The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains indirect references to enslavement.

After Miss Goodacre rejects Harry, he spends several weeks moping until Granddaddy speaks to him and raises his spirits. Callie’s mother is grateful for her father-in-law’s intervention and treats him kindly. As the summer wears on, Callie continues to spend her free time with her grandfather, learning about his early attempts at taxidermy; Charles Darwin himself had given him an instructional pamphlet on the subject. Granddaddy sent an improved attempt at taxidermy to Darwin, who gifted Granddaddy with a bottled cuttlefish. Later, Callie speaks to Harry about the cuttlefish that she saw in the library. Harry asks Callie what she does with their grandfather, and she is hesitant to tell him. Callie realizes that the other family members have noticed how much time she is spending with Granddaddy, and she resolves to play with her little brother more.

One morning, Callie and Granddaddy go to the river to collect specimens to look at under a microscope. Callie is extremely excited, and Granddaddy is shocked to learn that her school does not have one. At the river, Callie places a drop of water on a glass slide and jumps back in surprise and awe as she looks through the microscope and sees the microorganisms in the sample.