Catherine, Called Birdy

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Summary: It's a fun book
Review: As I read this book, its powerful sentences drew me into the world of the medieval time and put me in the position of Catherine. "Catherine called Birdy" tells us of the period in which lords ruled the land and men controlled everything. Catherine, the clever, high spirited, young maiden had to put up fights against a toad like greedy father and several ugly, old and revolting suitors. As her father became even more determined to marry her to a rich man, can Catherine continue to win the battles? As you read this book, you will find out that under the mask and the title of a Lady, Catherine will always have a mischievous plan in action. I laughed and laughed and could not stop...

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Summary: Corpus bones this is a great book
Review: I LOVED this book mostly in every way. The part i didn't like was that the ending was a little teeny weeny to easy. I mean I wanted her to like find the man of his dreams but still like have a hush hush realationship. But this book is great in many ways. I like how she showed a strong character Catherine, who doesn't want to get married and cleverly sends each one off. I also like that Karen Cushman made Catherine fall in love with the pig's son. this book is cool.

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Summary: Not Your Usual Fairy Tale...
Review: "4th Day of August, Feast of Saint Sithney. God asked him to be the patron saint of girls, but Sithney said he'd rather be the patron of mad dogs, so he is. I like to think of him as my father's special saint." So writes Birdy in her diary, kept at the request of her brother the monk so that she can become "more learned and less childish." And so she does. Through this diary which journals her fourteenth year as the daughter of a landowning knight in 1290 England, we learn to love this willful, stubborn, funny, and delightful girl. Through Birdy's lively observations about medieval life, we also learn about village, castle, and manor life. We attend fairs, weddings, morality plays, masses, and funerals. We attend feasts and festivals at the castle where she lives, most of which are attended by potential suitors seeking Birdy's hand in marriage. But unlike the usual fairy-tale, the man to whom her father offers her hand is old, crude, and disgusting. Birdy's struggle to escape from this engagement, as well as her efforts to grow into a woman are masterfully chronicled by Cushman as she helps us see the medieval world through Birdy's eyes. This is not a pretty book. Birdy's language is sometimes crude and the life she chronicles is full of dirt, disease, pain, and cruelty. But it is also full of the joy of youth, friendhip, and delight in small things. It's nice to read a work of historical fiction for children that is honest to the period and engaging as a story at the same time. This one is a must-read for anyone interested in the lives of children in the Middle Ages.

Rating:
Summary: Catherine, Called Birdy
Review: Catherine, the daughter of a poor country knight, is a high spirited, independent, and clever young woman. Her father, a gluttonous, greedy man, is ready to marry her off to any man who comes along, the wealthier, the better. Unfortunately for Catherine, these men are some of the worst imaginable. However, with a little wit she manages to extract herself from betrothal several times. When a certain rich suitor from the north comes, much to her fathers glee, Catherine has to use all her skills to get away from this insistent pest. Can she outwit her father and a determined suitor? Read Catherine, Called Birdy, a humorous, realistic, sometimes cynical account of the life of a teen girl in the Middle Ages.

Rating:
Summary: An absolute bore
Review: While "Catherine, Called Birdy" has quite an admirable character, Catherine, this book is not worth your time or your money.

While reading quite good plots that appear every fifty pages or so, Catherine's first-person writing style fails at making a reader care about the outcome of a conflict. This book being 205 pages, there is excess setting description compared to character development, of which there is very little.

Catherine potrays an admirable character of which many might look up to, yet at countless times her immature manner may sicken you.

There are, however, many aspects of "Catherine, Called Birdy" that are notable. This book succeeds at showing many relationships in a person's life, including daughter-father/mother, sister-brother, female-suitor, and friend-friend. The one true conflict in the story (there are many small conflicts that are quickly forgotten by a reader, for only one conflict sticks out) is rather interesting and filled with potential. This potential is brutally killed by a disappointing ending and a very poor writing style.

Don't waste your time or your money.

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Summary: HOW DID THIS GET THIS A NEWBERY?
Review: I seriously believe that the judges for the newberry award were drugged when they chose this book as the winner. It is pointless, stupid, and downright INTOLERABLE. Believe it. (If you don't, you can read it, and then I will garantee that you will believe it.) Trust me. This is so, so, dumb!

Rating:
Summary: yukk it !@@$@!
Review: this book is one of the worst and most pathetically written book I have ever read! I've seen picture books more interesting that this piece of @$$, it ##@$%! If you think there is a more pathetic book e-mail me and I'll give you 10..00 bucks, yes, I'm that confident

Rating:
Summary: Historical Fiction for the intelligent child.
Review: "Catherine Called Birdy" is a young adult book in a class of its own. Unlike the petty, superficial novels usually written for children, this book's historical setting and endearing heroine make it a must read for all precocious children who grew up on fairy-tales, etc. Set in The Middle Ages, this novel explores the society of the time and also the conditions of the time including some hilarious insights on the hygiene! When I read this book in 4th grade I was automatically hooked on everything Middle Ages and actually was inspired to do research in my free time! Setting of the book aside, "Birdy" is a wonderful character that many girls will be able to connect with even though they live more than 500 years later. Each diary entry tells you more about this character, which makes her personality more in-depth than other books for this age group. I recommend this book for all ages but especially for girls who are just beginning to choose what kind of books they want to read and have always enjoyed fairy-tale and historical fiction type works. This book has a permanent place on my bookshelf--- right next to the Jane Austen and Charles Dickens I have come to cherish because of the pathways of literature this book created.

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Summary: This is one of the best books that I've ever read!!!!!!
Review: I think reading Catherine, Called Birdy was one of the best choices I have made. I recommend this humorous, depressing, jovial, over-all WONDERFUL story to anyone with an interest in people and/or history. Catherine, Called Birdy tells much about regular people's lives in the Middle Ages. Whether or not you fit the above description, make a good choice: try Catherine, Called Birdy.

Rating:
Summary: Catherine, Called Birdy
Review: I thought that Catherine, Called Birdy was a wonderful book. To me Catherine was person who would think for herself. For example her father wanted her to marry a rich man. Catherine was a women who would decide for herself and wouldn't do what other people wanted her to do. By wit and trickery she would send the men her father wanted he to marry off packing. Catherine was a person who wouldn't give up, see would keep trying and trying at what ever she did. Finally Catherine was a very clever maiden, and would take anything from any one.