kimberlyjerger's review
2.0
*2.5
2008 Newbery Medal
A collection of short monologues (and two dialogues) following children living in 1255 England, Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village offers information on the daily lives of medieval society in a seemingly playful manner.
Many of the portraits of medieval life presented in this collection were based on true stories, as the author notes the inspirations behind these accounts. Interspersed following a few stories are short essays on the history of medieval England, which were clear and informative. In the overall execution, however, Schlitz’s verse came off incredibly forced and awkward, with little variety in voices. The children of nobles lacked distinction from peasants in both tone and language, compounding the clumsiness of the verse.
The illustrations, while small, have clear historical inspiration, though the formatting of the book left much to be desired. I would have liked to see the artwork featured in a more prominent fashion.
While undoubtedly well-researched, the clumsy verse and inconsistencies made the individual characters feel flat. Nonetheless, Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village provides a decent look at life in a medieval manor, albeit in an awkward format.
2008 Newbery Medal
A collection of short monologues (and two dialogues) following children living in 1255 England, Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village offers information on the daily lives of medieval society in a seemingly playful manner.
Many of the portraits of medieval life presented in this collection were based on true stories, as the author notes the inspirations behind these accounts. Interspersed following a few stories are short essays on the history of medieval England, which were clear and informative. In the overall execution, however, Schlitz’s verse came off incredibly forced and awkward, with little variety in voices. The children of nobles lacked distinction from peasants in both tone and language, compounding the clumsiness of the verse.
The illustrations, while small, have clear historical inspiration, though the formatting of the book left much to be desired. I would have liked to see the artwork featured in a more prominent fashion.
While undoubtedly well-researched, the clumsy verse and inconsistencies made the individual characters feel flat. Nonetheless, Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village provides a decent look at life in a medieval manor, albeit in an awkward format.
cathatrix's review against another edition
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
casehouse's review
4.0
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.
snazel's review
5.0
This is not a premise for a book that I ever expected, but it executes it wonderfully. Full marks.
somewheregirl7's review
3.0
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! is a Newberry award book and comprises twenty-two short perfomance plays with one and two character parts. Each is from the perspective of a different resident of the same village in Medieval Europe. From the lowly beggar boy to the lord's son, each has a unique voice and story to share about their life.
The author introduces the collection as having been written to help teach her students more about Medieval Europe in a fun, hands-on way. There are several author notes after various acts giving more detailed information, such as how the 3 field system worked in farming.
It was an interesting read and certainly did slip a bit of teaching in painlessly. However the collection feels thinly threaded together and there is no over-arching story. This is just a collection of vingnettes and lacks a deeper connection with the characters and individual pieces.
Of all of them, I liked the story of Alice, the shepherdess best.
The author introduces the collection as having been written to help teach her students more about Medieval Europe in a fun, hands-on way. There are several author notes after various acts giving more detailed information, such as how the 3 field system worked in farming.
It was an interesting read and certainly did slip a bit of teaching in painlessly. However the collection feels thinly threaded together and there is no over-arching story. This is just a collection of vingnettes and lacks a deeper connection with the characters and individual pieces.
Of all of them, I liked the story of Alice, the shepherdess best.
tweyant's review
2.0
I did not love this book. I had to read it for class and it was really weird to me.
poplartears's review
4.0
We really really enjoyed this book. It was a fun and interesting look at everyday life in a Medieval Village. And it wasn't a cast of the usual characters, we heard from the the sniggler, the beggar and the runaway as well as from the plowboy and the merchant's daughter. Wonderfully done and extremely informative. A great "living book."
ryannreads's review
2.0
I wanted to like this Newbery Award winner more than I actually did. The author is a school librarian who wrote a series of monologues to help her students learn more about medieval times while also allowing each of them to perform a small piece.
It could be that I should listen to this again. I did like a couple of stories a lot - Mariot and Maud, the Glassblower's Daughters, in particular. I think I enjoyed the ones that were told in multiple voices the most. The performance of the audio was good; although glancing through the book it looks like it is annotated and adds a little more background to the experience.
It could be that I should listen to this again. I did like a couple of stories a lot - Mariot and Maud, the Glassblower's Daughters, in particular. I think I enjoyed the ones that were told in multiple voices the most. The performance of the audio was good; although glancing through the book it looks like it is annotated and adds a little more background to the experience.