Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!

Schlitz, L., & