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whitreadslit's review against another edition
3.0
This was a very interesting collection of poetry about the various children in a medieval village. It was written to be performed as a play. I enjoyed learning more about how children interacted with the world in Medieval times. ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
roomforastory's review against another edition
4.0
Delightful! I thought Schlitz did a wonderful job of capturing the voices of a Medieval Village in this book of monologues. I would love to see it performed.
nssutton's review against another edition
3.0
the premise is clever - a librarian put this book of monologues together to teach kids about medieval times. but it's boring, well, the time period is boring to me, so i can't really appreciate it as fully as oh, say, the newberry committee of last year.
ehays84's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyable and accessible. Not quite sure why it won the award, as it doesn't match up to other recent award winners such as The Graveyard Book, and certainly not to past winner Adam of the Road, which is more in its genre. This would be best as a set of short plays, which is what it was written for anyway.
Very quick read which would be worth your time.
Very quick read which would be worth your time.
allmadhere106's review against another edition
4.0
This was so much fun to read. Filled with monologues, duets, and factual asides about medieval times, this collection is entertaining from start to finish. I liked the range of social statuses and how the characters wove together. Very nice.
For: readers looking for a quick read; readers interested in medieval life.
Possible red flags: poverty; domestic violence; prejudice and racism; privilege; deception; fear.
For: readers looking for a quick read; readers interested in medieval life.
Possible red flags: poverty; domestic violence; prejudice and racism; privilege; deception; fear.
simplymary's review against another edition
4.0
Superb work. I can see why she won a Newbury medal. The author, as a middle school librarian, wanted to give her students who were studying the Middle Ages some material to help them along. She wrote soliloquies that they performed which give glimpses into the lives of teens in that time period. I really like the ones whose lives overlap; you get a more informed perspective hearing different sides of the same story. Definitely targeted towards an adolescent age range; not for young children. The illustrations are great.
danicamidlil's review against another edition
2.0
I don't understand the Newbery committee. If it's not a book that children will read, then who cares if it's incredibly well written? Have children been flocking to monologues about medieval times and I've just missed it?
lbb00ks's review against another edition
Lovely and imaginative trip for readers' minds to the Middle Ages, which come alive through the young characters we meet. Beautifully researched - hooray for historical fiction!
crystal_reading's review against another edition
5.0
The first time I read this book, I listened to this on CD and it was fantastic. This is a great introduction to midieval times. The voices and background music on the CD really make this come alive since it is written as a serious of monologues (and two dialogues). Excellent!
Re-read this one for Newbery Challenge and still love it - even when reading it without the background music.
Re-read this one for Newbery Challenge and still love it - even when reading it without the background music.
vanitar's review against another edition
3.0
I appreciated the forward that explains why this book was written- a librarian wrote individual monologues for her students studying medieval times so that they could be the “star” of their own play for three minutes- I love this! What a great way of getting students involved and giving opportunity for them to learn history through the embodiment and characterization of various individuals.
I listened to the audio book which was well acted out and had good accents and such. I enjoyed it but it was a bit too disjointed for my liking in a book (but I recognize that it didn’t set out to be a seamless novel). Interesting stories and characters in the monologues.
I listened to the audio book which was well acted out and had good accents and such. I enjoyed it but it was a bit too disjointed for my liking in a book (but I recognize that it didn’t set out to be a seamless novel). Interesting stories and characters in the monologues.