CATHERINE, CALLED BIRDY

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Cushman, Karen. 1994. CATHERINE, CALLED BIRDY. New York: Clarion Books. ISBN 9780395681862

1. PLOT SUMMARY:
CATHERINE (BIRDY) is the 14-year-old daughter of an English country knight who is not content with her life. One of her brothers, a monk, has taught her to read and write and has given her a small journal for her to write in. He believes that keeping the journal will help her become more learned and less childish. She records aspects of her daily life and includes her hatred for her household duties. In the process, her writings also tell a lot of life in the 1200s from a teen’s point of view, from dealing with those suffering from “ale head” to attempts to learn refined and ladylike activities such as embroidery. Each different passage tells of the adventures of her days and how her parents are trying to make her act like a lady so her father can marry her off. Birdy hates to act like a lady and doesn't want to get married. This journal describes her adventures throughout a year of her daily life and her efforts to get rid of any male suitor that her father wants her to marry. She finally resigns herself to wed an older, unattractive man that she refers to as Shaggy Beard only to receive word that she will not have to marry him after all.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
"CATHERINE, CALLED BIRDY" is a novel which is written in diary format that personifies the difficulties placed upon young women in a medieval court. It is a girl's diary in medieval times that is enjoyable and also an educational read. The first few pages of her diary are simple, one sentence entries, but she quickly moves onto long, paragraphed entries. It takes the reader through a year and a month of Birdy's intrigues and trickery to prevent being, as she puts it, "sold at auction like a pig" by her father whom she only refers to as "the beast." Her mother is trying to teach her to be a lady with "lady lessons," and even her old nurse is joined with her parents against her. As the journal progresses we follow Birdy through many events common to the life of the 13th century. It is an excellent book for preteen and teenage girls. It's a truly wonderful story. People who are intrested in Medieval stories should really read it, for it shows much of the lifestyle back then.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S):
*From Publishers Weekly
A Newbery Honor Book, this witty and wise fictive diary of a 13th-century English girl, according to PW, "introduces an admirable heroine and pungently evokes a largely unfamiliar setting." Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
*School Library Journal
Gr 6-9--The 14-year-old daughter of a rustic knight records the events of her days in the year 1290, writing perceptive, scathing, and often raucously funny observations about her family, friends, and would-be suitors. A delightful, rebellious heroine, determined not to marry the man of her father's choice.
Copyright 1997 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
*Booklist
From Booklist, Apr. 1994, Copyright © American Library Association.
Gr. 6-9. Like the recent The Ramsey Scallop , this is a story of life in the last decade of the twelfth century as seen through the eyes of a young teenage girl. Here the heroine is feisty Birdy, who's been instructed by her older brother to keep a diary so that she may grow less childish. Birdy, the daughter of a minor lord and lady in Lincolnshire, reluctantly agrees, but initially she has nothing more interesting to report than how many fleas she has picked off herself. As the months roll on, however, life becomes more stimulating as Birdy's father tries to marry her off to a variety of suitors. The diary format helps portray the tedium of life in the Middle Ages, the never-ending sewing, cooking, and other chores; the dirt and the illness; and, worse, the lowly role of women in medieval life. But this diary style also inhibits the ability of the characters to come alive. Birdy's is the only real voice. Fortunately, it's a sprightly voice, complete with its own brand of cursing ("God's thumbs!"), that moves the action. Kids can read this on their own or as a supplement to studies of the Middle Ages. (Reviewed Apr. 15, 1994)¾Ilene Cooper.
*School Library Journal
"Superb historical fiction."
*Kirkus Reviews
"The period has rarely been presented for young people with such authenticity; the exotic details will intrigue readers while they relate more closely to Birdy's yen for independence and her sensibilities toward the downtrodden."

5. CONNECTIONS:
*Make a list of words you would use to describe Birdy and then find evidence in her journal to support each choice of word.
*Students may write a response to the story and draw an illustration to complement their response.
*Related Titles:
Lewis, Naomi. Proud Knight, Fair Lady. Viking, 1989 ISBN 0 670 82656 1.
Temple, Frances. The Ramsay Scallop. Orchard, 1994 ISBN 0 531 06836 6.
*Collective biographies by Kathleen Krull:
Lives of Artists: Masterpieces, Messes (And What the Neighbors Thought). ISBN 9780152001032
Lives of Extraordinary Women: Rulers, Rebels (And What the Neighbors Thought). ISBN 9780152008079