Book Talk - The Midwife's Apprentice

I picked this up among the plethora of books in a storage room at my school. Noticing it was a winner of the 1996 Newbery Award, I read the back cover. I immediately connected the summary to growth mindset. What an exciting thought - growth mindset in medieval times. Author, Karen Cushman shares the life of a homeless orphan who has to make her own way in the world. The story starts with the girl huddling in a dung heap for warmth. The town's children name her Beetle saying she is similar to a dung beetle. Bit by bit Beetle perseveres. As a reader, I was inspired by the character's resilience. Cushman also gives the reader a sense of every day life in medieval England. It made me very thankful for the modern day conveniences we take for granted.

The 120 page book is very readable for middle schoolers despite a Lexile of 1240. A student might struggle with visualizing the world Cushman paints, unless they have some background knowledge of the time period. But the struggle will be good, they will walk a way with a sense of life in medieval England. I personally rate the book 4 out of 5.

mindset in midevil times.