Book Review: THE EVOLUTION OF CALPURNIA TATE

Book Review, Genre 5: THE EVOLUTION OF CALPURNIA TATE      

Author: Jacqueline Kelly

Title: The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

Illustrator: April Ward

Publisher: Henry Hold and Company

Publication Date: 2009

ISBN: 978-0-8050-8841-0

Plot summary: In central Texas in 1899, eleven-year-old Callie Vee Tate resists the instructions of her mother to be a lady; learns about love the hard way from the older three of her six brothers; and studies the natural world with her grandfather -- which leads to an important discovery that changes her life.

Critical analysis: Like the evolution of a polliwog into a frog or a caterpillar into a butterfly, readers watch the character of 11-year-old Calpurnia Tate evolve in the historical fiction book The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly. We watch Calpurnia grow in knowledge of the world around her and in frustration at the restraints placed on women from the summer of 1899 to New Year’s Day 1900. Calpurnia wants more out of life than what is expected of young women at the turn of the century: keeping house, cooking, and needlepoint. “I pulled my sampler from my sewing bag and looked at it. It had started out life as a perfect square but had evolved into a skewed rhomboid, with all the letters learning sharply to the right. How were you supposed to make the stitches the same size? How were you supposed to keep the tension even? And, most of all, who cared about this stuff?/Well, I could answer the last one. My mother cared, and the rest of the world apparently did too, for no good reason that I could figure out” (p. 216-217). Author Kelly keeps up a running theme throughout the book that does an adequate job of teaching readers how the attitudes towards women’s lifestyles today have changed since 1899.

The book’s setting of rural Fentress, Texas, is vividly described: the heat, the landscape, modes of travel, clothing, types of chores, the insects, the animals. For example: “The heat was a misery for all of us in Fentress, but it was the women who suffered the most in their corsets and petticoats” (p. 1-2). And: “On the long drive back to Fentress, my grandfather and I had energy to spare. We burned up some of it singing sea chanteys and pirate songs with naughty words, being careful to switch to hymns when other riders came into view. We made it home at dinnertime, dusty and worn out but still elated by our day” (p. 178).

The plot of the story centers on Calpurnia’s desire to do something more with her life than become a wife and mother. She is a very curious and observant child that wants to learn about the world around her. It was a book that brought her to the attention of her preoccupied grandfather: “He extracted a book covered in rich green morocco leather handsomely tipped with gold. He polished it with his sleeve, although I could see no dust on it. Ceremoniously, he bowed and offered it to me. I looked at it. The Origin of Species. Here, in my own house. I received it in both my hands. He smiled. Thus began my relationship with Granddaddy” (p. 21).

The style of writing did not strike me as overly historical. I felt the yes sirs and ma’ams were correct for the time. I felt that Calpurnia’s respect for her elders and her manners were correct for the time. But the dialogue, in my opinion, did not capture the speech patterns of Texas in 1899. Perhaps this is because the author is originally from New Zealand and raised in Canada. While Kelly currently lives in Texas, she is somewhat new to Texas and southern vernacular which might explain her writing style.

I felt like the book ended at a good spot: Calpurnia made a list of things she would like to see and do before she dies. One item on her list was to see snow – something that even today is not a common sight in Texas. At the very end of the book it does snow and Calpurnia revels in its pureness before anyone else is up and about for the day. While the book ended on a happy note, I felt like there was more to Calpurnia’s story. I was pleased to find out there is another book about Calpurnia (The Curious World of Calpurnia Tate ISBN: 9780805097443) and I can’t wait to read it.

Review excerpt:

• 2010 John Newbery Medal Honor Book
• 2010 Winner of the Judy Lopez Memorial Award for Children’s Literature
• 2010 winner of the IRA Children’s and Young Adults’ Book Award

• Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 2009 (Vol. 77, No. 7): The year is 1899, the place Texas and the problem is 11-year-old Calpurnia Virginia Tate, who is supposed to want to cook, sew and attract future beaux, not play in the dirt, examine insects and, perhaps most suspect of all, read Darwin's controversial The Origin of Species, the source of the novel's chapter introductions. A natural-born scientist, she alone among her six brothers has discovered the rare specimen under her own roof a funny-smelling, rather antisocial grandfather who preoccupies himself with classifying flora and fauna...when he's not fermenting pecans for whiskey. Their budding friendship is thoughtfully and engagingly portrayed, as is the unfolding of the natural world's wonders under Calpurnia's ever-inquisitive gaze. Calpurnia is not a boilerplate folksy Southern heroine who spouts wise-beyond-her-years maxims that seem destined for needlepoint her character is authentically childlike and complex, her struggles believable. Readers will finish this witty, deftly crafted debut novel rooting for "Callie Vee" and wishing they knew what kind of adult she would become.

• The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, July/August 2009 (Vol. 62, No. 11) by Elizabeth Bush: Narrator Calpurnia s voice is fresh and convincing, and Granddaddy is that favorite relative most readers would love to claim as their own. Historical fiction fans are in for a treat.

• Children’s Literature by Phyllis Kennemer, Ph.D:  This book presents an engaging piece of historical-fiction depicting the roles and expectations for women at the turn of the twentieth century. 

