Rating: 
Summary: Oh what fun!
Review: I read this book last year on a whim. I've no idea what even made me pick it up as I had no real idea what this story was about, or about the author, or even anything about young adult lit at that point. A week later I was trying to get every person I knew to read it. Now it's your turn dear reader...This book is not only laugh out loud funny, but it's a very interesting depiction of the Middle Ages. Is it truthful? Well, Cushman has done her research, and this truly does seem authentic. Many people I have chatted with wonder if young women at the time really would have been so spirited as catherine. Hey..who's to say? None of us were there, and I am sure there were young women even then who yearned for more out of life than marriage (which was more like slavery... the concept of marriage for love was still an od topic)... Thanks to this great book (suitable and enjoyable enough for adults and young adults alike), now we have one.
Rating: 
Summary: Medieval yet modern
Review: This book was well-written and managed to make Birdy's voice realistically 12th century without making it impossible to understand. The book also has avoided the traps of other historical fiction by presenting the 12th century as not totally grim - there is fun and enjoyment as well. There is some beautiful description as well. As to complaints that Birdy is unrealistic, how do we know there weren't other maidens in that time who wished to escape from their lives. The only reason that I have removed a star is that the book can drag a little, especially if you have read it before.
Rating:
Summary: My Absolute Favorite Book
Review: This book is my favorite! I love it! It is very funny, and it shows how someone living in the medieval times might have felt about having to marry at age 14! Birdy is so clever and sarcastic, and she makes everything sound so extavagant! It really is wonderfully descriptive and hysterical. My favorite part is when she describes her ex-suitors. She makes them sound positively horrid! And the ending is fantastic. If you do not already have the book, you should get it!
Rating:
Summary: You hav to read this book !
Review: Catherin called birdy is about a little and her brouther. the best port is the little girl is lelling the story. I like that because all the other stories I have read a boy is telling the story.
Rating:
Summary: A true feminist book
Review: The adventurous and rambunctous 13th century Birdy is entertaining and amusing. Join her as she pulls the plug on various horrid prospective husbands. The dark ages don't seem so dark in this lively tale. Don't miss the part where a desperate Birdy sets fire to an outhouse with a suitor inside.
Rating:
Summary: A caged bird singing
Review: The voice of Catherine, upper class teenager of the middle ages, carries a tone of familiarity across the centuries. For although Catherine is purportedly writing a diary that encompasses the year 1292, she seems as modern as any present day 15-year-old. Everywhere she turns, Catherine locks horns with the system that exploits her. She hates the needlework she must complete -- and all the chores she must do! Catherine envisions a number of "glamorous" careers -- artist, crusader, monk -- but she is, of course, prevented from each one by her gender. Cushman uses the metaphor of a bird to represent how Catherine feels -- free-spirited, but caged in and flapping her wings against the bars of her societal constraints. The book contains many funny scenes, especially those involving the ingenious plans Catherine devises to repel the suitors that she hates. And, like Cushman's novel "The Midwife's Apprentice," the book contains a lot of historical information, particularly about the less romantic sides of the Middle Ages (disease and unsanitary conditions). My main complaint about the book concerns its ending, when Catherine suddenly and inexplicably abandons all her reservations about marriage and consents to be engaged to a man she has never met. I would have enjoyed the book more had Cushman found a way to build to the conclusion, or if she had altered the ending completely. Sure, another outcome may have been unlikely. But Catherine is an unlikely kind of girl.
Rating: 
Summary: Catherine called boring
Review: This book is completely sad. It could never hold my attention, and I am not amused by 200 pages of wind in the bowels. I f there is a worse book out there e-mail me with its name. I will read it a enjoy it more!
Rating:
Summary: Great Book, One Problem
Review: This is a great book. It shows you what medieval life was really like, from a knight's daughter's point of view(the book is her diary). If you like the middle ages and humorous novels, you'll love Catherine. However, the book has a problem. Some parts in the book didn't hold my attention and the ending just doesn't satisfy me. I like completely exciting books. Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Rating:
Summary: What I Think of Catherine
Review: I love books set in the Middle Ages, so naturally I enjoyed this book. It is written as a diary of a teenage girl whose father is determined to marry her off well. The one thing I didn't like is how the main character Catherine, like almost every other book set in Medieval times, is mischievous, spunky, and totally unlike the average girl in the Middle Ages. But Catherine does add humor and interest to the book, while another more realistic character might seem boring. I love the ending, though, and still think it is a GREAT book.
Rating:
Summary: Just buy it
Review: I haven't read this in a while, but I remember it well enough to know that I LOVED IT! At the end, you feel like you know Catherine/Birdy personally.
| 
