 | |
| Author | Laura Amy Schlitz |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Published | July 24, 2007 Candlewick Press |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover, paperback) |
| Pages | 96 |
| Awards | Newbery Medal |
| ISBN | 0-7636-1578-1 |
| OCLC | 53178700 |
| 812.6 | |
| LC Class | PS3619.C43 C55 2007 |
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village is a 2007 children's book written by Laura Amy Schlitz. The book was awarded the 2008 Newbery Medal for excellence in children's literature. [1]
Instead of the typical narrative structure, the book is constructed of a series of monologues, each spoken by a young member of a medieval village. Each character has a monologue with the exceptions of Petronella and Jacob, and Mariot and Maud, who have dialogues. The book was originally written to be performed by fifth-grade students at the Park School of Baltimore, where Schlitz is a librarian. It contains nineteen monologues and two dialogues, with the characters ranging from a runaway boy to the lord's daughter. [1]
According to Kirkus Reviews , "Schlitz takes the breath away with unabashed excellence in every direction." [2] Deirdre F. Baker wrote in The Horn Book Magazine , "Byrd's pristine, elegant pen-and-ink illustrations in opulent colors make the book almost too visually appealing, belying the realistically dirty, stinky conditions described in the text." [3] John Schwartz, in The New York Times , called Schlitz a "talented storyteller" and praised the book for its frank depiction of the Middle Ages. [4] Nina Lindsay, chair of the Newbery Medal committee, called the monologues "superb" and stated that as a whole, they "create a pageant that transports readers to a different time and place." [5]
In 2008, Anita Silvey, author of 100 Best Books for Children, described Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! in a School Library Journal article as one of several recent Newbery winners considered "particularly disappointing" by public librarians. Silvey "criticized the Newbery selections as too difficult for most children." [6] [7] Writing for Slate , Erica S. Perl responded to this criticism, saying that while her younger self might not have enjoyed the subject matter or archaic language, her "inner drama geek" would have enjoyed the theatrical elements. [8]
The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contributions to American literature for children". The Newbery and the Caldecott Medal are considered the two most prestigious awards for children's literature in the United States. Books selected are widely carried by bookstores and libraries, the authors are interviewed on television, and master's theses and doctoral dissertations are written on them. Named for John Newbery, an 18th-century English publisher of juvenile books, the winner of the Newbery is selected at the ALA's Midwinter Conference by a fifteen-person committee. The Newbery was proposed by Frederic G. Melcher in 1921, making it the first children's book award in the world. The physical bronze medal was designed by Rene Paul Chambellan and is given to the winning author at the next ALA annual conference. Since its founding there have been several changes to the composition of the selection committee, while the physical medal remains the same.
The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). The Caldecott and Newbery Medals are considered the most prestigious American children's book awards. Besides the Caldecott Medal, the committee awards a variable number of citations to runners-up they deem worthy, called the Caldecott Honor or Caldecott Honor Books.
Cynthia Rylant is an American author and librarian. She has written more than 100 children's books, including works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Several of her books have won awards, including her novel Missing May, which won the 1993 Newbery Medal, and A Fine White Dust, which was a 1987 Newbery Honor book. Two of her books are Caldecott Honor Books.
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The Park School of Baltimore, known as Park, is a private, coeducational, PK-12, non-sectarian, progressive day school located in Baltimore, Maryland. The school was founded in 1912 by Eli Frank Sr., Professor Hans Froelicher Sr., and General Lawrason Riggs as well as 13 other founding members. Today, the school enrolls approximately 800 students and employs 115 faculty with 99 advanced degrees and 15 PhDs among them.
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The Horn Book Magazine, founded in Boston in 1924, is the oldest bimonthly magazine dedicated to reviewing children's literature. It began as a "suggestive purchase list" prepared by Bertha Mahony and Elinor Whitney Field, proprietors of the country's first bookstore for children, The Bookshop for Boys and Girls. Opened in 1916 in Boston as a project of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union, the bookshop closed in 1936, but The Horn Book Magazine continues in its mission to "blow the horn for fine books for boys and girls" as Mahony wrote in her first editorial.
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Laura Amy Schlitz is an American author of children's literature. She is a librarian and storyteller at the Park School of Baltimore in Brooklandville, Maryland.
Julia Sauer was an American writer of children's fiction and librarian. Two of her books, Fog Magic and The Light at Tern Rock were among the annual Newbery Medal runners-up. Both are set in Canada, where Sauer frequently vacationed.
An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 is a 2003 nonfiction adolescent history by author Jim Murphy published by Clarion Books. An American Plague was one of the finalists in the 2003 National Book Award and was a 2004 Newbery Honor Book. It portrays the agony and pain this disease brought upon the American people marking its place in history in order to never be forgotten.
Grace Moon (1884–1947) was an American children's author, publishing many works on Native American themes. Her most notable work was Runaway Papoose, which won a Newbery Honor in 1929.
