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A 2010 Newberry Honor book, this tells the story of 11 year old Calpurnia, who is growing up in a wealthy farming family in Texas at the turn of the 20th century. A nature lover, Calpurnia scorns the traditional female role that she sees in her future, and spends more and more time studying the natural world with her grandfather.

Since I'm a sucker for spunky young female heroines who defy conventions, I expected that this book would be right up my alley. I was disappointed. The plot is not tightly woven together, and the characters lack some originality. Plus, the story implies that the "intellectual" work of the mind is greater than the other valuable works of the traditional female roles at that time, which I found off-putting. Can't we value both?

As a side note, the author is a practicing doctor, lawyer, and (now) novelist, which kind of blows my mind.

And as one more side note: maybe next year I will read all the Newberry and Caldecott winners that I've never read...