Catherine, Called Birdy

Catherine, Called Birdy

3.67 of 5 stars 3.67  ·  rating details  ·  19,803 ratings  ·  811 reviews
Catherine, a spirited and inquisitive young woman of good family, narrates in diary form the story of her fourteenth year--the year 1290. A Newbery Honor Book.
Hardcover, 176 pages
Published May 23rd 1994 by Clarion Books
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linda
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Carre
If there were a 6-star rating, I'd give it to this book. When it won the Newbery Medal for Children's Literature, it was Cushman's first book. It's Hi. Lar. I. Ous. Birdy is the 14-year old daughter of a 14th-century landowner in Merrie Olde Englande. While her father plots suitable arranged marriages for her and her mother tries to prepare her for being a wife by teaching her manners, needlework and herbal medicine, Birdy, the ultimate tomboy, plots ways to get rid of the suitors and sneak off...more
Bix
Cushman's Newbery Honor-winning book is wonderfully evocative, with its remarkably realized, feisty heroine determined to have a say in her own destiny, despite the strictures of her medieval society. Hilarious, endearing, and determined, Birdy's trenchant observations of the life around her are told with a refreshingly earthy honesty so real and direct that you put down the book sadly, feeling like you're being parted from a dear friend. Cushman manages to create her historical period in such i...more
Alice
Good read for those who love medieval times, or "coming of age" books. Catherine, like a caged bird, chafes against her family, her restricted life, her forced betrothal. She futilely tries different lifestyles, eventually finding out that expressing her true self is a great strength.

However, am I getting too old for this kind of book? As a parent, I kept thinking Catherine was whiny and immature! Moreover, a last minute deliverance gave the book a romantic but improbable ending.
Delyna
My biggest complaint about this book is how horribly she speaks of her father. We listened to it on CD (edition wasn't available to post) but the girl who does the reading has a very "common" accent. Combined with her sharp tongue I couldn't feel for the character. She sounded like she should be cleaning out the stables instead of the daughter of a knight and a lady. In fact you are always surprised when she mentions a servant.

It is written in diary format which is so popular for this age group...more
Kathleen
Enjoyed it, but did tend to get distracted in wondering whether a girl of that time would REALLY think or act that way, and whether she would even be able to read and write in the first place.
Melissa
Haha, this book is really weird.
Susan Riegger
"Catherine Called Birdy" written by Karen Cushman and awarded the Newberry Metal in 1995 was first read by my daughter and I eight years ago as part of her summer reading assignment.This story is for the intermediate to adult reader. The book is written in a diary/journal format as Catheine describes life in the late 1200's. Catherine's father does not hold a station in life that will bring a nobleman for a husband for Catherine so she must make her way past some very unsuitable characters and i...more
Emma
I saw this book title on a list of historical fiction books online, and I remembered reading it in elementary school so I decided it would be fun to reread it and see what I remembered and liked about this book. The plot of this story centers around Catherine, and the fact that her father would do just about anything to make sure she marries a rich man. Catherine uses some of her own tactics to make sure these men go running for the hills, because she does not want to marry them. Birdy, as she c...more
Elisbet
Oct 01, 2012 Elisbet rated it 4 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: preteens, young teens, interested adults
Recommended to Elisbet by: school
This is a book I have read and re-read to pieces. It's become a familiar friend, oddly enough, even long past school-required reading and into adulthood. I'm not entirely sure of the historical accuracy, but as the "coming of age" tale of a young girl in medieval England, it's pretty good! There's enough action to satisfy most kids, male and female alike. Birdy faces many age-related trials and tribulations, and slowly learns about the truths of life along the way. This is one of those books tha...more
lia
Second book from Karen Cushman that I read. This is actually her first book. It again centred around life in medieval time.

Catherine is the youngest child of a knight. It means that she lives in a castle (though not too big) and her father owns land that were rented to around 30 villagers.
Catherine is a smart young lady and befriends all the villagers, but her best friend is Perkins the goat boy who want to be a scholar.

