You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
inspiring
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Alyce is a girl who learns what she wants in life and goes after it. She is a charmingly un-charming heroine with an iron will. I remember reading this as a child and re-read it in the course of a day. I am a midwife's apprentice myself now and I found it all the more charming. (I am, of course, treated better than scraps for meals and sleeping in the dung heap!)
My favorite line is "Babies don't stop their borning because the midwife gives up."
My favorite line is "Babies don't stop their borning because the midwife gives up."
Beetle is an orphan girl in the Middle Ages. She is alone and seeks friendship and purpose and eventually a career in Midwifery.
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was a fast paced, unusual middlegrade read that I quite enjoyed! I loved seeing Alyce's growth and it was a short delightful little story
The Middle Ages were tough all over especially for an orphan girl just trying to survive.
While I never fell head-over-heels in love with this book, I can't really find fault with it. We see Alyce go from a nameless, homeless child sleeping in a dung heap, to a girl who's starting to figure what it is she wants from life - and finding out that she wants something more than food in her belly and a place to sleep. The midwife is delightfully acerbic, there is a real sense of the grime and harsh life of a medieval village, the peripheral characters are real and entertaining. Most of all, as much as I think it would appeal to modern kids, I wouldn't describe it as having a modern sensibility. Alyce doesn't go from the dung heap to some exalted life of the mind - she just discovers that midwifery suits her. I believed that she - and the other characters - were of their time, and not modern personalities thrust into a historical setting.
Like I said in my review of Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! the two would go well together.
Like I said in my review of Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! the two would go well together.
Taken from my blog.
I don't know what I expected from this book so it's easy to say that I liked it! At least more than I thought.
The story follows Brat while she tries to find a place where she can spend the night and get some food. Jane, the midwife, finds her and offers her a place for her to stay and have some food as long as she works. Then the story goes on for the reader to see through the hard circumstances that she goes through.
Knowing the life that Brat, who changed her name to Alyce, had up to that point was hard. The reader sees that not everybody has an easy life and that Alyce was one of those people. I think that all the things that Alyce went through helped the reader know more of who she was, why she did some things, and why she reacted the way she did.
I liked how Alyce changed her name and gave herself an identity. Also, I thought it was nice of her to make a friend and to have the cat who liked her. I understood why she left after she failed after knowing her story even though I may not have done the same thing she did.
I think this book gives the reader a sense of how little was known of women giving birth. It was interesting to see of what people thought would help a woman to give birth. Overall, this was a really good and interesting book to read.
I don't know what I expected from this book so it's easy to say that I liked it! At least more than I thought.
The story follows Brat while she tries to find a place where she can spend the night and get some food. Jane, the midwife, finds her and offers her a place for her to stay and have some food as long as she works. Then the story goes on for the reader to see through the hard circumstances that she goes through.
Knowing the life that Brat, who changed her name to Alyce, had up to that point was hard. The reader sees that not everybody has an easy life and that Alyce was one of those people. I think that all the things that Alyce went through helped the reader know more of who she was, why she did some things, and why she reacted the way she did.
I liked how Alyce changed her name and gave herself an identity. Also, I thought it was nice of her to make a friend and to have the cat who liked her. I understood why she left after she failed after knowing her story even though I may not have done the same thing she did.
I think this book gives the reader a sense of how little was known of women giving birth. It was interesting to see of what people thought would help a woman to give birth. Overall, this was a really good and interesting book to read.
I read Cushman's Catherine, Called Birdy eons ago and had been meaning to read this one since I was 12 years old or so. Only took 17ish years! I wish I'd read it when I *was* 12--I would've loved it. It's a blink-and-it's-over read; I got through it in an hour or two. The book is an un-sugarcoated look at medieval village life for a young girl without any prospects, but it's not consumed by bleakness at any point. Excellent YA historical fiction!
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes