Susie Wilde (Children's Literature)
In The Midwife's Apprentice, we meet Alyce, the lower socioeconomic counterpart of Catherine from her Newbery honor book Catherine, Called Birdy. In both books, heroines struggle for sense of self in their medieval world, both are feisty and admirable. Each novel serves to reveal the Middle Ages in a gamy, gritty way, using the senses and language to give a true feeling of what day to day life was like. Though both books are filled with poignant imagery and strong voice. The Midwife's Apprentice starts with an intriguing beginning as the heroine waif, Brat, emerges from a steaming dung heap where she's kept herself warm through a frosty night. Brat does not remember her mother, home or real name. She's rescued from the streets by a none-to-kind midwife who, apropos of their meeting at the story's beginning, re-christens this child, Dung Beetle. Midway through the story, this gutsy fourteenth century heroine, names herself Alyce, choosing the name because it "sounded clean and friendly and smart. You could love someone named Alyce." From that point on, she goes about acquiring the traits she ascribes to her chosen alias. She has, as well, defeated her inner voices of self-disgust, learned to "try and risk and fail and try again and not give up" and finally, has her dream of "a full belly, a contented heart, and a place in the world." Winner of the Newbery Medal. 1995, Clarion, $10.95 and $4.50. Ages 12 up.

Jan Lieberman (Children's Literature)
Brat!" "Beetle!" "Alyce!" These names tell all in the humanization of The Midwife's Apprentice. This 14th century homeless waif is found on a dung heap by Jane the Midwife who takes her in, but treats her roughly. As the girl learns some skills, she becomes confident that she has the "magic" needed to be a midwife until she runs into a difficult birth and realizes that magic isn't enough. Distressed, she runs away. Through luck and grit, she learns to read and becomes a caring, feeling young woman. Cushman writes compellingly, deftly weaving the language of that period with its beliefs. She defines a young woman whose emerging self esteem allows her to set goals and prove her self-worth. Winner of the Newbery Medal, 1996. 1995, Clarion/HarperTrophy, $10.95 and $4.50. Ages 12 up.

Marilyn Courtot (Children's Literature)
A young homeless girl finds herself and her future in medieval England. At first a nameless girl just seeking to survive, Alyce, as she names herself begins to learn from the midwife who takes her in. She isn't always successful, but she does learn and grows up into a responsible hardworking individual. It's an earthy, funny, and fascinating tale of medieval village life with factual notes on midwifery. Winner of the Newbery Award and many others. 1995, Clarion/HarperTrophy, $10.95 and $4.50. Ages 12 up.

CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, 1995)
Beetle is a small, straggly girl living in 14th century England who has been on her own for as long as she can remember. She has no memory of a home or family or even of her real name. She lives by her wits, surviving hand to mouth, until she is taken in by Jane Sharp, the local midwife, to work in exchange for two meals a day and a bed on her cottage floor. Once she is freed from the daily struggle to survive, the girl begins to notice small details in the world around her, from the flowers blooming in spring to the mysterious techniques used by the midwife as she assists in the birth of a child. Her search for identity soon becomes the central focus of the book as she begins to gain in confidence and self-esteem. Karen Cushman is especially gifted at creating the ambience of the Middle Ages and at showing what medieval life might have been like for ordinary people. Like her previous book Catherine, Called Birdy (Clarion, 1994), this novel is filled with colorful details: the taste of flat ale and moldy bread, the feel of mud and muck under bare feet, the sights, sounds and smells of a time when children were much less protected from the bawdier aspects of life. Honor Book, 1995 CCBC Newbery Award Discussion CCBC categories: FICTION FOR CHILDREN. 1995, Clarion, 122 pages, $10.95. Ages 9-14.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, 1995)
During the Middle Ages, an itinerant girl of about 12 or 13 who knows "no home and no mother and no name but Brat" finds refuge one night by burrowing into a village dung heap where the warm, rotting muck will protect her from the bitter cold. In the morning she is taken in by a sharp-tongued woman who turns out to be Jane, the midwife. Brat is such a hard worker that before long she is accompanying Jane to birthings, where she cleans up after the work is done and acts as the midwife's "gofer" whenever necessary. Jane begins to trust her with some of the secrets of her trade, but when Brat is asked to help with a difficult birth and fails, she runs away ashamed not only of her lack of knowledge, but for her belief that she was ever worthy of learning. How Brat comes to terms with her failure and returns to Jane's home as a true apprentice is a gripping story about a time, place, and society that 20th-century readers can hardly fathom. Fortunately, Cushman (Catherine, Called Birdy, 1994) does the fathoming for them, rendering in Brat a character as fully fleshed and real as Katherine Paterson's best, in language that is simple, poetic, and funny. From the rebirth in the dung heap to Brat's renaming herself Alyce after a heady visit to a medieval fair, this is not for fans of historical drama only. It's a rouser for all times. 1995, Clarion, $10.95. Starred Review. © 1995 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Deborah Stevenson (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, May 1995 (Vol. 48, No. 9))
She starts out as Brat, aged twelve or thirteen; the midwife finds her hiding in a dungheap, christens her Beetle (short for dungbeetle), and takes her on as a slavey and gofer. As Beetle begins to grow in confidence and in knowledge, she names herself Alyce, and although she suffers setbacks (a crisis in confidence when attempting to deliver a baby on her own), she eventually realizes that midwifery is her destiny and becomes a full-fledged apprentice. As she did in Catherine Called Birdy (BCCB 6/94), Cushman blends earthy realism with a certain pastoral coziness in her picture of early England, which, added to an appealing heroine, make the story an absorbing tale of another time. Her depiction of inarticulate Alyce's gradual blossoming remains credible, never demanding too much of her heroine or her readers. The book's brevity and simplicity also commend it to older readers who find the era intriguing but are intimidated by more epic tales of medieval life. Cushman adds an historical note about midwifery, which includes mention of the maternal and child mortality that never appears in the story itself. This is an offbeat, well-crafted story; fans of the author's first book will enjoy it. R--Recommended. Reviewed from galleys (c) Copyright 1995, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 1995, Clarion, [112p], $10.95. Grades 5-8.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, 1995)
In a sharply realistic novel of medieval England by the author of 'Catherine, Called Birdy' (Clarion), a homeless, hungry orphan girl called Beetle is taken in by the village midwife. As Beetle grows and learns, she begins to gain some hard-won self-esteem, and a satisfying conclusion conveys the hope that the self-reliant girl will find her place in life. The graphic and convincing portrayals afford a fascinating view of a far distant time. Category: Fiction. 1995, Clarion, 122pp.. Ages 14 to 18. Rating: 1: Outstanding, noteworthy in style, content, and/or illustration.