amyinthewind 's review for:

The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman

4.0

---

"Tonight she settled for the warm rotting of a dung heap, where she dreamed of nothing, for she hoped for nothing and expected nothing." So begins the story of Brat/Beetle/Alyce, who had no idea how old she was or where so came from but had a will to live and, therefore, a drive to work for food and shelter. She was taken in by the local midwife (to do the grunt work, not because the midwife was especially kind), and from there the reader learns what there was of midwifery in medieval times and a little of the traditions, superstitions, and social interactions of a small village in those times. Alyce gains some insight and maturity over the course of the book. She learns to dream of something and hope for something, in contrast to herself as the Brat/Beetle child of the dung heap at the beginning of the story. (The childbirth scenes are not graphic. They describe the pain of the mothers and the herbs and incantations that are used to ease pain, hasten labor, and stop bleeding. By middle school, children should know something of how birth happens, and, so, I find this book entirely appropriate for middle school on up.)