Hope never died in their hearts…
Posted by DBRLTeen on Friday, June 12th, 2009
“Homer, Hero, and Zeus were strictly Outside Dogs. They all knew this, but it didn’t stop them from good-naturedly crowding the front door every time it opened, every single time, despite the fact that they were never – ever - let into the house. I loved this particularly fine thing about the dogs: Despite a lifetime of denied entrance, hope never died in their hearts.”
from The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, by Jacqueline Kelly, page 52, which DBRLTeen hasn’t finished reading yet, but can already tell its a fabulous book (but its not about dogs).
Calpurnia is 11 years old, growing up in Texas in 1899. (But this isn’t a kid’s book – its in our Young Adult collection.) She is the only girl out of seven children in the family. She develops an interest in nature, and wants to read Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species, but the local librarian tells her “I wouldn’t keep such a thing in my library!” (Then, as now, evolution was controversial…) Calpurnia discovers her grandfather, who lives in the same house as her, but who has never spoken to her, has a copy of his own, and thus begins their friendship.
Granddaddy’s story of his encounter with a bat during the Civil War in Chapter 3 is very moving, although the chapter is titled “The Possum Wars”. Great writers can bring a tear to your eye even when they’re writing about bats!