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RE: Calpurnia Tate
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From: Giffard, Sue <SGiffard_at_ecfs.org>
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:46:45 -0500
I very much enjoyed the relationship between Calpurnia and her grandfather, and I thought that Kelly did a wonderful job of showing the difficulties of being a girl at the turn of the 19th century. The book was very touching, and I liked that aspect of it very much. But I did feel that the lack of tension in the plot was a problem, even for me, and would probably be a problem for many of my students. It had the feeling of daily life, the texture of life as it is lived: it left me feeling that it wouldn't really matter if I finished the book or not. I stopped wondering "what's going to happen next?" even as I enjoyed the events and relationships in the book. More seriously for me, I felt that the near-invisibility of African American characters on a cotton plantation in 19th century Texas was problematic. Other than Viola, it's as though this family lives in isolation on this farm. When Calpurnia goes out to dig cotton, she gets the hoe from the tool shed. Who else is out there in the fields? Are there no Afr ican American children on this farm? It reads almost as though it's a play, with a finite setting on a stage: you see the house of the plantation owners but nothing more. Not a single one of the reviews I've found mentioned this.
Sue Giffard Ethical Culture School New York, NY 10023 sgiffard_at_ecfs.org (212)712-6292
"Perhaps the only victory available
the victory of the heart over its own inclinations for despair, revenge and hatred." (Leonard Cohen, September 24, 2009)
Message-----
From: Renee McGrath
Sent: Mon 1/25/2010 7:28 PM To: ccbc-net_at_ccbc.education.wisc.edu Subject:
Calpurnia Tate
I liked the ending of Calpurnia Tate very much. It imparted all the hope that Calpurnia had for the new century in a such a beautiful, subtle way.
When she wakes up on the dawn of the first day of the 20th century, all is quiet, too quiet, until she ventures outside to see that overnight snow has blanketed the ground. As she walks along, she sees a coyote and signs that other creatures have been there -they too are waking up along with her to a new century.
I loved this book from the first to the very last page.
Renee McGrath Youth Services Manager Nassau Library System 900 Jerusalem Avenue Uniondale, NY 11553 516-292-8920
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:46:45 -0500
I very much enjoyed the relationship between Calpurnia and her grandfather, and I thought that Kelly did a wonderful job of showing the difficulties of being a girl at the turn of the 19th century. The book was very touching, and I liked that aspect of it very much. But I did feel that the lack of tension in the plot was a problem, even for me, and would probably be a problem for many of my students. It had the feeling of daily life, the texture of life as it is lived: it left me feeling that it wouldn't really matter if I finished the book or not. I stopped wondering "what's going to happen next?" even as I enjoyed the events and relationships in the book. More seriously for me, I felt that the near-invisibility of African American characters on a cotton plantation in 19th century Texas was problematic. Other than Viola, it's as though this family lives in isolation on this farm. When Calpurnia goes out to dig cotton, she gets the hoe from the tool shed. Who else is out there in the fields? Are there no Afr ican American children on this farm? It reads almost as though it's a play, with a finite setting on a stage: you see the house of the plantation owners but nothing more. Not a single one of the reviews I've found mentioned this.
Sue Giffard Ethical Culture School New York, NY 10023 sgiffard_at_ecfs.org (212)712-6292
"Perhaps the only victory available
the victory of the heart over its own inclinations for despair, revenge and hatred." (Leonard Cohen, September 24, 2009)
Message-----
From: Renee McGrath
Sent: Mon 1/25/2010 7:28 PM To: ccbc-net_at_ccbc.education.wisc.edu Subject:
Calpurnia Tate
I liked the ending of Calpurnia Tate very much. It imparted all the hope that Calpurnia had for the new century in a such a beautiful, subtle way.
When she wakes up on the dawn of the first day of the 20th century, all is quiet, too quiet, until she ventures outside to see that overnight snow has blanketed the ground. As she walks along, she sees a coyote and signs that other creatures have been there -they too are waking up along with her to a new century.
I loved this book from the first to the very last page.
Renee McGrath Youth Services Manager Nassau Library System 900 Jerusalem Avenue Uniondale, NY 11553 516-292-8920
---Received on Tue 26 Jan 2010 09:46:45 AM CST
