Catherine, Called Birdy

Karen Cushman First published 1994

About this book

¨Catherine's mother wants to teach her the skills of the lady of the manor and to prepare her to be a gentle and patient wife. Her father only wants her to be married off, and profitably. Catherine herself hopes to become a painter, a Crusader, a maker of songs, a peddlar, a monk, a ministrel, a wart charmer... Of all the possibilities, she has ruled out only one: being sold like cheese to the highest bidder.

Against a vivid background of everyday life on a medieval English manor, Catherine's earthy, spirited account of her fourteenth year is a richly entertaining story with an utterly unforgettable heroine.¨ -***Karen Cushman***

Subjects

children's fiction
diaries
diaries, fiction
england, fiction
families
family life, fiction
femininity
fiction
friendship, fiction
girls, fiction
history
juvenile fiction
legal status, laws
marriage
medieval civilization
middle ages
middle ages, fiction
newbery honor
newbery medal
newbery medal book
reading level-grade 11
reading level-grade 12
role expectation
teenage girls
thirteenth century