My summary for the book:

In The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, it showed me how people can change, and not only in the sense of growing taller and bigger but also in the sense that they can get smarter. Callie is a girl in the middle of Texas, and at the moment, the biggest problem is the heat. It’s the middle of summer and she is the only girl in multiple siblings. But soon, with the help of her grandfather, she realizes there’s so much more to the world than a big family. She becomes a scientist. In this process, she starts leaving behind her brothers and parents and starts to discover a world completely unknown to her. And it has nothing to do with knitting! As Callie grows, she made me think about how I can change myself, and how we can all be better people. I would recommend this book for ages 8-11.

The summary from the back of the book:

The summer of 1899 is hot in Calpurnia’s sleepy texas town, and there aren’t a lot of ways to stay cool. Her mother has a new wind machine from town, but Callie might have to resort to stealthily cutting off her hair, one sneaky inch at a time. She also spends a lot of the time at the river, with her notoriously cantankerous grandfather, an avid naturalist. It turns out that every drop of river water is teeming with life- all you have to do is look through a microscope! As Callie explores the natural world around her, she develops a close relationship with her grandfather, navigating the dangers of living with six brothers, and learns just what it means to be a girl at the turn of the century.

Quotes from the book:

“It’s amazing what you can see when you just sit quietly and look.”

“By 1899, we had learned to tame the darkness but not the Texas heat.”

“I had never classified myself with other girls. I was not of their species; I was different. I had never thought my future would be like theirs.”

“One day I would have all the books in the world, shelves and shelves of them. I would live my life in a tower of books. I would read all day long and eat peaches. And if any young knights in armor dared to come calling on their white chargers and plead with me to let down my hair, I would pelt them with peach pits until they went home.”