The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman

Friday Old Favourite

The Midwife's Apprentice won the John Newberry Medal in 1996. Karen Cushman has a list of all the awards for The Midwife's Apprentice on her web site. You will also find a discussion guide. 

Publisher blurb: "On a frosty morning sometime early in the fourteenth century, in a village somewhere in England, a girl known only as Brat was sitting on 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 sharp nose and a wimple starched into sharp pleats. This woman was Jane the Midwife and she needed a helper."

I have a plan to read or re-read some favourite books which I read long ago. I spied The Midwife's Apprentice at a recent charity book sale for only $2. In just 121 pages Karen Cushman gives her readers a hugely memorable story with a character you really care about and a setting that is skilfully bought to life. I picked this book up from my huge "to read" pile yesterday and finished it in almost one sitting. I smiled through the whole story.

Here are some text quotes to give you a flavour of this writing:

"Each morning Beetle (this is the name Alyce has near the start of the book) started the fire, blowing on the night's embers to encourage them to light the new day's scraps. She swept the cottage's dirt floor, sprinkled it with water, and stamped it to keep it hard packed. ... She dusted the shelves packed with jugs and flasks and leather bottles of dragon dung and mouse ears, frog liver and ashes of toad, snail jelly, borage leaves, nettle juice, and the powdered bark of the black alder tree."

"Alyce learned about the sometimes mighty distance between what one imagines and what is. She would not be bringing Edward back with her to make her heart content, but she knew she had not failed him, and she breathed a heavy sigh of sadness, disappointment, and relief."

Listen to the first chapters of this book as an audio sample. I highly recommend The Midwife's Apprentice for all readers aged 11+.  Click on these review comments to read more plot details:

In this powerful, often touching, sometimes humorous book, Karen Cushman once again takes her reader back in time. In this instance we visit to a medieval English village where life is hard, and where a homeless orphaned child has a very hard time finding a place she can call home. Looking Glass Review

It's a rouser for all times. Kirkus Star review

A couple of years ago I re-read The Ballad of Lucy Whipple also by Karen Cushman. This is another title to add to your own 'to read' list.