Judge A Book By Its Cover
Book Reviews and Synopses
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
Jacqueline Kelly
Kelly, Jacqueline. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate. Henry Holt Publishers. New York, New York. 2009.
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, by the author Jacqueline Kelly, is a very fun to read teen’s book that inspires the reader to put their heart into everything.
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate is about a young girl named Penelope who has a huge imagination. Penelope's parents sometime thought that she would get so caught up in her fantasies that she would never actually experience reality.
Two months after Penelope’s twelfth birthday, Penelope’s mother dies; Penelope has a reality shock. She could no longer be the little childish girl she used to be when her mother was around, she had to transform into a serious person who would take complete responsibility for all of her actions.
After a boring month of doing all the house work and making all of the family meals, Penelope decides to put her imagination and put it into the work she does. While she would do all of the house work, she would make it into games or into races to see if she be faster than the time before.
Penelope is happy that she can take complete responsibility around the house and of herself. Even though she is still very sad that her mother passed away, she was happy that she got one thing out of the tragic accident: the power to put all of her crazy imagination into good use. Penelope learns that her whole life could be fun and serious at the same time.
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate was a fun to read book, but the back of the book explained the whole story, and wouldn’t be recommended for adults. Penelope has a very fun life and she enjoys everything she does.
2 out of 5 stars.
Contributed by A. Unger
June 2st 2011