Rating: 
Summary: The Princess who Married the Frog
Review: "It is Shaggy Beard himself who whishes to take me for wife! What a monstrous joke. That dog assassin whose breath smells like the mouth of hell, who makes wind like others make music, who attacks helpless animals with knives, who is ugly and old!" (122). I have just recently read a book by Karen Cushman, called Catherine, Called Birdy. Catherine is a 14 year old living in 1290, and is daughter of the lord of the Manor. However, her life is not an eloquent poem of respecting her parents, churning butter, and smiling at her simple dramas in life. Instead, Catherine spends her days defying her "toad" father, fleeing her chores and sewing, and most importantly working to make herself the most unattractive girl to any slime ball suitor who comes along. However, the most disgusting of all, Shaggy Beard, might just get his way. Can this clever gal escape the hog, or will her greedy father sell her off to the North to wed the dreaded Shaggy Beard?
Catherine's Diary is both funny and enthralling. I definitely recommend this story because it made the past something I could relate to while providing humor. I really began to care about her and her plights against the unworthy suitors. However I think the story's best quality was Catherine's straightforward narrating. My only complaint is that the chapters right before the end lost my interest. All in all it is light fun reading. Read this book to find out her fate, and then read the others in the series.
Rating: 
Summary: Cool Time Period, Fiesty Girl, But...
Review: Karen Cushman has done a wonderful thing in setting this young girl's coming-of-age tale in 13th century England, for the details of that era that emerge in Catherine's year-long "diary" (never mind that a 14-year-old girl would likely have been illiterate or, at the very least, writing in Middle English) are the best thing about the book. From the day-to-day realities of pox scars, fleas, and moldy cheese to colorful terms like "lack-wit" (which Catherine uses to describe one of her suitors), "Catherine, Called Birdy" is a fun and fact-filled trip back to a time and place unmined and unknown to modern teens. The book is divided into 12 chapters, each one containing a month's diary entries, so that the book as a whole chronicles Catherine's 14th year from September of 1290 to September, 1291.Cushman is clearly an advocate for fiesty young women, and her heroine is certainly that. Catherine resists her father's attempts to betrothe her to the highest bidder, and her high-spirited and imaginative modes of defiance are delightful on one level, while a bit hackneyed on another. It is unclear how realistic Catherine's behavior is, but it certainly livens up the proceedings. For some reason, though, the book tends to drag. Although the reader is almost immediately introduced to both Catherine's dilemma and her spirit, it takes a whole year (sometimes seemingly in real time) for a resolution to be reached. But Catherine learns some valuable life-lessons along the way, and young readers learn some valuable history lessons in a palatable Taming-of-the-Young-Miss-Shrew format. Cushman's real agenda here, after all, is to promote two things that are dear to her heart: both the era in which the story is set and the "imagination, hope and tenacity of all young women." She does succeed on both these points.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable Read
Review: Birdy, is the willful, stubborn daughter of an equally willful and stubborn father. He is determined to marry off this difficult daughter to his advantage. She is equally determined not to be married. What follows is a battle of wills as Birdy tries to convince her father, and herself, that she is right and does not need to submit to any plans he has for her. Written in journal style, Catherine, Called Birdy presents medieval life in a tangible, and quite humorous, way that pre-teens/teenagers will be able to connect with and understand. They will also be able to relate to Birdy as she finds herself on the threshold of adulthood, at that difficult stage where duty and rebellion intermingle, emotions run high and life often seems confusing, if not downright tragic. This is a highly enjoyable book, both for it's historical details and for it's message. Over the short course of a year, we follow Birdy as she changes, looses some of her childish prejudices and finds herself--and those reading are encouraged to be strong and independent, while still be loyal and loving to family. Parents might wish to read this first, to decide if the veiled references to sex are appropriate for their child. I give this Newbery Honor Book an 8.5 out of 10.
Rating:
Summary: Catherine, Called Birdy
Review: Catherine, Called Birdy is a book in the form of a diary where the main character is writing. She has to do chores and act like a lady. She's always told to act lady-like by her mother or nurse. Catherine's dad tries to sell her to rich men, but she always figure out a way to get rid of them. Catherine just wants to have adventures like other villagers and people associated with royalty.
What I liked about the book is how she deals with her father and him trying to sell her to rich men. She always seems to get out of being sold to rich suitors by using her wits, luck, and trickery. Sometimes you would think that when you read an entry Catherine wrote it sound like the entry continues the next day. It was exciting to find out that she will finally marry because she refused and scared away so may suitors. Sometimes some entries won't make sense but once you start reading along it starts to make sense and get interesting.
