2008 Newbery Medal Winner

A series of monologues in prose and various kinds of verse both rhyming and not that represent the voices of different young people living on the lands of a lord in medieval times. Throughout, the historical details are interesting and draw the reader in.

I really enjoyed some of the monologues and I started out thinking I would give the book four stars, but there was just something off about the way that the author treated Christianity over the course of the book.

The uncomfortable feeling started as soon as Alice The Shepherdess adapted a hymn to the Virgin Mary to be about her sheep instead. I have to admit that sometimes I'll sing satirical modern hymns about my cat or my husband, so I may be a hypocrite for saying this, but in the book's context it just didn't seem like something that a medieval girl would do.

There were also other more subtle things that bothered me. I can't deny that a lot of people do horribly evil things in the name of Christianity which I don't believe Jesus would have ever condoned, such as the Crusades, but I felt like some of the author's word choice when discussing these topics gave away some prejudices toward Christianity. For example, when she's writing about the Crusades, she tries to throw the people a bone by saying, "...the Crusades were an unholy muddle of political motives, greed, savage brutality, and religious fervor." She is trying to scatter the blame there and say that the root cause was not wholly religious, but in doing so lumps religion as a whole in with "political motives," "greed," and "savage brutality."

Earlier in the book in her discussion of medieval pilgrimages, she writes concerning faith healing that "medieval people did not share our need to understand the world scientifically." This may be true about medieval people, but the entire passage sets up an erroneous assumption that people of faith cannot also be scientific. As a modern Protestant, I am skeptical about healings from the supposed pieces of saints' bodies or places where they've been and so forth, so her skepticism on that point doesn't bother me. What does bother me is that she sets up that stereotypical dichotomy between faith and science against which modern thinking Christians have to fight in order to be taken as intelligent people. If I get sick, I'll go to the doctor, but I'll also pray for healing. Those things can exist side by side.

Further on in the book, she discusses the persecution of the Jews by the Christians, and wraps up the whole thing with a monologue by a beggar who cheats some foolish religious hopefuls out of their money by selling them fake holy water.

Now again, I want to reiterate that I know a lot of religious people in every age of history have behaved in a lot of unchristlike ways (including me sometimes). But it's not Jesus' fault that people are doofs. Books like this perpetuate a simplistic view of religion, that it is either evil or harmlessly quaint--in essence an oxymoron. The book has some fun monologues, but I would highly encourage anybody who is actually interested in the religious aspect of medieval times to look elsewhere for a more balanced and scholarly treatment. ( )

Much more enjoyable than I thought it would be. I only read it because of the Newbery club, but anyone studying the Middle Ages would do well to read this. Heck, read it as a companion to other Newbery books like [b:Adam of the Road|164255|Adam of the Road|Elizabeth Janet Gray|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348558311l/164255._SX50_.jpg|452487]. Or, read it just because it's interesting, all the little dramas. And of course remember that it's designed to be very easy to teach, if you have a classroom. ( )

Short but sweet. Learned a couple of things about the crusades and medieval culture that I did not know. Pieces fit together to form more of a story than just individual monologues ( )

This year's Newberry Medal winner was a nice surprise: a collection of monologues. And I read it right after taking a course in writing monologues. And its written by a librarian. All good things. Well researched and an interesting choice for the award - I wish I'd seen the first performance. And if there was a fraction to the star rating system, I'd give it a 3.75. ( )

As an adult, I really enjoyed this book. It has quite a bit to teach about medieval times. I wouldn't hand it to a child to read, but I WOULD think it would be great fun to have a group of kids perform these skits. ( )

I liked this book because it pertains to my content area. It goes back i time to a medieval Town and talks about all of the people that live there and lessons they are learning. It also goes through all the roles they play within in the community. ( )

I loved using this book as part of sixth grade Social Studies curriculum. ( )

