Catherine, Called Birdy

Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman is about a young woman in England in the year of 1290. In her journal, she wonders about everything, reflects upon her actions, ponders the actions of others, and records the daily things she learns and experiences. Throughout the year, we see Medieval England through her eyes as the daughter of a knight; she shares with us the hardships and joys of the villagers, daily life in the manor, and, perhaps most important of all for readers now, a glance at what it meant to be a teenage girl during Medieval times.

I loved Catherine, Called Birdy when I was in middle school; the pages and binding are worn and falling apart from its many readings. Birdy is spunky, feisty, mouthy and as stubborn as a mule. Her reactions to certain events and her curse words (which will be unfamiliar to young readers today), are humorous --I laughed aloud several times during this reading, and I recall doing the same years ago.

As readers see her promised against her will to a "pig in pants" (an old man she dubs Shaggy Beard), help deliver her mother's baby, run away to see a hanging, forced to spend all day embroidering and hemming, fight with her father, and long for what she does not have, it humbles them at times and allows them to relate at others. As is often necessary for adolescents, it directs their attention, and perhaps their concern, away from themselves to understand another's way of life. I would recommend this novel to my middle school girls so that they may relate to, or perhaps learn something from, Birdy's journey in which she discovers her own morals (in the case of the exiled Jews and the dancing bear), humility and a special knowledge of herself. I would probably have them read a section and write a response to it, and/or look up unfamiliar words, phrases or events so as to better understand the author's message.

My Father, The Nutcase

Zoe Cohen is a fifteen year-old girl dealing with the many things adolescent girls deal with: boys, uncertainty about herself, her social standing, and her abilities; understanding and exploring her body, moodiness, her older sister's gradual pull away from their sisterly bonding to her jock boyfriend, and her little sister's own move to adolescence.

However, on top of the usual stressors that high school and adolescence can bring, the girls' happy-go-lucky, goofy father falls into depression. Consequently, the annoyance and difficulty of everything else in a teenager's life is magnified because everyone at home is on edge and she doesn't completely understand what's going on. She battles anger and disappointment in her father, and her outlet is the poems that she writes for the school magazine.

It was interesting to see an adolescent girl's life from this perspective and to this depth; she did certain things that were reactionary, impulsive --she wasn't really sure why she did what she did. At other times, she can understand, upon reflection, why she acted a certain way; still at others, she has everything planned out. At times, I was reminded of myself when I was going through that stage --you know, why do all the boys like my friends and will I ever be confident enough or smooth enough to pull off what they do? Why is my little sister so obnoxious and why does my big sister think she's so cool? I think my ability to relate came from me being a middle child also.

When her father's depression is spoken of directly, it had a profound impact on me. When she discusses it with her school magazine advisor, I teared up. When her grandmother announced that her father planned to undergo electroshock therapy, I put the book down with a rush of emotion and didn't pick it back up for a couple days. I know that my reactions were because it hit close to home (someone very dear to me has experienced this same thing), and it may not hit everyone like that, but it's real. Her reactions to every new update are real, and how her anger, confusion and hurt manifest themselves is real.

My Father, The Nutcase is a must-read for any teenaged girl struggling with the transition from the "cooties" stage to a comfortable place in her adolescent existence. It's funny, but it's real, and I'd definitely recommend it to any freshman or sophomore girl having trouble fitting in or feeling as though nothing is ever going to work out for her.