Life at the turn of the century is not easy for a girl who loves books and science. Kelly's first novel presents spirited heroine Calpurnia (Callie) Virginia Tate, a middle child with six brothers, growing up in the isolation of Fentress, Tex., in 1899. To her family's dismay, Callie is stubborn, independent and not interested in darning socks or perfecting her baking skills like a lady. "I would live my life in a tower of books," she thinks to herself. She spends most of her time with Harry, "the one brother who could deny me nothing," slowly befriending her Granddaddy, a mysterious naturalist who studies everything from pecan distillation to microscopic river bugs. Together they dream up experiments and seek answers to backyard phenomena, discovering something new about the invisible world each day. Callie follows her passion for knowledge, coming to realize her family "had their own lives. And now I have mine." Callie's transformation into an adult and her unexpected bravery make for an exciting and enjoyable read. Kelly's rich images and setting, believable relationships and a touch of magic take this story far. Ages 10-up. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

*Starred Review* Growing up with six brothers in rural Texas in 1899, 12-year-old Callie realizes that her aversion to needlework and cooking disappoints her mother. Still, she prefers to spend her time exploring the river, observing animals, and keeping notes on what she sees. Callie's growing interest in nature creates a bond with her previously distant grandfather, an amateur naturalist of some distinction. After they discover an unknown species of vetch, he attempts to have it officially recognized. This process creates a dramatic focus for the novel, though really the main story here is Callie's gradual self-discovery as revealed in her vivid first-person narrative. By the end, she is equally aware of her growing desire to become a scientist and of societal expectations that make her dream seem nearly impossible. Interwoven with the scientific theme are threads of daily life in a large family the bonds with siblings, the conversations overheard, the unspoken understandings and misunderstandings all told with wry humor and a sharp eye for details that bring the characters and the setting to life. The eye-catching jacket art, which silhouettes Callie and images from nature against a yellow background, is true to the period and the story. Many readers will hope for a sequel to this engaging, satisfying first novel.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2009 Booklist

(Intermediate) Eleven-year-old Calpurnia is the middle child (and only girl) of seven siblings. It's summertime, 1889, in Fentress, Texas, and hot enough to fry an egg outside: the local newspaper reports that "the temperature was 106 degrees in the middle of the street." After Callie's letter to the editor is published ("It seemed to me that the temperature in the shade would be a lot more useful to the citizens of our town"), her favorite brother encourages her to spend the summer writing down her scientific observations. Trouble is, there's only one other family member with any interest in science, not to mention a copy of Charles Darwin's new and controversial book, The Origin of Species: gruff, intimidating, misanthropic Granddaddy. After some initial icebreaking, the two bond over insatiable curiosity about the natural world, culminating in their thrilling discovery of a new plant species. Along the way, Callie learns to carefully catalog her observations, noting questions ("Why don't caterpillars have eyelids?"; "When does the young human organism get a grasp of time?") and formulating hypotheses. She also tries to carve a place for herself as a scientist amidst very different expectations for her future. Calpurnia's perseverance and confidence gained working side-by-side with her grandfather are evidence that she's more than capable of meeting her goals. Kelly, without anachronism, has created a memorable, warm, spirited young woman who's refreshingly ahead of her time. From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Starred Review. Gr 5-8-A charming and inventive story of a child struggling to find her identity at the turn of the 20th century. As the only girl in an uppercrust Texas family of seven children, Calpurnia, 11, is expected to enter young womanhood with all its trappings of tight corsets, cookery, and handiwork. Unlike other girls her age, Callie is most content when observing and collecting scientific specimens with her grandfather. Bemoaning her lack of formal knowledge, he surreptitiously gives her a copy of The Origin of Species and Callie begins her exploration of the scientific method and evolution, eventually happening upon the possible discovery of a new plant species. Callie's mother, believing that a diet of Darwin, Dickens, and her grandfather's influence will make Callie dissatisfied with life, sets her on a path of cooking lessons, handiwork improvement, and an eventual debut into society. Callie's confusion and despair over her changing life will resonate with girls who feel different or are outsiders in their own society. Callie is a charming, inquisitive protagonist; a joyous, bright, and thoughtful creation. The conclusion encompasses bewilderment, excitement, and humor as the dawn of a new century approaches. Several scenes, including a younger brother's despair over his turkeys intended for the Thanksgiving table and Callie's heartache over receiving The Science of Housewifery as a Christmas gift, mix gentle humor and pathos to great effect. The book ends with uncertainty over Callie's future, but there's no uncertainty over the achievement of Kelly's debut novel. Jennifer Schultz, Fauquier County Public Library, Warrenton, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

