Come here Brat!

The Midwife's Apprentice, by Karen Cushman, is a wonderful tale of a small girl and her adventures while growing from a child into a young woman. It is easy to see why this book won the Newberry Medal.

The tale starts with a small girl, about 12-13 years of age, named Brat by those who have passed her path. She is without a home and is living where she can. As the weather gets colder she learns to sleep in the dung heap to stay warm.

One morning, Jane Sharp found her in her the barn. Seeing her in the dung heap, she decided she looked like a dung beetle. From that point on, Jane called her Beetle.

Jane found her jobs to do in exchange for some dry bread and ale, and maybe an onion or turnip occasionally. Her main job was carrying the basket of supplies to homes where babies were ready to be born.

Beetle learned how to make the potions and oils used to birth babies. Though, Jane made sure she didn't know too much, fearing she might take business away. She makes sure that Beetle stays outside the room while she delivers the babies. Beetle decides to watch from a window and learns as much as she can.

Beetle decides that she doesn't like the name given to her and wants a real name. She chooses Alyce for her name.

While trying to make a baby come out that wouldn't budge, Jane decided that the baby would die inside the mother and she could do no more. Meanwhile, another expectant person, with more money, was having a baby in another part of town. Jane decides to go deliver the other baby, telling Alyce to stay there with the mother and do nothing and that the mother was too fevered to know she wasn't there. Thinking she would deliver the other baby, be back to take care of the dead baby, and collect both fees. She set off.

Be sure to read this book and find out how things turn out with Alyce's wonderful adventures while she grows.

This book was written for around 6-7th grade reading level. I enjoyed this book as well as my daughters.