Preview of The Midwife's Apprentice Summary:

The Midwife's Apprentice is a deft historical novel of medieval England in which an impoverished girl hopelessly circumstanced becomes a worthy young adult learning the skills, craft, and lore of midwifery—for centuries a profession of critical importance for women about to give birth before medical doctors began to deliver babies. She achieves her position through courage, hard work, a feeling heart, and the ability to transform chance encounters into self-knowl edge. The novel vividly depicts its historical period while engaging readers with a heartfelt story, one which should movingly appeal to a wide range of sensitive young adults. This emotional engagement is deeper than just the response to a colorful tale well-told; it is enriched because the novel illuminates universal truths of a kind young readers yearn to embrace.

Young people, no matter how socially disadvantaged and unloved, can improve the state of their lives and...