Module 4 - The Midwife's Apprentice

Summary

The Midwife's Apprentice tells the story of orphaned Beetle, who travels through medieval England living by her wits.  The midwife of a village takes her in and feeds her in exchange for work.  Beetle starts to learn the midwife's trade and even proves to be skillful at midwifery.  Along the way, she begins to gain a sense of herself, adopting the name Alyce and learning to stand up for herself.  While delivering a baby, she meets a setback and instead of facing the failure, runs away.  For a time she works in an inn.  One day, a pregnant traveler begins to labor.  Alyce helps her, and realizes that she knows more than she realizes about midwifing.  She decides that she wants to go back to the midwife, continue learning the trade, and make her place in the world.

My Impressions

I like historical fiction, so I enjoyed this book.  It is a light, easy read with a good and well-delivered message.  Readers can watch Alyce's journey of self-discovery but at no time does the telling of her growth become heavy-handed or pedantic, she just comes into her own.  I can see younger teen girls enjoying this one because the discoveries they would be making about themselves would parallel Alyce's.  I have also read Cushman's Catherine, Called Birdy and liked that one too. 

Reviews

Booklist's Hazel Rochman liked this book also, noting that "kids will like this short, fast-paced narrative about a hero who discovers that she's not ugly or stupid or alone" (Rochman, 1995).  The book is a Newbery and in this case the award is definitely appropriate.  It is a good and informative, but also pleasant story.

Use in a library

This would be fun to use in a series for younger teen girls.  I would include Cushman's other novel, Catherine, Called Birdy and books and movies about life in the medieval time period.  It would be great to get kids talking about life then as compared to now, and all of the advantages (and maybe some of the disadvantages) we have now.

References

Cushman, K. (1995). The midwife's apprentice. New York, NY: Clarion Books.

Rochman, H. (1995). The midwife's apprentice. Booklist. 91(14): p1328. Retrieved from Literature Resource Center.