
Jo Anne C. (
MOI) wrote on 8/6/2007...
4 member(s) found this review helpful.
Delightful story of a 14-year-old daughter of a knight's exploits in avoiding marriage. True to the period and hilarious.
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
Some reviewers have said that Catherine sounds more like a modern American teenager than a medieval maiden. Well, that's because our idea of what a typical medieval maiden was really like was tainted by the Victorians. Females were not the "damsels in distress" we like to think they were. Women, even teen women, in the middle ages were land-owners, proud of their sexuality, and not afraid to speak their minds with no recrimination.
That being said, Catherine IS a typical medieval maiden. Learned, God-fearing to a point, outspoken, and proud. She doesn't want to marry who her father wants her to marry and wants to make up her own mind.
Her diary entries are hilariously funny and often mention her new ways of swearing ("corpus bones" and "God's thumbs", for example). As an adult, I loved to read her snarky writing about her lout of a father and her ways of sneaking out of work and chores...reminds me of my students!
Very deserving of all the awards it has earned and will turn your idea of what the middle ages were really like upside down.
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
This is one of the more kid-friendly Newberry books--so many in the past decade or so are the kind of books kids *have* to read in school but may not want to. The drama/suspense of what will happen to Birdy next, plus the weirdness of the historical details, should make it compelling even for kids who might normally not be into historical fiction. Birdy is a fun and strong protagonist. I loved it as an adult.

Emily H. (
emilyh) wrote on 7/21/2007...
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
I absolutely loved this book when I was a teenager. I must have read it 20 times.

Stephanie S. (
skywriter319) - Swarthmore, PA wrote on 4/29/2007...
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
A well-written historical fiction story for preteen readers. Birdy is a likable main character with wit and guts that will appeal to modern readers. The ending even brought tears of pride to my eyes!
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
An interesting tale of a young, spirited woman that wants a part in the events in which happen to her. She's of the age to be married off (an arranged marriage) and her adventures sure are worth the enjoyment of reading. A fun surprise ending. I enjoyed it and it was a fun read. I'm not sure her behavior would have been tolerated in Medieval times but as the bumper sticker states "well-behaved women rarely make history" - or something like that anyway.

Mary S. (
majansa) wrote on 11/29/2006...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
This book is a classic Newberry Award winngin book and was required reading for 6th graders in our local school system.
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
This book is used in Sonlight 6
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
I thought this book was pretty funny. I like when she's trying to come up with her own curse words.
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
We used this in our medieval unit study. Very good book!