Historical Fiction 2 - Catherine Called Birdy

Title: Catherine, Called Birdy
Author: Karen Cushman
Publisher: Harper Trophy
Date: 1994
Age Range: 5th grade and up

Summary: This unusual book provides an insider's look at the life of Birdy, 14, the daughter of a minor English nobleman. The year is 1290 and the vehicle for storytelling is the girl's witty, irreverent diary. She looks with a clear and critical eye upon the world around her, telling of the people she knows and of the daily events in her small manor house.

Strengths:
I love how this book is told through diary format, it adds a certain idea of "daily life" to it. Catherine has a very unique voice and is entertaining to read. She has a comment on everything and is very forthright. It's great to have a book with such a great story set around the middle ages. It will help readers imagine what was life back then besides death and diseases (which is what everyone thinks of when they think of the middle ages.) I also love the Saints days at the top of each entry, its a humorous touch that is very true to what people believed in back then.

Concerns:
Some of the language used my be confusing for children