The Midwifes apprentice by Karen Cushman is a book that was published before I graduated high school. That being said, I have passed it millions of times in countless libraries and bookstores and it always caught my attention but didn't have that "je na sais quoi" to hold it. So why now? I would be lying if I said that I read this book last week but I have recently came across a read alike and I figured I would share both.
The Midwife's Apprentice is on countless grade school reading lists and it is the recipient of the Newbury Award in 1996. This is a great choice for a child who needs a book for a historical fiction project. The book relates the story of a young girl named Beetle (this is not her given name) who is taken in as a apprentice by a midwife in England during the Middle Ages. Beetle works for the Midwife learning her trade but after a setback involving a town woman's delivery and the constant criticisms and insults by her master Beetle runs away from home and re-invents herself as Alice and begins work as an inn girl.
Hap and Circumstance eventually bring the innkeeper and her former apprentice back together and after the delivery of an inn guests child. Alice returns to the midwife with a new understanding of life and her future career.
This is a great read I believe for students six grade and older. I made this decision because of the content and some thematic elements that may be a little difficult to grasp for younger readers. However is depends as always on the child and their parents.
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