I adore Karen Cushman's historical tales of courage. Three of her books are set in the Medieval period and deal with the lives of several very different girls struggling to overcome problems caused by their "stations" in life.

    The first of the three books, Catherine, Called Birdy, won the 1995 Newbery Honor Award. The book is about a thirteen-year-old girl who wishes for freedom away from her "endless embroidery." She struggles to avoid being married away against her will to a rich, vulgar knight as old as her father.

    The second story is The Midwife's Apprentice, the winner of the 1996 Newbery Medal for Outstanding Children's Literature. The opening chapter finds the main character sleeping in a dung heap. The local Midwife comes across her and decides to take her into her home. Soon the young girl, Beetle, grows and learns to be "a person with a name and a place in the world."

    The last tale in her Medieval series is Matilda Bone. Matilda is a religious girl who lived most of her life in the company of a priest, but suddenly finds herself dropped off in Blood and Bone Alley to be a servant to the local bonesetter, Red Peg. Matilda has to make decisions for herself for the first time and discovers there is more to life than prayer.

    Cushman's latest book, Rodzina, has continued her move forward in time to American historical fiction from the Medieval period. A 12-year-old, Rodzina Clara Jadwiga Anastazya Brodski, is westward bound one of the orphan train's of 1880's. The story follows Rodzina as she struggles to find a family that will not take advantage of her. She needs to find a family that will accept her for who she is: a stocky, plain, and proud Polish girl. You cannot help but admire her spunk as she fights to find a real home.

   If you love historical fiction, I recommend these books highly. If you are looking for strong, female characters (that even males will admire), you will not regret reading these tales and making these wonderful characters your friends.
 
 

This page was created 6 May 2003.
All graphics from Animation Factory and 

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