The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

I have a special place in my heart for Mrs. Ritter. Every summer she looks through her books and picks out some that she thinks I'll love and that 5th graders will enjoy. I think she recommended this book to me because I love science and historical fiction.

Whenever I read a book recommended by Mrs. Ritter, one of the things I think about is whether or not it would be a good read aloud book. You see, I love to read books aloud. Hearing a story makes it come alive, plus having the shared experience of a book creates a bond between the kids that hear it together.

Right now, I'm reading The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, which is historical fiction and set at the end of the 19th century. (For those of you who get as confused about this century thing as I do, the 19th century is the 1800's.) The story takes place in the years following the publication of the controversial book by Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species. In this book the main character, Calpurnia, discovers how much she loves science. I'm not even half way through the book, yet, but I'm intrigued about how everything is going to work out for Callie because in the 1800's, girls are suppose to be learning to sew and play the piano, not gallivanting through nature or look at organisms through microscopes! Surprisingly, some people still feel that way.

I haven't decided, yet, whether or not I'm going to read this book out loud this year. I might try to get four or five copies of it and have it available as a book club choice, instead. For any of you who are interested in reading the book now, Mrs. Ritter has it in the Park School library; I got my own copy of this book for my Kindle reader from Amazon.