Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village

I didn't really realize it would be a children's book when I placed the item on hold at my library. I just knew that I wanted to read the latest Newberry award winning book. I guess I figured that if it fell into the same category as "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Engle then it must be good.

I was a little surpised at how thin it was. I was also surprised at how it is not just one coherent story (or even a story in the general prose form).
They are monologue and dialogue plays written by a librarian for the children in her school classes. She wrote them so that each child would have a starring role for three minutes.

They are poetic and easy to read with nice large print. The tone and vocabulary is all medieval - let's face it, I learned a few new words. Large colorful pictures are on every page and even the margins are colored and have text that explain certain words or aspects of the medieval culture/life. A large colorful map is on the first or second page and instead of locations being labeled the specific characters in the story are shown and labeled.

The tempo of the words is good and interesting -- I was particularly impressed with the two monologues done by the sisters talking about the apprentice boy their father has taken and how one of them must marry the apprentice for the apprentice to inherit the shop. The older daughter likes the boy and wouldn't mind marrying him but thinks the boy would want her sister (younger, prettier) instead. The younger sister thinks the boy will want her older sister (so he doesn't have to wait to inherit) but thinks that it's terrible that one of them will have to marry the boy in the end. The dialogues are completely different but manage to come together for a chorus type of refrain.

Another one that does this is the dialogue between the Jewish boy and the Catholic girl. They are able to put aside their differences for a little while and just be children playing together. The dialogue ends with the children saying together "Almost like she's a Jew;" "Almost like he's a Catholic."

The one down spot I can see - if I were the one performing the plays - would be having to play the role of the beggar child or the child of the villein where you obviously are not well-cared for and have to scrimp to survive. Or maybe that's just me being a girl and wanting the character I embody to be noble somehow...

All in all, it was a beautiful book and very easy to read. It took me maybe forty minutes of carefully thumbing through and looking at the pictures to complete it.

The fact that the book is made up of monologues by villagers, like "Spoon River Anthology's" poetry, makes it a natural for dramatic presentations in experiencing life in a medieval village in a social studies class -- middle school, or high school. When students "live" a character first hand, in costume, they experience a different life, and they remember much more of the information. MTL

I'm not a big follower of awards, but there are two literary awards that almost never disappoint--the Booker Prize and the Newbery Award. I try to make a point of reading as many of these winners as I can because they are always pleasurable and often end up being among my favorites. If Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! won't end up being among my favorite Newbery's, it is still a wonderful read.

Subtitled "Voices From a Medieval Village," in this book Ms. Schlitz gives a series of poetic monologues from different characters in a medieval village, from nobility to serfs. It is well done, using various styles and personalities and often linking different stories together in subtle ways. She also includes some background information on medieval life and definitions of various terms. It should also be noted that Robert Byrd's illustrations are absolutely beautiful.

If this book is missing, for me, some of the power and emotional impact of, say, Karen Cushman's books set in medieval times (and also Newbery winners), that is no fault of Ms. Schlitz. She is trying to achieve something rather different and she does that rather well. (I also have to admit being personally pickier about poetry over prose.) Still, this book is excellent and should be read, particularly with all the young readers in your house.

I am going to get this for my 12-year-old daughter!! Great, great, great, way to experience medieval life in England!!

Finally, a book worthy of the Newbery. Ms. Schlitz is a librarian who wrote this for some students studying the medieval era. Robert Byrd's vibrant illustrations definitely complement the book. Ms. Schlitz weaves together an history of medieval England with the personal accounts of 23 characters whose lives intertwine. It is not a novel so much as historical fiction in a series of short plays (19 monologues and 2 dialogues).

The author provides interesting background information that sets the stage for the characters and gives the reader a snapshot of medieval life. The characters are related in that they live in the same place, and each one has a unique perspective, but there is no overarching story to tie all of characters together.