This collection of monologues (and a couple of dialogues) introduces readers to medieval life, from the son of a knight, to the daughter of a villein who tends his hounds. It's a fantastic educational tool, meant to be used in a classroom setting. I can see why it won the Newbery when it first came out -- the writing is terrific, and the last line of the last monologue is just perfection. I'd love to direct a group of children presenting this. Recommended to those who have an interest in the medieval, particularly if they enjoy books like The Inquisitor's Tale or The Midwife's Apprentice. ( )

This upper-elementary to middle-grade book, a mix of poetry and prose, is in the vein of "Canterbury Tales." I can't picture one kid out of a thousand picking this up on their own to read for pleasure. If the intended audience reads it at all, it will be because a teacher assigned it.
A variety of children from a medieval village each tell a brief tale. A few tales are related, but most are solitary. There are a handful of sections between tales that provide some historical background for the story preceding it.
I found it historically interesting, but the tales were not all equally gripping. ( )

This book is a collection of twenty two poems that are interconnected to describe a medieval town. There are multiple stories happening at once for example: Barbary takes takes her twin brothers to the store. One of the twins has a tantrum and tosses one of the fish in the dirt. Barbary has to navigate through the mud to get it. She sees the high class daughter and questions why can't they be equal. This results in Barbary tossing mud at the beautiful woman and gets so called "revenge". The other stories cover themes such as death, murder, animal birth, cheating, greed, stealing and racism. This book is great for any student who wants multiple story lines in one book. The stories show a great variety of short stories for the 9-12 year old age. ( )

Laura Schlitz is a school librarian. She wrote these monologues--22 in all--featuring characters between the ages of 10 and 15 from a village in the year 1255 in England. They were originally intended to be performed by the students at her school, but have now been gathered into an absolutely beautiful and fascinating book. The monologues bring to life the different people of the village, reminiscent of Spoon River Anthology (another of my favorites), though these are written in both prose and verse. The illustrator, Robert Byrd, drew his inspiration from a 13th-century German manuscript, and they are gorgeous.

Summary:
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village is composed of monologues from various individuals who would have resided in a typical medieval village. It features insight on people’s lives during the middle ages and medieval vocabulary accompanied by their definitions. It is witty, educational, and shows the reader how different life was back then.

Personal Reaction:
I have never read a book like this; however, I highly enjoyed it! I really liked getting to know each character. I feel as if the reader, no matter who they are, could identify with at least one of the characters from this book.

Classroom Extension Ideas:
1. Have the students write about themselves like the characters from this book.
2. Have the students pick a character from this book and act out their monologue.

Young voices from the medieval era are represented in this collection of monologues. The characters range from the high- to low-born, such as the lord's daughter, the blacksmith's son, and the miller's son. The entries are interspersed with background writeups on topics of that era, including falconry, treatment of the Jews and the Crusades. Footnotes define uncommon terms such as villein. This is equally good as an enlightening introduction to the medieval period or for use as supplementary reading. (Audiobook note: The actors' voices bring this era alive accompanied by medieval music interludes.) ( )

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies is one of the recommended books for the first 7th grade unit in the 7th grade section of the this book http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12779883-common-core-curriculum-maps-in-engli.... Since I am to use the maps set out in it, I have been reading some of the books which are recommended for the unit. One day after one of my boys had finished an assignment he came to me for something to do. Spying Good Masters on my desk he asked if he could read it. This is a boy who began the year proclaiming his loathing for reading, but as the year progressed he has become more a fan of reading. Still, I thought this was an unlikely book for him to be intrigued by. There were more typically appealing books on my desk. He loved it! Everyday he was borrowing it from my desk to read during homeroom, and every other chance he found! Other students seeing it on my desk have commented on how much they had liked the book when they had read it at an earlier time. Kids love this book!

