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Loading... Catherine, Called Birdy (original 1994; edition 2012)by Karen Cushman (Author)
Work InformationCatherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman (1994)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. I've owned this book for years and have read it a few times, it's always a treat. It was neat having a different perspective of being a "lady" and not fitting in. Would fit The 52 Book Club's 2021 prompts: 10 - Related to the Word Fire 16 - Set Before the 17th Century 32 - A Selfish Character 42 - An Epistolary 47 - A Character With a Disability Surprisingly hilarious! I listened to the audiobook in anticipation of the movie version coming soon. The best part of this book is Birdy's sharp, grumpy, occasionally wise voice. Like a modern teenager, she seems to be annoyed by everything, particularly the limits put on her as a girl. Unlike a modern teenager, she and her community are at the mercy of the politics of the Middle Ages. Her father intends to marry her off regardless of Birdy's wishes. She manages to trick her suitors into rejecting her, but she can't escape her fate. As Cushman writes in the author's note, in those days you were born into a certain role and you had little choice but to play it. This is not a book with a modern moral like "You can be whatever you want to be if you work hard." Instead, this book imagines how it might have felt for a fiery young lady to be so constrained and powerless. How can she accept such a life? The unexpected delights of this book are many. It's pretty gross (they eat a lot of eel pie, there are illnesses, injuries, disgusting remedies, so many fleas, etc.). I really enjoyed hearing about all the obscure saints and what they were sainted for. So strange and funny the way Birdy deadpans their miraculous achievements. The book is also realistically dark like when Birdy attends a hanging. She's excited to see a criminal punished but it's just young boys and it's horrible. I think the movie will have to give this story a stronger plot. I'm also really confused about the casting of Birdy's father. In the book Birdy describes him as a nasty beast, but he's played by Andrew Scott (AKA hot priest from Fleabag). Does not compute. In 13th century Britain, Birdy’s options are limited: she will be married off as her father wills (though she manages to pull off a few pranks to discourage some suitors). Her brother has given her a journal to chronicle her days, hoping that it will help her become more mature and thoughtful. Over the course of a year, her entries do show her growth of character as she experiences the ups and downs of medieval life. I think I may have been a teenager myself last time I read this book. I appreciated it very much this time through, probably more that I did at first reading (though I’ve always been a Cushman fan). The writing is top notch, and the author brings to life Birdy’s world, so different from our own. Belongs to Publisher SeriesIs contained inHas as a student's study guideAwardsNotable Lists
The thirteen-year-old daughter of an English country knight keeps a journal in which she records the events of her life, particularly her longing for adventures beyond the usual role of women and her efforts to avoid being married off. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature American literature in English American fiction in English 1900-1999 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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I'm much further along now, still enjoying it even though it's gotten more serious, and have noticed something.
This girl would have made a great scientist if she'd been born seven centuries later. The questions she asks show that she's got an inquiring, skeptical, lively intelligence. I think that educators could talk this up to kids as a proto STEM book as well as HF. And proto-feminism, too.
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Done. I would never have read this if not for this club,* so, thank you to whomever it was who first set up the plan to read all the Newbery books. I think that I would have liked, but not loved, this when I was young, too.
I don't know if all editions include back matter, with bibliography, but that is interesting too.
(Newbery 'club' in Children's Books group here on goodreads.) ( )