Connections:

• Readers can continue to follow Calpurnia’s story in:

The Curious World of Calpurnia Tate ISBN: 9780805097443

Calpurnia Tate, Girl Vet series by Kelly and coauthor Teagan White

• Jacqueline Kelly also wrote Return to the Willows ISBN: 9780805094138, a sequel to The Wind in the Willows.

• Readers can learn more about author Jacqueline Kelly by visiting her web site at www.jacquelinekelly.com

Bibliography

Cover, Mount Juliet, Tennessee. Personal photograph by Amy Wilson. September 27, 2016.

Kelly, Jacqueline. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2009. 9780805088410

Book Review: THE MIDWIFE'S APPRENTICE

Book Review, Genre 5: THE MIDWIFE’S APPRENTICE

Author: Karen Cushman

Title: The Midwife’s Apprentice

Illustrator: Trina Schart Hyman

Publisher: Clarion Books

Publication Date: 1995

ISBN: 0-395-69229-6

Plot summary: In medieval England, a nameless, homeless girl is taken in by a sharp-tempered midwife after being found in a dung heap. Despite obstacles and hardships, the young girl selects her own name, makes a home for herself, and gains the three things she most wants: a full belly, a contented heart, and a place in this world.

Critical analysis: There’s no better way to attract the attention of junior readers than with poop. And that’s how author Karen Cushman gets the attention of her readers in the opening sentences of her Newbery Medal-winning historical fiction book called The Midwife’s Apprentice: “When animal droppings and garbage and spoiled straw are piled up in a great heap, the rotting and moiling give forth heat. Usually no one gets close enough to notice because of the stench. But the girl noticed and, on that frosty night, burrowed deep into the warm, rotting muck, heedless of the smell” (p. 1). Of course, Cushman doesn’t exactly use the word poop – instead she sticks with the style of language used during medieval times -- but junior readers catch on quick and are then pulled in to the character of a scrawny, small, pale and frightened girl that at first they might feel sorry for, but by the end of the book they are rooting for her.

Throughout The Midwife’s Apprentice, we learn that the young girl (first called Brat, then Beetle) lives in a small medieval English country village. She meets the village midwife, who uses Beetle for her own purposes: “Each morning Beetle started the fire, blowing on the night’s embers to encourage them to light the new day’s scraps. She swept the cottage’s dirt floor, sprinkled it with water, and stamped it to keep it hard packed. She roasted the bacon and washed up the mugs and knives and sprinkled fleabane about to keep the fleas down. She dusted the shelves packed with jugs and flasks and leather bottles of dragon dung and mouse ears, frog liver and ashes of toad, snail jelly, borage leaves, nettle juice and the powdered bark of the black alder tree” (p. 12). By learning about Beetle’s chores, junior readers learn about an historical medieval setting that helps them picture the way of life during this time.

During a chance shopping trip for the midwife, Beetle is treated with decency for the first time in her life, which gives her a spark of hope and a new name: Alyce. “What a day. She had been winked at, complimented, given a gift, and now mistaken for the mysterious Alyce who could read. Did she then look like someone who could read?” (p. 31). And then a new theme of confidence appears: “‘Alyce,’ she breathed. Alyce sounded clean and friendly and smart. You could love someone named Alyce./‘This then is me, Alyce.’ It was right” (p. 32). Readers will relate to the theme of wanting to be loved. It’s a fact of life that we all want to love and be loved. As the story continues, Alyce begins to give names to those she loves: Purr the cat and a young boy named Edward. The cat and Edward are helped by Alyce and she begins to trust in her friends and in herself. “She was not an inn girl or a nursery maid or a companion to old women. She was a midwife’s apprentice with a newborn hope of being someday a midwife herself” (p. 114).

Review excerpt:

• 1996 winner, John Newbery Medal
• 1995 gold, Parents’ Choice Award
• 1998 winner, Young Reader’s Choice Award
• 1996 winner, ABC Children’s Booksellers Choices Award

• Children’s Literature by Susie Wilde:  The Midwife's Apprentice starts with an intriguing beginning as the heroine waif, Brat, emerges from a steaming dung heap where she's kept herself warm through a frosty night. Brat does not remember her mother, home or real name. She's rescued from the streets by a none-to-kind midwife who, apropos of their meeting at the story's beginning, re-christens this child, Dung Beetle. Midway through the story, this gutsy fourteenth century heroine, names herself Alyce, choosing the name because it "sounded clean and friendly and smart. You could love someone named Alyce." From that point on, she goes about acquiring the traits she ascribes to her chosen alias. She has, as well, defeated her inner voices of self-disgust, learned to "try and risk and fail and try again and not give up" and finally, has her dream of "a full belly, a contented heart, and a place in the world." 

• The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, May 1995 (Vol. 48, No. 9) by Deborah Stevenson: The book's brevity and simplicity also commend it to older readers who find the era intriguing but are intimidated by more epic tales of medieval life. Cushman adds an historical note about midwifery, which includes mention of the maternal and child mortality that never appears in the story itself. This is an offbeat, well-crafted story; fans of the author's first book will enjoy it.

