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"The reader is drawn in from the first sentence when the author speaks of a 'rotting and moiling heap,'" said Mary Beth Dunhouse, chair of the Newbery Award Selection Committee. "And this is when the reader meets the central character, Brat--'unwashed, unnourished, unloved, and unlovely... who dreamed of nothing, for she hoped of nothing and expected nothing.' This homeless waif becomes the midwife's apprentice--a person with a name and a place in the world. Medieval England is well-evoked, and readers wi ll find this world so compelling that they will keep turning pages to see what happens next."