Midwife's Apprentice, The

by Karen Cushman | Grades 4-7 | Lexile 1150

On a frosty morning sometime in the fourteenth century, in a village somewhere in England, a gift known only as Brat was sleeping in a dung heap. "You, girl. Are you alive or dead?" When she opened her eyes, she saw an important-looking woman with a sharp glance and a sharp nose and a wimple starched into sharp pleats. This woman was Jane the Midwife, and she needed a helper...

Thus begins the funny, wise, compassionate story of the homeless waif who became the midwife's apprentice--a person with a name and a place in the world.

This Newbery Honor-winning story will usher young listeners into the middle of the fourteenth century.