She loath knitting, and she prefers to be anyone but the lady in the mano...more
Kaitlin S
Catherine isn't very lady like, she had a small castle, seventy servants and much more. Yet she wants to be a villager because they work, and she is forced to write a diary for her brother while she spends her days spinning yarn. Her father wants a suitor to pay to marry Catherine. She runs off to find her brother who is a monk. Will she try to act and disguise herself as a man and become a monk, or will she go home and be married? If you want to know what she will do read, Catherine, Called Bi...more
Yvonne
Karen Cushman is a Newberry award winner. She has won the award not only for Catherine, Called Birdy but for The Midwife’s Apprentice. Historical fiction is Cushman’s chosen genre. She said she grew tired of “hearing about kings, princes, generals and presidents. I wanted to know what life was like for ordinary young people in other times.” So she did some research on medieval English history and culture and wrote Catherin, Called Birdy.
The story is told through Catherin’s diary beginning in Se...more
Lauryn
Catherine called Birdy
Catherine called birdy is a book about a girl named Catherine who is a very strong independent woman, whose father is trying to give away her hand in marriage. She views the men her father brings into the home and then judges them silently. Then when she finds something wrong with them she makes herself appear unappealing and downright gross. She doesn’t like the life she lives because she always seem to be doing needle-work all cooped up in her room. Many different times...more
Lauren Gibson
I read the book Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman
SUMMARY: This book is about a girl names Catherine who lives on a manor in 1290 with her parents Sir Rollo and Lady Aislinn. He brother Edward who is away at the abbey becoming a monk asked her to keep a journal of her daily activities. Her father is determined to sell her off "as a pig" she states to a rich suitor. Catherine is not the typical lady of 1920. She would rather be rolling in the mud, writing or being a "pig boy" than spinning...more
Kimber Carnahan
Catherine is determined to never marry - or, if she really has to, he had better be young and charming. Her father is focused on finding her a husband for the main reason of gaining some money, and Catherine can't stand it. One suitor after another find themselves leaving Catherine's home dejected and tricked by her cunning plots to outsmart and ultimately avoid them as a husband. Eventually, her father finds a perfect match - an old man she calls Shaggy Beard. He is rich, willing to marry Cathe...more
Emily
Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman was not one of my favorite books.
Catherine had many of the characteristics of Ella from Ella Enchanted, such as determination, wit, and assertiveness, but without the vivacity which came through in the characterization of Ella. I found myself not really caring what happened to Catherine.
The format of the novel was interesting. Over the years, I’ve realized that writing in first person without becoming repetitive, pedantic and downright boring is diffi...more
Sonya Huser
Okay, I know this story is contrived. No 14 year old girl in Medieval England would get away with even a fraction of the things Catherine does. She screams at her father, sets the privy on fire, runs away from home, and pushes kids into the river. She would have been beaten into submission long before.
On the other hand, the rest of the book does a fairly good job of presenting the horrors of life at the time. I mean, it is a book for kids so you don't want to scare them too much! Even attractiv...more
Laura Garding
There were a few times where I was a little bit bored with it. That could have been partly due to the fact that it was written for a much younger audience and some things I am just not interested in that I would have found fascinating when I was a teenager. It was a pretty fun book for the most part though. I was surprised at how much I laughed as I read this book. The main character was quite comical and had a very different personality than I was expecting. She acted very much like I would thi...more
Sara Turner
This is written as a journal for Catherine, who is a young girl living in the thirteenth century who is facing the prospect of marriage. She lives on a manor with her family and her father is continually presenting her with suiters and she finds clever ways to avoid them but ultimately, through maturity and time, ends up accepting the fate that awaits her of getting married.

