Cushman, Karen (1941-…), is an American author known for her historical fiction for children and young adults. Many of Cushman’s stories center on strong, independent young women. Cushman won the 1996 Newbery Medal for The Midwife’s Apprentice (1995). The novel is set in England during the 1300’s. It tells the story of Alyce, a homeless girl who grows in confidence and inner strength as she learns the skills of a midwife (woman who assists in delivering babies). Like Cushman’s other fiction, the novel is noted for its careful research and strong young female characters who learn to understand others and accept responsibility as they mature.
Cushman did not begin her writing career until she was 50. Her first novel was Catherine, Called Birdy (1994). The novel takes the form of a perceptive and humorous diary kept by the 14-year-old rebellious daughter of a poor English nobleman in 1290.
The Ballad of Lucy Whipple (1996) takes place during the California gold rush of the mid-1800’s. The heroine is a 12-year-old girl who travels from Massachusetts to California to help her mother run a boarding house during the boisterous days of the gold rush.
Cushman returned to medieval England as the setting for Matilda Bone (2000). The title character is an English girl of the 1300’s who becomes an apprentice to a woman who sets broken bones and treats the sick.
The title character of Rodzina (2003) is a 12-year-old orphan who travels west from Chicago on a train filled with orphans in the 1880’s to work for a farm family. After many adventures, the girl finally settles in California and finds a loving home. Cushman set The Loud Silence of Francine Green in Los Angeles during the mid-1900’s. The novel tells how Francine, an eighth grader, changes her attitude toward life after she becomes friends with an outspoken classmate. In Alchemy and Meggy Swann (2010), Cushman describes a girl’s experiences in bustling London after she moves from rural England during the late 1500’s. The fantasy Grayling’s Song (2016) tells about a girl who tries to stop a curse that has swept the land, turning witches into trees. War and Millie McGonigle (2021) is about a girl living in California during the uncertain times just before the United States entered World War II (1939-1945).
Karen Lipski was born on Oct. 4, 1941, in Chicago. She married Philip Cushman, a psychologist, in 1969. She earned a B.A. degree in English and Greek from Stanford University in 1963, and M.A. degrees from United States International University in human behavior in 1977 and from John F. Kennedy University in museum studies in 1986. Cushman taught in Kennedy University’s museum studies department from 1986 to 1997.
