000			02211nam a2200205 c 4500
008			210312n1997 gw ||||| |||| 00||||eng
020			_a0330349619
100			_aCUSHMAN, Karen _c
245			_aThe Midwife's Apprentice. _b
260			_aLondon _bMacmillan Publishers _c1997
300			_a116 S.
520			_aAlyce, a homeless orphan who doesn't know her real name or her age, finds her place in fourteenth-century England whenn she meets Jane the Midwife, who needs a helper.Grade 6-9?With simplicity, wit, and humor, Cushman presents another tale of medieval England. Here readers follow the satisfying, literal and figurative journey of a homeless, nameless child called Brat, who might be 12 or 13?no one really knows. She wandered about in her early years, seeking food and any kind of refuge and, like many outsiders, gained a certain kind of wisdom about people and their ways. Still, life held little purpose beyond survival?until she meets the sharp-nosed, irritable local midwife, which is where this story begins. Jane takes her in, re-names her Beetle, and thinks of her as free labor and no competition. Always practical but initially timid, the girl expands in courage and self-awareness, acquiring a cat as a companion, naming herself Alyce, and gaining experience in the ways of midwifery. From the breathless delight of helping a boy to deliver twin calves, to the despair of failure during a difficult birth, to the triumph of a successful delivery, Alyce struggles to understand how she can allow herself to fail and yet have the determination to reach for her own place in the world. Alyce wins. Characters are sketched briefly but with telling, witty detail, and the very scents and sounds of the land and people's occupations fill each page as Alyce comes of age and heart. Earthy humor, the foibles of humans both high and low, and a fascinating mix of superstition and genuinely helpful herbal remedies attached to childbirth make this a truly delightful introduction to a world seldom seen in children's literature.?
650			_aEnglischliteratur
650			_aOrphans
650			_ahomelessness
650			_ahistory
650			_aTopic
650			_aFiction
942			_cBK
999			_c12310 _d12310