Rating: 
Summary: suitors, suitors, suitors
Review: catherine is of an age to get married. And with her greedy pathetic excuse of a Father, she is going to be sold like a side of beef to the highest bidder. And she manages to avoid several suitors in the beggining by being gross and corse and rude.... blackened theeth, and such things. but then one of her suitors is nastier than she could ever be, so her plotting fails her. She does what is humanly possible to get out of the marriage.... which is tottaly gross 'cuase the guys way older than she is, but to no avail. And then the unexpected happens.... he dies..... so his heir gets to marry her...
Rating: 
Summary: Little bird, little bird, in the cinnamon tree...
Review: Arbitrators of historical accuracy in works of fiction decried "Catherine Called Birdy" as a travesty when it first came out. They said it was inaccurate and filled with factual misrepresentations. They said the main character could not and would not have acted the way she did (Birdy is both headstrong and willful) not because she wasn't capable of it but because of the times in which she lived (Medieval England). I was very partial to "Catherine Called Birdy" when I read it. I thought it was a breezy romp through a time entirely different from our own today. I thought the plot was enjoyable, the main character likable, and the setting fascinating. But yes, if pressed, I would admit that this is definitely not the book you're going to want to read to if you want a realistic portrayal of the Middle Ages. So there it is.
Lady Catherine (called Birdy) is the fourteen-year-old daughter of a knight and lady of a manor. Their only daughter, she is expected to wed soon, thereby bringing in a significant price from her suitor. Birdy, however, has other ideas. She knows that in terms of some people (barons, kings, etc.) her family is not particularly rich, but she also feels that no money in the world would be worth her marriage to some empty headed blockhead. As such, the book follows the day-to-day activities of a young lady in jolly old England as she outsmarts and drives away a variety of different potential husbands. To do so, the tale is told through Birdy's journal entries, usually beginning with a note as to what the saint day it is and how they died. The book really hits its stride when Birdy finds herself engaged to a man that repulses and disgusts her more than any other she's met thus far.
I contest the notion that the book is entirely inaccurate, however. First of all, the ending of the book is, however fortuitous, believable. I feel the book taken as a whole is meant to show how trapped the lives of women during medieval times were. We are constantly bombarded with images of cages and caged birds. Birdy is told not to fight her position in life since it will do her little good. The book does not end with Birdy marrying outside her class or running away to live the single life. Instead, it remains faithful to the ideals of the time, for which I was very glad.
Just the same, Birdy is not your average girl. I have to agree that she's a mighty unlikely character for her time period too. Girls reading about her today might identify with her intrinsically, but that's only because she's written with a particularly modern eye. For example, Birdy expresses an interest in running away and joining the Crusades. I challenge anyone to say that any girl growing up in 1290 England even harbored a glimpse of a thought about such a thing. It wasn't just the girls couldn't, it was the fact that they would have considered such an idea alien to their culture. Birdy has lots of thoughts along these lines as well. She likes to fart and spit and do all sorts of things that, quite frankly, girls younger than fourteen might be into but that a kid her age would probably have outgrown. That was actually one of my problems with the book as well. Too often is Birdy immature for her age or irrational beyond her otherwise cool head. After all, being fourteen now and being fourteen then were two entirely different ideas. People grew up faster back in the day, an idea that Birdy does not seen to convey. In fact, in some things Birdy is perfectly ahead of her years. She seems to have a very clear idea of sex and human reproduction. On viewing some grass stained villagers returning from the woods she observes wryly that there will probably be quite a few babies born the coming December. Nine months away, that is.
Just the same, I liked this book. I liked how Birdy's conceptions of humans on the whole changes. I liked the humor in this tale, something that most books set in the Middle Ages neglect. In short, I liked "Catherine Called Birdy" in spite of its flaws. Author Cushman is good enough to include an Author's Note at the end of this text that offers not only further information about the times, but non-fiction resources and other medieval children's books for reference. I challenge you to read this story and not enjoy it, at least on some level. It's a lovely romp. And if you still find yourself yearning for something a little more believable, check out "Dante's Daughter" instead.
Rating:
Summary: Catherine Called Birdy
Review: Cathrine is the daughter of an old-fashioned knight who gets drunk almost every day. Her mother is prim and proper-and wants Catharine to follow in her footsteps. All Catharine has to say is, "Corpus Bones! I utterly loathe my life." She endures through spinning and weaving lessons, annoying suitors, and a seemingly evil one that she calls, 'Shaggy Beard'. She even runs away once! This entire story was full of mirth and laughter, along with the occasional serious point. I loved reading throuhg Catharine's diary, which made up the book, and I loved to see her point of view on everything. It seemed all too soon that it ended. God's Feet! I wish that Mrs.Cushman would come out with a sequel to this. I'd love to see how she copes with life in Sir Stephen's castle! But anyway, this was a fun, read, featuring everything from feasts to cures for warts from the Dark Ages. So, i'd reccomend this book to all of you fun-loving readers out there, no matter what age. Enjoy!
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