Although the aesthetics were totally different, Cushman’s novels helped me realize people have felt trapped by societal expectations and fought them throughout history.Ĭatherine, Called Birdy is an epistolary novel written in diary format. My family has always encouraged me to be independent and opinionated, but I probably thought independent women were a recent phenomenon. The phrase “girl power” was everywhere in late 1990s pop culture, when I was in 4th or 5th grade, and I associated it with loud, angry rock bands. Historical fiction also made me realize what I had in common with people from the past and which social issues still existed in my own time. Karen Cushman’s middle grade novels from the 1990s, The Midwife’s Apprentice and Catherine, Called Birdy, transported me. As a kid, it often made me feel like I’d time traveled.
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