My feelings concerning it are a little more mixed. For the most part, I thought it was a fine little book. Some of the poems are stronger from a literary angle than other. I felt that at times it was a bit pedantic or too obviously "instructive" but a fine sense of humor saved the book from being overwhelmed by any "teacherliness" that it might have at point. It will complement the the other works we will be reading in the unit as well as giving plenty of opportunities to teach some literary elements, especially irony, allusion, figurative and tone. The prose sections, mini essays on various aspects of life in a medieval village will also be a useful addition to the unit. I look forward to finidng creative ways to incorporate it into my unit. ( )

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies is one of the recommended books for the first 7th grade unit in the 7th grade section of the this book http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12779883-common-core-curriculum-maps-in-engli.... Since I am to use the maps set out in it, I have been reading some of the books which are recommended for the unit. One day after one of my boys had finished an assignment he came to me for something to do. Spying Good Masters on my desk he asked if he could read it. This is a boy who began the year proclaiming his loathing for reading, but as the year progressed he has become more a fan of reading. Still, I thought this was an unlikely book for him to be intrigued by. There were more typically appealing books on my desk. He loved it! Everyday he was borrowing it from my desk to read during homeroom, and every other chance he found! Other students seeing it on my desk have commented on how much they had liked the book when they had read it at an earlier time. Kids love this book!

My feelings concerning it are a little more mixed. For the most part, I thought it was a fine little book. Some of the poems are stronger from a literary angle than other. I felt that at times it was a bit pedantic or too obviously "instructive" but a fine sense of humor saved the book from being overwhelmed by any "teacherliness" that it might have at point. It will complement the the other works we will be reading in the unit as well as giving plenty of opportunities to teach some literary elements, especially irony, allusion, figurative and tone. The prose sections, mini essays on various aspects of life in a medieval village will also be a useful addition to the unit. I look forward to finidng creative ways to incorporate it into my unit. ( )

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies is one of the recommended books for the first 7th grade unit in the 7th grade section of the this book http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12779883-common-core-curriculum-maps-in-engli.... Since I am to use the maps set out in it, I have been reading some of the books which are recommended for the unit. One day after one of my boys had finished an assignment he came to me for something to do. Spying Good Masters on my desk he asked if he could read it. This is a boy who began the year proclaiming his loathing for reading, but as the year progressed he has become more a fan of reading. Still, I thought this was an unlikely book for him to be intrigued by. There were more typically appealing books on my desk. He loved it! Everyday he was borrowing it from my desk to read during homeroom, and every other chance he found! Other students seeing it on my desk have commented on how much they had liked the book when they had read it at an earlier time. Kids love this book!

My feelings concerning it are a little more mixed. For the most part, I thought it was a fine little book. Some of the poems are stronger from a literary angle than other. I felt that at times it was a bit pedantic or too obviously "instructive" but a fine sense of humor saved the book from being overwhelmed by any "teacherliness" that it might have at point. It will complement the the other works we will be reading in the unit as well as giving plenty of opportunities to teach some literary elements, especially irony, allusion, figurative and tone. The prose sections, mini essays on various aspects of life in a medieval village will also be a useful addition to the unit. I look forward to finidng creative ways to incorporate it into my unit. ( )

This book is a collection of monologues (and a few dialogues) written by a librarian for fifth grade students to perform and learn about life in a medieval village. It was the winner of the 2008 Newbery award. Each monologue is told from the point of view of a different child in the village, mostly written in verse.

I haven't read any of the other Newbery winners written in verse yet, but I hope they are better than this. If something is written in verse, it has to be done well or it drives me crazy. If there is rhythm or rhyme, it needs to be consistent. If there is no rhythm or rhyme, I feel there needs to be a reason for the stanzas to be formatted as they are. The metrical structure, rhyme, and formatting of this book were so awkward, it was hard to appreciate anything else about the book. Since there was rarely rhyme or rhythm in these verses, it would have made more sense to have them all in prose. ( )

Brings some of the realities of English medieval existence to life in an amusing pastich of monologues. The short biographies intertwine themselves, and the reader's experience of the village is enhanced. Several excellent voices contribute to the audio version. ( )

This book has a very specific niche. I can see it being useful in a middle school class studying medieval times and needing a presentation project. The monologues provided are historically accurate, but the content does not lend itself to younger (elementary) audiences. I do like that the monologues of the members of this imaginary village allude to the other characters in the book. However, I did not enjoy reading it overall. Medieval times were hard times. ( )

This book takes different people found throughout the Middle Ages and includes a poem or short paragraph about what is going on in their lives and how they are dealing with these things. The book also has small definitions and explanations to the sides of the poems.