With the gift of a notebook, Calpurnia discovers she's "a regular naturalist in the making." It's high summer in Texas, 1899, but that doesn't deter Callie, 11, from taking notes on everything from yellow grasshoppers to a dog's eyebrows. Each chapter of this winning if overlong novel opens with a quotation from "On the Origin of Species" - a forbidden book that her own grandfather turns out to have hidden away. Together they study Darwin's masterpiece, leading to a revolution in Callie's ideas of what she might accomplish on her own. HOW TO GET MARRIED - BY ME, THE BRIDE By Sally Lloyd-Jones. Illustrated by Sue Heap. Schwartz & Wade. $16.99. (Ages 4 to 8) The in-charge voice here will be recognizable to fans of "How to Be a Baby - by Me, the Big Sister." The sage advice is wittily illustrated ("You can marry someone who is just like you, or someone who isn't" goes with a picture of Baby Brother admiring himself in the mirror) and full of ideas for playing wedding make-believe, involving cake, presents and pets. THE ETERNAL SMILE Three Stories. By Gene Luen Yang. Illustrated by Derek Kirk Kim. First Second. $16.95. (Ages 14 and up) Yang's new stories work the borders between reality and imagination in comic book style. In one, a boy is either a warrior or having nightmares in a hospital bed; in the next, an "eternal smile" descends from the sky to confound a miserly frog; in the final story, e-mail messages from a Nigerian prince seeking bank account information lead in an unexpected direction, in sudden full-color panels, for a lonely young woman. Funny and darkly surreal. SERGIO SAVES THE GAME! Written and illustrated by Edel Rodriguez. Little, Brown. $15.99. (Ages 3 to 6) A sequel to "Sergio Makes a Splash!," about a penguin who is afraid to swim, this new story has an equally universal message. Sergio (cuddly-looking in Rodriguez's pleasing woodblock pictures) is a soccer star in his dreams, while in real life he's "always the last one chosen" for a team. His parents are encouraging; "It's not you, it's all this ice!" his mother says when he falls. But finally the upbeat message is that only practice stands between Sergio and perfection, or as close to perfection as a slightly accident-prone penguin can get. MOTHER POEMS Written and illustrated by Hope Anita Smith. Holt. $16.95. (Ages 8 to 13) Illustrations in torn-paper collage of a small girl, then a grown teenager, accompany the affecting poems in Smith's latest collection. Scenes of intimacy with a mother, fixing hair or soothing sadness - she "lifts me out of/ sorrow /and rocks me in her arms" - give way to stark grief when the mother suddenly dies. Smith makes simple drama out of the void she leaves ("I took a picture of her/ and slapped the word 'WANTED' . . . across it") and of the daughter's acceptance of life with others she learns to love, while not forgetting. GENTLEMEN By Michael Northrop. Scholastic. $16.99. (Ages 15 and up) Micheal (his parents couldn't spell) is a high school sophomore who finds his crowd among the "hard cases." When one of the friends disappears, suspicion points to the English teacher, who has assigned "Crime and Punishment" and gets the boys to dump something heavy and wrapped in a blanket in his MG. As the mystery grows, the boys are pulled down into vicious violence themselves, and Micheal has to choose sides. Northrop's first novel is creepy, yet it has what can pass for a happy or at least satisfying - ending. JULIE JUST

"Mother was awakening to the sorry facts: My biscuits were like stones, my samplers askew, my seams like rickrack." 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 roofa 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 needlepointher 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. (Historical fiction. 10-14) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.