Author: Jacqueline Kelly
Genre: historical fiction
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Rating:
 |
| a great read |
Summary: A whole world opened up to Callie when her grandfather taught her to explore nature scientifically. She desperately wants to continue her education in the sciences. The problem? Her mother has decided that at 13 Callie is ready to begin preparing for her coming out. Time to put aside exploring the outdoors for needlework, cooking, and fine manners. Things become more complicated when a storm devastates Galveston and a teen cousin comes to stay, occupying Callie's bed. Meanwhile, her younger brother Travis is secretly disobeying a parental ban on bringing home strays.
My opinion: I found the first book in this series at turns funny, educational, and poignant. I was captivated. I was, therefore, a little hesitant going into this one. While sequels can be wonderful, if done wrong they can shake the love you have built for the first volume. That certainly isn't the case here. This book maintains the tone of the first book. It takes the major plot focus (discovering science and gender inequality) and builds upon it with new stories (cousin Aggie and Travis's animals). Also, I learned a lot about natural science from these novels. If they inspire me to read more about science, how must they inspire children? Well worth the read.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
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