could create,” Callie said.

Each chapter signals the evolution of the Tate family with a quote from Charles Darwin. Callie went to the library to read Origin of the Species, but the librarian wouldn’t allow Callie to check out such an evil book. Her grandfather handed her a copy from his library, a difficult read for an 11-year-old.

Jacqueline Kelly was born in New Zealand, but moved to Canada at an early age. She grew up in the dense rain forest of Vancouver Island then moved to El Paso. She became a doctor, then went to law school and finally realized what would make her happy was to write fiction. This is her first novel.

JoAn Watson Martin is an educator.

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