Reading Level: Primary to Intermediate

This review duplicates what I wrote on Livejournal here.

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! is a series of beautifully illustrated monologues by people of various social class and position in a medieval village--there's Taggot the blacksmith's daughter, Edgar, the falconer's son, Mogg, the villein's daughter, Pask, the runaway, and so on. Osprey Archer hit the nail on the head with what's so appealing about all these portraits: while giving you insight into that role and what it entailed, they nevertheless give the impression of being real people who aren't defined entirely by the role. My favorites were Taggot, a large, shy girl with a feel for horses and a knowledge of the forge who reshoes a horse for the lord's nephew, and the parallel monologues of Jacob ben Salomon, the moneylender's son, and Petronella, the merchant's daughter. She comes across him at the stream and is about to throw a stone at him; instead, she skips it across the water. He then does the same, and they spend a half-hour skipping stones together, silently, across the water ... and then the church bell rings, and they're both recalled to their positions in society and go their separate ways.

As Osprey Archer says, it would be great to follow these characters for further in their lives and find out what happened to them.
( )

This review duplicates what I wrote on Livejournal here.

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! is a series of beautifully illustrated monologues by people of various social class and position in a medieval village--there's Taggot the blacksmith's daughter, Edgar, the falconer's son, Mogg, the villein's daughter, Pask, the runaway, and so on. Osprey Archer hit the nail on the head with what's so appealing about all these portraits: while giving you insight into that role and what it entailed, they nevertheless give the impression of being real people who aren't defined entirely by the role. My favorites were Taggot, a large, shy girl with a feel for horses and a knowledge of the forge who reshoes a horse for the lord's nephew, and the parallel monologues of Jacob ben Salomon, the moneylender's son, and Petronella, the merchant's daughter. She comes across him at the stream and is about to throw a stone at him; instead, she skips it across the water. He then does the same, and they spend a half-hour skipping stones together, silently, across the water ... and then the church bell rings, and they're both recalled to their positions in society and go their separate ways.

As Osprey Archer says, it would be great to follow these characters for further in their lives and find out what happened to them.
( )

What do you do if every child wants to have a starring role in the school play? If you are Laura Schlitz, you write nineteen monologues and two dialogues set in a medieval village, so that everyone gets a strong character to develop. The series of miniature plays is historically accurate and effective read silently or aloud. The voices of the characters, aged eleven to fifteen, come through clearly, as does the time period, without overly ornate language. Byrd’s manuscript-like illustrations add to the historical feel, while helpful side notes explain words and concepts that readers may be unfamiliar with. Short historical notes (one to two pages) are interspersed with the plays and give readers further information about topics within the plays, such as the three-field crop rotation system and falconry. A valuable addition to school and public libraries, stronger readers might want to read the entire book, while less able readers could be given single monologues to develop. Class plays could be performed from the book, but students might also write their own medieval monologue, or continue the story of a character from the book. A strong bibliography is given at the end of the book, though some sources may be better for teachers than for students. Strongly recommended. ( )

Review from library copy

Meh. And I was in the SCA and almost had a medieval studies endorsement on my BA in English lit. ( )

What an odd assortment of really great ideas, a whole curriculum really, on the medieval days, combined with a drama that a whole class can perform, and some great illustrations. The only thing marring this from being perfect is the writing which tries to be poetry and fails. ( )