In truth, I wouldn't characterize The Midwife's Apprentice as Children's Fantasy exactly. More like historical fiction. But sometimes it's hard to draw the line.
The book is about a young street urchin who, to her knowledge, hasn't had any other name than Brat, who is taken in by the local midwife (who Brat, later called Alyce dubs "Jane Sharp" because of her sharp features and the wimple in her skirts) and trained as her apprentice.
The underlying theme of the story, however, even as it goes through sad, sometimes even comical events in Alyce's life, is Alyce's journey of self-discovery. Throughout the book, Alyce develops a greater confidence in herself.
The book demonstrates the valuable lesson of never giving up exceptionally well, and recommend it for any child from the age of eleven and up.
It also has a strong, central female character, which is always good for young girls just learning to value themselves.
This book, I highly recommend for old and young. It will probably one day be considered one of the Classics. If you haven't yet read this book, run to the library and get it! It'd be a terrible one to miss!
On a scale of one to ten, I give it a ten.
Happy reading! - Mel
Here are some sites that involve Cushman and her work:
http://www.eduplace.com/rdg/author/cushm...
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/cushman....
http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/special/kay...
http://www.ipl.org/youth/AskAuthor/cushm...
http://www.indiana.edu/~eric_rec/ieo/bib...
http://www.edupaperback.org/authorbios/C...
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