by Karen Cushman
Flap Copy description:
On a frosty morning sometime early in the fourteenth century, in a village somewhere in England, a girl known only as Brat was sleeping in a dung heap.
"You girl. Are you alive or dead?"
When she opened her eyes, she saw an important-looking woman with a sharp glance and a sharp nose and a wimple starched into sharp pleats.This woman was Jane the Midwife, and she needed a helper...
Thus begins the funny, wise, compassionate story of the homeless waif who became the midwife's apprentice - a person with a name and a place in the world.
My thoughts:
Karen Cushman's, The Midwife's Apprentice, is the poignant tale of an orphan girl and the challenges she faces in finding her place in the world of medieval England. Her compassionate heart ultimately reveals to those around her, the kind of person she really is and what she was born to do. This beautifully written book won the 1996 Newbery Medal Award - I highly recommend it.
