Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village

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Tricia Melgaard, Centennial Middle School, Broken Arrow, OK -- School Library Journal, 10/3/2008

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village (unabr.). 2 cassettes or 2 CDs. 1:30 hrs. Recorded Books. 2008. cassette: ISBN 978-1-4361-1958-0, CD: ISBN 978-1-4361-1963-4. $30.75.

Gr 4-8–Couplets, blank verse, and prose bring children living in a medieval village in 1255 to life in this Newbery Medal-winning book (Candlewick, 2007) by Laura Amy Schlitz. Schlitz created these monologues for 23 characters, ranging in age between 10 and 15, to be performed by the students at the school where she is the librarian. A full cast of narrators do an exceptional job of distinguishing the different characters: the nephew of the Lord, a half-wit, a shepherdess, the blacksmith’s daughter, a runaway villain, and others. Along the way, the host steps in and provides more in-depth explanations about topics such as pilgrimages, crusades, falconry, feudal land laws, and Jews in medieval society. The language is lyrical and the separate stories mesh to provide a rich picture of medieval life. Listeners will be drawn in and sympathize with the many different points of view that are offered. Robert Byrd’s watercolor-tinted ink drawings add to the telling and will give teachers ideas for costumes. Youngsters who enjoy historical fiction will be enchanted. Drama, social studies, and English teachers will find multiple uses for this audio version. This performance breathes life into the print version and should be considered an essential purchase.

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