Catherine, Called Birdy

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Summary: Finally, a medieval fiction work that's not about fairies!
Review: Just when I was tired of stories about Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot, along comes "Catherine, Called Birdy". Catherine is about my age when the story takes place, and her lively diary gives you real insight into what life was like for ordinary young poeple in the 13th century. Catherine is a delightful character with much spirit. I have read this book four times, and every time it's just as enjoyable.

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Summary: Great book!
Review: Tired of all those medieval books about princesses and fairies? "Catherine, Called Birdy" is a book about the daughter of 13th century knight and her days are anything but wishing for her prince. Having to sew, cook, and scare off potential husbands, Catherine rebels against her ordinary life and wishes for something better. What follows is a hillarious, touching, and sometimes gross acount of one year in her life.

The only thing a little different from a very true acount of life in the Middle Ages, is the fact that Catherine can read and write (in English and Latin) at an age when most kings couldn't spell their names. Also the saint days are funny.

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Summary: School's assigned reading has never been so fun!
Review: I am not the person who enjoys reading assigned books, but when i began to read Catherine Called Birdy, I was intruiged by Catherine's ways of life. It is a book that i can connect to her. It is an overall fabulous book.

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Summary: One of the best books ever written for young adults
Review: This book is one of my favorite books of all time. Karen Cushman perfectly captures life for a young teenage girl in the Middle Ages. From mundane, everyday problems like fleas to major concerns like familial expectations and marriage, Cushman covers it all! This is one of the few books that is so accurate that readers can really get a feel for the times as they truly were - not the way they are romanticized. I say kudos to Cushman, and I hope she keeps them coming!

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Summary: An Amazing Piece of Literature!
Review: Catherine, Called Birdy is a wondeful book for children which,I think, teaches children about caring for family members. It has got a lot of charm and humor. In this book, it is amazing how Catherines heart, mind, and personality changes from the beginning of the book to the end. Catherine is a wonderful character, as well as many other characters that will make funny remarks and will leave your child laughing. I give this book five stars because you can compare things in your life to things in the book. Once you finish this book, you will want to meet the characters that are in it. Even if you know that the characters are not real, your imagination will think differently.

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Summary: This Is One Of My Faveriote Books Of All Time!
Review: I love this book! I have read it 2 or 3 times and enjoyed it every time! When I read it the second time, I picked up a lot of details that I missed previously. Karen Cushman is one of my Faveriote authors thanks to this book. If you are as instred in the Mid-Evil time as I am, you can look in the back of the book under the author's note and see other books that may intrest you. This book gives you a wonderful, accuriate, and exciting look into the life of a young girl in the 13th century. All young girls can relate. I beg you to read this book, if you do, and don't like it,or if you loved it, e mail me at: [e-mail] with your complaints or praise for the book. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did!

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Summary: Snore!
Review: This book was soooooooo boring. I practiclly fell asleep while reading it. It did not deserve the award it got. I can't believe there are people who liked it. All she wrote about was how many fleas she picked off and the disgusing fact that she wonders where her waste goes. I didnt even read the last few pages, but I peeked ahead. How can she marry that pig's son without even knowing what he looks like. It's like she had a total change of personality. I do not recomend this.

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Summary: simply thrilling
Review: This book was exceptional. The tale of a young girl from almost a thousand years ago undergoing obstacles thought extreme in our time.

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Summary: Even though I am in the middle of reading it,
Review: it is very good and I can't wait to finish. I love history, and this book is an excellent description, so far. As for the people who said the book is disgusting, if you had to, you WOULD live like that. ("Survival of the fittest" No, I am not an evolutionist, but just to make my point, if you don't like like that, your most likely dead!) Europe is not clean at this time, it is not the nicest place to live, it is not the greatest place to live, but you cope. If you're ancestors are from Europe, they did. Just take it! You think that they would live like we would today? What have you been doing in history class? I recommend this book to anyone interested in history of this time and if you are afraid of "disgusting things", I advise to read something else! Although I must say eating the head of something is not pleasing to my taste buds.

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Summary: Absolutely super, but...
Review: The book was really great and interesting to read. I liked learning about how people lived in the year 1290. I would give this 4.5 stars though because even though the book lived up to its point of being a historical book it didn't really focus on what the summary said the book should be about: Catherine outwitting the old, ugly cruds who want to marry her. This only came in small parts of the book and it was focused most on the last part. Other than that, this book was great, but it isn't a good book for readers who do not want to learn about the year 1290 (it's common sense simply not to buy the book if you don't like history). I would not call Catherine disgusting either just because she wonders where people's wastes go. Anyway that was only a very tiny part (about one short paragraph or so) in the book and that is not a reason to not read it. I did find the food gross. Who can actually eat boar's head and herring? And what the heck is fried milk? I am pretty sure this book would also satisfy the Dear America readers. To the reader who said that the Sweet Valley High books are gross: How gross could SVH be if it has millions of people reading the series? (I'm not an SVH fan but that is not the point.)