The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

Immersive story about growing up and trying to make sense of the world. Exciting feelings of discovery as we are with a young girl as she discovers science and joy with her grandpa.

I don't read much mid-grade, but I enjoyed this. It sort of felt more like a short story collection than a novel, but that didn't hurt it for me. I would have liked more about Callie's parents, and some differentiation between her brothers - it felt like only three of the six had much characterization.

There are some aspects of this book that made me very uncomfortable. There are several instances of uncritically presenting dialogue that includes the word “Injun.” Calpurnia's grandfather was a captain in the Confederate army, so while there's no real overt pro-Confederate content, the Confederate romanticism that would have been in full swing in 1899 is just never talked about directly. The kids play Civil War and obviously valorize the Confederates, because no one wants to be the “Federals,” who are the bad guys. Stonewall Jackson is regarded as a war hero by Calpurnia and her brothers, at one point. The lack of clear authorial commentary on the Confederate romanticism of the era is the elephant in the room.

While this is most likely an accurate depiction of Confederate romanticism in Texas in 1899, it is irresponsible to present white kids in 1899 valorizing the Confederacy as if it's something neutral in 2016. Occasionally the narration sounds like an adult Calpurnia recounting her childhood–which is an excellent way to inject authorial commentary even mildly critical of the Confederate romanticism that obviously surrounded Calpurnia. I'm not asking for Calpurnia to have a modern understanding of racial justice–just like, some statement about how she and her siblings had no idea what the war was really about when they were young? (Also, I can't remember if it's said whether the grandfather obtained the plantation house before or after the war so idk if he was a slaveholder himself. But he absolutely would have known what the war was about and not denied it, if the author were committed to portraying former Confederate officers accurately.)

Anyway. Those are my thoughts. I wouldn't give this book to a kid unless I deliberately intended to be discussing it one chapter at a time, deliberately drawing attention to the Confederate romanticism that a white kid in Texas in 1899 would have been surrounded by, as part of a larger conversation about people today who are grappling with having Confederate soldiers among their ancestors.