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ubalstecha's review against another edition
4.0
A very nice collection of monologues and dialogues about fictional people in the middle ages. Written by a school librarian for the students she was helping with their research, almost every facet of Medieval life is covered in this book. Rich people, poor people, the church, the lives of women.
This would be a great addition to your classroom or home library.
This would be a great addition to your classroom or home library.
boureemusique's review against another edition
4.0
Carolyn, you might consider this book for your summer theatre for children. It might not be fanciful enough, but I think it would be fun. I actually wound up learning a lot from these characters, most of them telling their monologues. I also enjoyed the map at the beginning of the book and flipping back and forth to find each character.
margaretann84's review against another edition
5.0
I could see these being great jumping-off points for a history class or to be combined with an English class. Kids could research more about the middle ages (or a particular job mentioned in the book), or they could write a "What Happened Next" story about any of the characters, either as a script, poem, or narrative.
angiediane's review against another edition
2.0
I will disclose that I've never been a very avid reader of plays; even when they are fantastic, I have a more difficult time getting into them and sometimes appreciating them. It helps if I see or have seen them performed. Additionally, this book was so unique that it was very hard for me to get a grasp on it. The subject matter, and the way it is presented were not conducive to an immersive reading experience for me personally.
Schlitz has somewhat of a theater background from what I've read, so this book is probably a good resource for any wanting to act or read out the little vignettes. It might be a difficult sell for children's independent reading, however. This book has value, I acknowledge; I just don't know how much I myself enjoyed reading it, or who I would possibly recommend it to.
I will say that I have enjoyed everything else that I have read by Laura Amy Schlitz immensely, and this is in no way a reflection on my opinion of her as a writer in total.
Schlitz has somewhat of a theater background from what I've read, so this book is probably a good resource for any wanting to act or read out the little vignettes. It might be a difficult sell for children's independent reading, however. This book has value, I acknowledge; I just don't know how much I myself enjoyed reading it, or who I would possibly recommend it to.
I will say that I have enjoyed everything else that I have read by Laura Amy Schlitz immensely, and this is in no way a reflection on my opinion of her as a writer in total.
tami_provencher's review against another edition
4.0
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! won the Newberry Medal in 2008. I am embarrassed to say that it has been sitting on my shelf since I bought it in 2009.
Ms. Schlitz has brought together a collection of monologues narrated by 22 separate characters from medieval times. They are wealthy, poor, tradespeople, servants and lords of the manor. They are almost exclusively children which is what offers this particular book the opportunity to appeal to young readers who might not ordinarily read about the trials and tribulations of daily life in the 13th Century.
Sandwiched between the short monologues are brief pockets of background information on many of the people and events to which the narrators allude. These include topics such as: the Three-Field System, Medieval Pilgrammages, the Crusades, Falconry and Jews in Medieval Society.
The book works as an independent read for an adult or a motivated young reader. It lends itself, however, to: (a) being a read-aloud with the goal of discussion or launching into a unit on medieval history, etc; or (b) performing each monologue/story for an audience in the tradition of theatre.
Because the details of the narratives are accurate regarding hunting practices and opinions on women and social hierarchies a teacher/director will want to choose which monologues are most appropriate to a given cast and audience.
The imagery of the language is rich and the indivual character voices are unique and genuine, varying from contentment to desperation and resentment to hope. The book transports the reader (or listener, as the case may be) to the middle of a typical 13th Century village. Through the voices of its inhabitants we enter their lives momentarily and leave with a greater understanding of the contents of their days, and of their minds and hearts as well. Through the experience of the individual stories the “typical” 13th Century village becomes very personal to us.
Although many thought this a strange choice for the Newberry Award in 2008 (including myself) its brilliance is blatant when you sit down to read it. I intend to incorporate it into my theatre teaching curriculum in as many ways as I can from this point forward.