Connections:

• Other books by author Karen Cushman:

Catherine, Called Birdy ISBN: 9780064405843

The Ballad of Lucy Whipple ISBN: 9780064406840

Matilda Bone ISBN: 9780395881569

Grayling’s Song ISBN: 978-0544301801

• Students could learn more about author Karen Cushman at her website: www.karencushman.com

• Teachers can use this Discussion guide .pdf: http://www.karencushman.com/pdfs/DG_midwife.pdf

Bibliography

Cover, Mount Juliet, Tennessee. Personal photograph by Amy Wilson. September 27, 2016.

Cushman, Karen. The Midwife’s Apprentice. New York: Clarion Books, 1995. 0395692296

Book Review: DASH

Book Review, Genre 5: DASH

Author: Kirby Larson

Title: Dash

Illustrator: Whitney Lyle

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Publication Date: 2014

ISBN: 978-0-545-41635-1

Plot summary: When her Japanese-American family is forced into an internment camp, 11-year-old Mitsi Kashino is separated from her home and her beloved dog Dash. Living at the camp, Mitsi clings to her one connection to the outer world--the letters from the kindly neighbor who is caring for Dash.

Critical analysis: Author Kirby Larson has created a very believable character in 11-year-old Mitsi Kashino. She goes to school, she has a brother, parents, and a grandmother who lives with her. And she has a dog. Mitsi’s love for her dog Dash shines throughout the book, especially when the historical aspect of the book is brought to the forefront: Mitsi’s Japanese-American family is required by the U.S. government to relocate to an internment camp – everyone in the family except for Dash – after Japan attacks Pearl Harbor and brings America into World War II. The fictional Mitsi even writes a letter (and receives a response) from the very real General John L. DeWitt, who was responsible for incarcerating Japanese Americans from the West Coast. While today’s junior readers might not understand fear created by war, they will understand the never ending love for a pet.

The setting of the book changes from the familiar: a quaint American town, home and school, and changes to the unfamiliar to the reader: internment camps hastily put together by the U.S. Army. “Five Army cots were lined up in the middle of a space smaller than their kitchen at home. There were no mattresses or pillows or blankets on the cots. Just some cotton bags. Except for a stove for heat, the cots were the only furnishings. No table. No chairs. No nothing” (p. 98).

The theme of the power of family love shines throughout the book as each member of the Kashino family stands up for what they believe in while being held at the camp: Mitsi believes her dog Dash should be allowed at the camp; Mitsi’s mom, dad and grandmother believe that staying positive and supporting your neighbor will overcome many inconveniences; Mitsti’s brother believes that crime doesn’t pay.

The style captures the essence of the early 1940s: America is plunged into war, bigotry flares, and there is no end in sight to the fear of not knowing what could happen next. Readers can believe the trials the fictional Kashino family had to endure by the amount of evidence that author Larson presents in her writing. At the end of the book, Larson explains her Author’s Note how she found inspiration for the book through her research from a diary about a dog kept by a kind American woman while a Japanese-American family were sent away. Larson says, “I can’t imagine how hard it was for Mitsi to be separated from [her dog] when she had no idea how long the separation would last. … Every story needs a heart hook, and that was mine.”

Review excerpt:

• 2015 winner, Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction
• 2014 Master List, National Parenting Publications Award
• 2014 Gold Winner, National Association of Parenting Publications Awards
• 2016 nominee, Magnolia Award

• Booklist, July 1, 2014 (vol. 110, no. 21) by Ilene Cooper: Based on a true story of a girl who had to leave her dog, this book helps readers understand the hardship that Japanese American citizens endured while at the same time offering a story of one girl with relatable hopes and worries. What also comes through is how a strong family can pull together in the worst of circumstances.

• Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 2014 (vol. 82, no. 12): Eleven-year-old Mitsi Kashino and her family are forced to move to a Japanese internment camp following the attack on Pearl Harbor.The Japanese-Americans are forced to leave their homes, their jobs, and all but what they can carry. Unfortunately for Mitsi, this also means leaving her beloved dog, Dash, behind. Thankfully, a good-hearted neighbor agrees to take Dash in. The neighbor writes letters to Mitsi, composing them from Dash's point of view, and these keep Mitsi connected with the world beyond the fence. 

Connections:

• Librarians can show this book trailer to promote Dash: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d61fcuviTPw

• Dash is the second book in the Dogs of World War II series by Kirby Larson. The first book in the series is Duke ISBN: 9780545416375. The third book in the series is Liberty ISBN: 978-0545840712

• Learn more about author Kirby Larson at www.kirbylarson.com

• Other books by Kirby Larson:

1. Hattie Big Sky ISBN: 9780385903325
2. Hattie Ever After ISBN: 9780385737463
3. The Friendship Doll ISBN: 9780385906678
4. Audacity Jones to the Rescue ISBN: 9780545840569

Bibliography

Cover, Mount Juliet, Tennessee. Personal photograph by Amy Wilson. September 27, 2016.

Larson, Kirby. Dash. New York: Scholastic Press, 2014. 9780545416351