Matilda Bone is a 180 page historical novel for children and interested adults written by Karen Cushman, the critically acclaimed writer of children's books and author of the Newbery medal novel The Midwife's Apprentice and the Newbery Honor novel Catherine, Called Birdy. Thorndike provides the following summary:
In Blood and Bone Alley, where she has come to serve Red Peg the Bonesetter, Matilda finds she is alone in her belief that prayer and devotion are the only worthy pursuits. Here she has to go to market, tend the fire, mix plasters and poultices, and help treat patients. Surrounded by people who laugh and joke and eat sausages, while she herself seeks higher things, Matilda feels alone and misunderstood. How she yearns for her former life at the manor, where she was instructed by Father Leufredus and her most difficult task was to find her way to the privy in the dark! With the fascinating and pungent world of medieval medicine as a backdrop, Matilda Bone is the compelling, comic story of a girl learning to live contentedly in this world. "A fascinating glimpse into the colorful life and times of the 14th century." - School Library Journal