If you are interested in medieval times, planning to teach a unit about it, or looking for some unique monologue and performance opportunities, do yourself a favor and read Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! It is an absolutely worthwhile read and an unbelieveably rich resource!
Ms. Schlitz has brought together a collection of monologues narrated by 22 separate characters from medieval times. They are wealthy, poor, tradespeople, servants and lords of the manor. They are almost exclusively children which is what offers this particular book the opportunity to appeal to young readers who might not ordinarily read about the trials and tribulations of daily life in the 13th Century.
Sandwiched between the short monologues are brief pockets of background information on many of the people and events to which the narrators allude. These include topics such as: the Three-Field System, Medieval Pilgrammages, the Crusades, Falconry and Jews in Medieval Society.
The book works as an independent read for an adult or a motivated young reader. It lends itself, however, to: (a) being a read-aloud with the goal of discussion or launching into a unit on medieval history, etc; or (b) performing each monologue/story for an audience in the tradition of theatre.
Because the details of the narratives are accurate regarding hunting practices and opinions on women and social hierarchies a teacher/director will want to choose which monologues are most appropriate to a given cast and audience.
The imagery of the language is rich and the indivual character voices are unique and genuine, varying from contentment to desperation and resentment to hope. The book transports the reader (or listener, as the case may be) to the middle of a typical 13th Century village. Through the voices of its inhabitants we enter their lives momentarily and leave with a greater understanding of the contents of their days, and of their minds and hearts as well. Through the experience of the individual stories the “typical” 13th Century village becomes very personal to us.
Although many thought this a strange choice for the Newberry Award in 2008 (including myself) its brilliance is blatant when you sit down to read it. I intend to incorporate it into my theatre teaching curriculum in as many ways as I can from this point forward.
If you are interested in medieval times, planning to teach a unit about it, or looking for some unique monologue and performance opportunities, do yourself a favor and read Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! It is an absolutely worthwhile read and an unbelieveably rich resource!
corncobwebs's review against another edition
4.0
I usually don't like poetry too much, but I really enjoyed this book! Each poem is really well-written and ACCESSIBLE, which is usually the problem I have with most poetry - it just doesn't seem accessible to me! I thought the dialogue poems were especially impressive - I loved the way the two parts were interwoven. It made me want to hear the poems performed by a person!
beththebookdragon's review against another edition
4.0
As best I can tell from my knowledge of medieval society, this is a highly accurate depiction of the lives of various members of a medieval village in Britain. More importantly, the stories are highly entertaining, with appropriate and helpful footnotes at the side of the page and factual spreads about an element mentioned in a particular story (the three-field system, the Crusades, and so on). The illustrations are also simply perfect.
Good Masters, Sweet Ladies would be excellent for a middle-school play, as it was originally written; for research for the same age group or for older or younger students as appropriate, and as pleasure reading or appealing assigned reading. The book fully deserves this year's Newbery Award.
Good Masters, Sweet Ladies would be excellent for a middle-school play, as it was originally written; for research for the same age group or for older or younger students as appropriate, and as pleasure reading or appealing assigned reading. The book fully deserves this year's Newbery Award.
crowyhead's review against another edition
4.0
This is a really cool book, written by a librarian who wanted to give her students a chance to each act out the part of a typical denizen of a good-sized medieval village in the year 1255. It consists of 22 monologues, each from the point of view of one member of the town, which serves to both give the reader an emotional sense of what it may have been like to live at the time, and also imparts a lot of factual information. Footnotes and sections titled "A Little Background" offer more in-depth information about the life and times. It's not something many kids would pick up on their own, I don't think, but it has the potential to be a truly invaluable teaching tool.
eclaytonbennett's review against another edition
5.0
Wonderful collection of monologues and dialogues describing life in a medieval village. I plan to use this to help teach about medieval Europe to my 7th graders this year. I liked that it included individuals from a variety of levels of society, and that it should lead to some interesting discussions of perspective.