The Midwife's Apprentice
by Karen Cushman
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Book Summary Information
Author: Karen CushmanEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1996-08-16
ISBN: 006440630X
Number of pages: 128
Publisher: HarperCollins
Book Reviews of The Midwife's Apprentice
Book Review: "I know what I want. A full belly, a contented heart, and a place in this world,"
Summary: 2 Stars
finally claims the title character in this story filled with more instances of belittling than one can probably imagine such a slim volume could contain. This bad behavior is practiced by: a malefactorous midwife, cruel cretins, and belittling brats, which are to be found more often than one would expect in even the most vile village. The prospective midwife's apprentice's behavior is also sometimes suspect, alternating between submissive (toward the midwife), kindly (to a handful of persons), and revengeful (to those who've "taunted and tormented" her).
Jane Sharp, nondescript, Catholic, bearer of six children (all deceased), is inexplicably accepted as the town's midwife/faith healer in spite of her horrible bedside manner (yelling at and sometimes beating patients) and other bad behaviors, which includes canoodling with a married father of twelve. After finding the homeless girl "perhaps...twelve or thirteen" hidden in the warmth of a dung heap, the evil woman dubs her "Beetle," as in dung beetle, and, between belittlings, provides meager room and board in exchange for the youngster's assistance in the medicinal side of the midwifery business. For no apparent reason, many of the townsfolk treat her the same. Eventually, she befriends a local boy and gains credibility as a prospective midwife by helping deliver twin calves and a baby born by a woman Jane abandons during labor in favor of another richer client. But when she loses her nerve and fails at easing a woman's particularly difficult birth, she skips town and lands at a nearby inn where she gains the confidence to return to the town and give midwifery a try.
The book is short and uncomplicated, but literally filled with taunting and bullying behavior. A sample follows, for your reading displeasure: "Dung Beetle," "cow," "nitwit," "lackwit," "No brain," "Idiot," "Clodpole," "Nincompoop," "Brainless Brat," "Good for Nothing," and "fool." The book's best part is the five page Author's Note, which is about the practice of midwifery through history. Better Newberry winners: The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread by Kate DiCamillo; A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park; and The Giver by Lois Lowry.
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