Rating: 
Summary: Let's hear it for Catherine!
Review: From the first time I read this book in 6th grade,I loved it. Two years later,I bought it and "The Midwife's Apprentice" at a school book fair and enjoyed it all over again. The ways she got rid of potential suitors were ingenious and amusing! Imagine having to be married at 14 to someone you hate! Some parts were gross,but what do you expect in 13th century England? Birdy managed to cope with it and the dreadfulness of being a woman of the Dark Ages. Her feminism was ahead of its time. She escaped her troubles by writing and pondering,like many teenage girls do today with theirs. I had to remind myself that this wasn't a real diary from 1290-91! It's one of my absolute favorites! A note to other readers: buy it,buy it! Wish there was a sequel (are you reading this,Mrs. Cushman?)
Rating:
Summary: The unknown marriage
Review: This is a book in a form of a diary. The main character is writing this diary about her life. It's about a girl named Catherine who has a couple of nicknames. Her names are Catherine, Little Bird, and Birdy. Birdy's life is sad. She has to live in a men's world, because the men ruled the women. Catherine had to act like a lady, and her father was trying to find a husband for her. Catherine didn't want to get married to them so she drives them away by acting like a pig and putting mud on her face. Her last suitor was Shaggy Beard who was a pig to Catherine. She couldn't find a way out of marryng him. Is Catherine going to marry a big mean slob, or the man of her dreams? Read this book and you will find out.
Rating:
Summary: Very Funny Medieval times book.
Review: Although Catherine Called Birdy is considered to be a piece of historical fiction, the main character is very modern. During the time period that the book takes place, a woman was expected to act like a lady and be a good wife. Catherine rejects the idea of being forced to marry someone with whom she is not in love. She also believes that she can be anything that she wants to be from a musician to a traveling dancer.
Rating: 
Summary: Boring, stupid and tedious as he(...)
Review: This book was utterly stupid. I have never read anything that made me want to murder myself more. I had to read it for school or else I wouldn't have finished it. Also, I must say that if you are considering reading it but don't want to because other reivewers said that it had 'vulger launguage', than think again. It has no vulger launguage, and the lady (...) who wrote it was innapropreate for ten to twelve year olds is really off. However, i still dont think you should read it. (...)
Rating:
Summary: Corpus Bones! Don't tell me you haven't read this book!
Review: Catherine: a plain brown goose, or at least that is what she thinks. She is just trying to get by through life at thriteen, without being married to some suitor, like the pig Shaggy Beard, but her father the beast, cares not and he is very greedily trying to sell her off. Could she be a monk, a minstrel, a tumbler, a nun, a villager, a pigs boy? Just anything to get away from this terrible life of marriage at such a young age.
This delightful diary had me laughing and searching for more. Right after I began to read the Midwife's Apprentice. It is good as well.
God's thumbs!
I wish there were more!
Rating:
Summary: Catherine, Called Birdy
Review: This book was an interesting and informative read. It features a 15-year-old girl, Catherine, in the year 1290, who is writing a diary at the request of her brother. Her father is determined to marry her off to the richest suitor possible. But Catherine won't give up that easily, and she gets rid of several suitors in highly original ways. Finally she finds herself engaged to Lord Shaggy Beard, the richest of them all- unfortunately also the most revolting. Corpus Bones!
Many people disliked this book because of what they called "vulgarity" or "crudity" as well as the "negative tone" of the story. While it is true that many of the terms Catherine uses in her diary are considered vulgar today, at that time they were in common usage. And Catherine should hardly be expected to censor her diary for the comfort of the readers. And many diaries- mine for instance- are negative in tone, because people tend to write more when they are angry or frustrated. Try putting yourself in her place and see how positive you can be! You will enjoy the story more if you can see past the language. Others are disturbed by the fact that Catherine openly hates her father- but that is hardly uncommon in teenagers, especially when said father is trying to sell you off to a "pig".
Now that I've got that over with...
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, from the beginning, to almost the end. There are not many children's books about this time period that are as readable as this. The main character is witty and feisty, a good combination for a narrator.I gave it four stars because of the abrupt ending- Catherine has a 360-degree turnaround in attitude, finds her sense of self, and returns home to the welcome news that her fiance is dead. Also, because all the characters are described from Catherine's point of view, they are less developed than she and not as realistic. And since all the arguments and disagreements are likewise from Catherine's point of view, we only get one side of the story. Other than that, this book is a wonderful read. I especially liked the references to the "Book of Saints" throughout the book. Fans of Karen Cushman will love it.
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