The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

The book that I have recently finished is The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly.  In the book, Callie is a young girl who is exploring and learning about science from her grandfather.  Calpurnia really wants to become a scientist but doesn’t know if women can become one.  Then she learns all about Marie Curie and many other women scientists. 

Calpurnia and her grandfather discover a new form of Hairy Vetch and Calpurnia learns about what it takes to become a naturalist.  Calpurnia learns about finding specimens and writing down location and observations and the name of what you believe it is.  Calpurnia learns about the scientific method of observation, and she also learns about many things that she isn’t taught in school.  In school Calpurnia is taught about posture and how to hold your handkerchief.  Her grandfather teaches her about gravity, how the earth moves around the sun, the planets, how the earth is round and much much more.  These things today are taught in school but back then they weren’t even taught to boys unless the boys showed a specific interest in the subject.  This shows that Calpurnia could be a scientist because she knows more about science than most boys and because she wants to.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in a girl’s journey to finding herself, science, or just life in the early 1900s. 

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

The book that I am currently reading is The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly.  So far in the book Calpurnia Tate, or Callie Vee, has become a naturalist for the summer. A naturalist is someone who studies nature and does scientific evaluations of it.  Calpurnia is a girl and girls are not usually welcome in the scientific community, but her grandfather who was also a naturalist helps her develop her skills instead, of turning her away to do housework.  Girls in the 1900s were not allowed to do much more than housework and tasks like sewing and cooking. 

Girls during this time weren’t allowed to have real jobs.  They were expected to raise the family, take care of their husbands, and entertain guests.  Women were supposed to go to the right church and be friends with the right groups of people.  Overall, women and girls were forced to smother their true potential.  Callie Vee decides to confront the status quo by helping her grandfather discover a whole new plant species.  Calpurnia takes observations down in her notebook and looks into a microscope for the first time.  She is even allowed in the library, which is her grandfather’s space, and he doesn’t even allow her brothers in there.  This shows that Callie Vee is becoming truly respected by her grandfather because he is teaching and helping her become a better naturalist.

As you can see, life for a girl in the 1900s was hard because women and girls were not allowed in the same community as men.  Girls are much more respected and welcomed today.  We have many famous women that have helped make America and the world what it is today. 

 

Kiki Strike: The Darkness Dwellers by Kristen Miller

The book that I have recently finished is Kiki Strike: The Darkness Dwellers by Kristen Miller. In the novel the Irregulars (a group of outcast with amazing criminal skills) have moved to Paris to help a group of French outcast called the Darkness Dwellers, who help foil criminal plots underneath Paris. Kiki final claims the throne of Pokrovia to which she is the heir but only after being kidnapped, kidnapping her cousin who is impersonating her, catching some murders and making her cousin grow a mustache.  But none of this would have been possible without the help of Betty Bent who is finally revealing her true potential. The other Irregulars don’t give Betty a fair chance because she is usually nice and incapable of facing dangers. 

“’You know, Ananka, you and the other Irregulars take risks all the time. Nobody ever asked DeeDee whether she sure she wants to cook up a new batch of explosives. Or Luz if she’s sure it’s a good idea to make a laser-shooting robot. Why is everyone so worried about me? I didn’t sign up for the Irregulars so I could sit back and watch my friends have all the fun. So, please, just step aside and let me do my job, will you?”’ (33%) (I read this on my kindle and it doesn’t give pages numbers just percent’s.)  This quote shows that the other Irregulars take risks all the time but just because Betty is the master of disguise and she doesn’t do a lot of dangerous things doesn’t mean that she isn’t capable of it. When Betty goes of to Paris everyone is worried that they have sent the wrong person but by the time she comes back she has proven herself.

We may not all be fighting crime and saving the world but we can all learn not judge a book by its cover but by what’s inside and what they do to prove it. I highly recommend this book but only if you have read the two other Kiki Strike books. 

A Drowned Maiden's Hair by Laura Amy Schlitz

            The book that I am currently reading is A Drowned Maiden's Hair by Laura Amy Schlitz. This book is about a young orphan named Maud. Maud believes that she will never get a home, until the Hawthorne sisters decide to adopt her. At first everything is great and Maud is happy but later on in the story Maud starts to realize that the sisters don't really love her but just want her to help with the family business. The Hawthorne sisters don't really care about Maud all they want her for is money.

 "‘You’ve been living like a prisoner with three old ladies that cheat grief-stricken people out of their money. They could go to jail for what they're doing, do you know that? And-in the middle of trying to swindle one of the sweetest ladies I've ever met -there house caught fire, and not one of them lifted a finger to save you."' This quote shows that the sister's don't really care about Maud because when the fire broke out and Maud was hiding and waiting to come out a scam people out of their money by pretending to be their dead loved ones. All they did was make her fell loved and then they made her helped them get money from people.

      I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for an original novel about discovering oneself. And understand who really loves and cares about you.   

Kiki Strike: The Empress’s Tomb by Kristen Miller

The book that I have recently finished is Kiki Strike: The Empress’s Tomb by Kristen Miller. This book is the sequel to Kiki Strike: Inside Shadow City. This book is another action novel about a group of girls who save NYC from harm. In the book many secrets are revealed and an illegal smuggler’s plot to steal painting from the Metropolitan Museum of Art is foiled and a mummies true death is revealed.  The Irregular’s a group of juvenile girl scouts must do this all with out be discovered. The other Irregulars aren’t being fair to Oona only because of her father.

Oona’s father is Lester Liu. He is an illegal smuggler who smuggles anything from illegal drugs to children. When the Irregulars find out that he is Oona’s father they start treating her differently just because her father is bad man. They don’t even try to talk to her and figure out what is the matter when she starts spending a lot of time with her father. They just jump to the conclusion that she is helping her father. It isn’t until the end of the book when they realize that Oona was getting close to her father so she could figure out his plan and spoil it.

We all need to hear both sides of the story before we judge someone. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys action novels with fierce girl power. 

Kiki Strike: Inside Shadow City by Kristen Miller

I the book that I am currently reading is Kiki Strike: Inside Shadow City by Kristen Miller. So far in the book Kiki Strike one on the main characters has started a group called the Irregulars. The Irregulars are a bunch of girls with different skills that will help the group explore and control a network of underground tunnels called Shadow City. Kiki Strike their leader can be very bossy and over powering.

Kiki has found a blocked door that she really wants to open. After Ananka tells her that if she does something bad could happen she still goes on with the plan. “’Why do you want to open that door so badly?’ I asked, tired of her orders and feeling a sudden surge of courage. I heard somebody gasp.

Kiki’s voice turned icy cold. ‘Our job is to find all the exits. If I door is locked from the inside, there’s a good chance there’s is an exit behind it.”’ (p.146) This quote shows how Ananka finally stands up to Kiki and tells her that this is wrong and Kiki gets really nasty and bossy. After this a water main breaks and one of the girls is hurt. Kiki needs to value her friend’s opinions more.

Kiki can teach us to value are friends opinions. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in adventure.