Can a sharp-tongued, high-spirited, clever young maiden with a mind of her own actually lose the battle against an ill-mannered, piglike lord and an unimaginative, greedy toad of a father? Deus! Not if Catherine has anything to say about it! Catherine, a spirited and inquisitive young woman, narrates in diary form the story of her fourteenth year-the year 1290. Then a shaggy-bearded suitor from the north comes to call-by far the oldest, ugliest, most revolting suitor of them all. But by wit, trickery, and luck, Catherine manages to send several would-be husbands packing. Her father is determined to marry her off to a rich man-any rich man, no matter how awful.

These things said, Catherine, Called Birdy is a great intro to the Middle Ages for appropriate audiences.Book Synopsis The historical fiction classic, told in the form of a diary, has drawn in generations of readers and is a Newbery Honor Book. Catherine's father regularly abuses her physically she and other characters see this as completely normal.

Sexual interaction, even incest, is hinted at with less than discretion. Bodily functions and diseases are discussed, as is death by childbirth, sometimes in detail. The Middle Ages was a rather gross and gritty time period, and the author stays true to that. In the end though, she does learn her own value, and finds happiness in her position. Funnily enough, she wants to be anyone but herself she considers becoming a nun, a juggler, a minstrel, and all manner of other occupations to avoid marriage. She struggles with things modern readers can relate to: obeying parents, accepting societal expectations, and crafting her own identity. She tells us all about it, and Medieval life, in the diary she keeps at the behest of her beloved brother Edward, a monk at a nearby monastery.Ĭatherine is an intelligent, spunky character who's way ahead of her time. Catherine will concoct any plan and pull any prank to keep herself from this fate, sometimes with hilarious results. But Catherine wants nothing to do with this, and she certainly doesn't want her blowhard father to marry her off to a rich, ugly, unpleasant baron. Thus, she's already expected to act like an adult as her mother trains her to become a lady of the manor. Thirteen-year-old Catherine is growing up in 1290 England.

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