This book was a good and very easy to follow and be engaged in. The only real fault that I found with it was that there wa...more
Haley
I actually caught myself looking forward to spare minutes in which I could squeeze in a few more entries of Catherine’s sassiness. Her adolescent spirit was contagious and allied with the fourteen year-old still largely a part of me, but which doesn’t have the opportunity to often resurface. It was fun to feel an insider of Catherine’s particularly opinionated world, while also experiencing the ins and outs of late 13th century England. In fact, there may be no better way to experience it. Cathe...more
Maddy
This story follows the life of a young, teenage girl in medieval times. As she comes to terms with growing up, she makes frequent entries in her diary which catalogue her days, adventures, emotions and the like. From the very beginning, I immediately felt drawn to the character of Catherine. I felt well acquainted with her as the reader. She was so easy to understand and interpret as a character, probably in large part because the book was written in the style of a diary. Despite the transparent...more
Devon
Catherine Called Birdy was a witty, charming book to read. Catherine is such a great character because while she is aware that Edward will eventually read her journal, she is hilariously honest in her evaluations of people. She avoids her suitors at all costs, and comes up with all kinds of schemes to drive them away. Catherine is a relatable, down to earth character that feels real, with her devious nature and aversion to growing up, because while most teenagers want to be older and have more c...more
Jaynann
This was the story of a spunky young lady growing up in the medieval times. The book is made up of Catherine's diary accounts of her day to day life. She complains about all the normal teenage girl things like sharing a room and having to do household work. But she also complains about some other unusual aspects of her life like being forced to marry a man she doesn't love and fighting off suitors. Catherine is a master with herbs and is often called upon to heal her neighbors and friends. In th...more
Minli
This book is hilarious! It would be a five-star book for sure if I had read it when I was in middle school. My roommate gasped when I told her I hadn't, and then rushed out to buy me a copy. After reading it, I can really tell it had an influence on her as a child, because I can see bits of it in the adult version of her.

Catherine is witty and wry; she complains a lot, hates her parents, and thinks a lot of things are stupid; in short, she is like every other fourteen-year-old I know. Her big pl...more
Carly Flamm
Catherine, Called Birdy
Karen Cushman had me laughing from the first page. In "Catherine, Called Birdy" young Catherine's greedy father is constantly bargaining to arrange betrothals for Catherine in hopes for riches sublime. But from the very beginning, she devises clever and impressive schemes to avoid these dreadful betrothals. Through her daily diary, we quickly fall in love with Catherine and her spunky personality. I empathized with her detestation of marrying the awful men her father was b...more
Tara
This book is a quick read. The story takes place in the medieval period and centers around Lady Catherine (Birdy) a fourteen year old girl. The story is written as a series of journal entries written by Birdy at the encouragement of her brother Edward who is a monk. Edward believes even girls should know how to read and write, so he taught his sister to do so. Birdy writes of her plight as the daughter of a Lord who wants to marry her off to the highest bidder. She hates the thought of being auc...more
KR (Karen)
"23RD DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 1290"

"There was a hanging in Riverford today. I am being punished for impudence again, so was not allowed to go. I am near fourteen and have never yet seen a hanging. My life is barren."

I heartily encourage the reading of children's books. I have a good collection of both illustrated books and young adult fiction for when the nieces and nephews come over and I try not to have anything I don't enjoy reading myself.

Catherine, encouraged by her brother Edmund, begins a jour...more
Kelli Ryne
This book is a fantastic resource for written projects and a study of the Middle Ages. Students get a sense of what life in the Middle Ages would be like for a lower noble girl, while experiencing the lives and concerns of those around her. Students may analyze the structure of the book to examine how a diary is formed and read. While studying the Middle Ages and the Crusades, students choose a character, real or fictional of that time, and create a diary for their chosen person. By analyzing de...more
Michelle
Literary Element: Journal Writing. The thirteen-year-old daughter of an English knight keeps a journal in which she records her desire for adventure and her disdain for becoming a “lady.” She also tells of her efforts to avoid being married off by her father.

I think that the diary format is a wonderful way to expose children to other time periods and cultures in an interesting and accessible way. Journals really give the reader an "inside" look at the character's emotions and way of thinking.

Pe...more
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writing style 6 39 Jun 29, 2012 07:07pm  
Catherine, Called Birdy (Paperback)
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Karen Cushman was born in Chicago, Illinois.

She entered Stanford University on a scholarship in 1959 and graduated with degrees in Greek and English. She later earned master’s degrees in human behavior and museum studies.

For eleven years she was an adjunct professor in the Museum Studies Department at John F. Kennedy University before resigning in 1996 to write full-time.

She lives on Vashon Isla...more
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“I watched the early morning light pass over and through the windows of colored glass, leaving streaks of red and green and yellow on the stone floor. When I was little, I used to try and capture the colored light. I thought I could hold it in my hand and carry it home. Now I know it is like happiness-- it is there or it is not, you cannot hold it or keep it.” 24 people liked it
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