Genre 5- Historical Fiction- Book 3

Historical Fiction Book Review

The Midwife's Apprentice

By: Karen Cushman

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cushman, Karen. 1995. THE MIDWIFE’S APPRENTICE. New York: Clarion. ISBN 0395692296

Plot Summary
Karen Cushman’s novel The Midwifes Apprentice is set in Medieval England and opens with a "nameless" and "homeless" girl sleeping in a “dung heap”. The waif is all of thirteen and goes by the name Brat. She is awoken and taken in by a hot tempered woman by the name of Jane Sharp. She is the town’s midwife and Brat is quickly renamed “Beetle”, for she was considered a beetle living in the dung. Beetle worked hard for the midwife all the while learning the midwife’s “skills and spells”. Along the journey she gains courage and renames herself “Alyce”. With Alyce’s new bestowed confidence she tries her hand at midwifery skills but fails. Humiliated she runs away where she rebuilds her inner strength and returns to her village with her head held high and achieves the three things she most wants:" a full belly, a contented heart, and a place in this world. "

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Cushman’s portrayal of life during the medieval times is easily conveyed to readers. She describes to the reader a typical morning preparing the cottage’s floor, “she swept the cottage’s dirt floor, sprinkled it with water, and stamped it to keep it hard packed”. She explains the pay for a midwife’s assistance with a place to sleep (on the floor), two meals a day that consisted of “onions, turnips, dried apples, cheese, bread, and occasional bits of bacon.” This helps the reader understand the stark life of this time period.

Her careful, character development is easily identifiable with young readers. She connects with the reader with concepts children can understand. For example, hunger- with dialect Cushman helps the reader infer “the kick of a boot in Brat’s belly. Hunger. Brat hated the hunger the most.”
Readers will not only laugh out loud with Brat/Beetle/Alyce as she grows into herself but they will cheer her on as she proclaims “ I be a fine midwife’s apprentice now. I know about babies and birthing, singing songs and cooking chickens, crying and laughing and reading.” ……“Are these not excellent things for a midwife’s apprentice to know?”

Cushman leaves the readers with an informative Author’s Note about the history of the midwife profession.

Awards
Newbery Award Medal

REVIEW EXCERPTS
Starred Review Booklist- . Kids will like this short, fast-paced narrative about a hero who discovers that she's not ugly or stupid or alone.
Horn Book Review- The graphic and convincing portrayals afford a fascinating view of a far distant time.

CONNECTIONS

This novel would be a great read aloud for middle school students.
It would be interesting to ask students to journal about when they have to keep their cool and to talk about how we treat people who different than us.

Other Books By Karen Cushman:
Cushman, Karen. Matilda Bone. ISBN 9780786232123.
Cushman, Karen. Catherine Called Birdy. ISBN 9780395681862.