The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
by Jacqueline Kelly
Middle grade · ages 10–14 · grades 5–9 · 760L · 340 pages · 2009
Why we'd hand it over
A girl-genius naturalist book that earns its Newbery without being precious; Calpurnia's scientific mind and her stubborn refusal to shrink herself feel deeply alive and quietly radical for 1900s Texas.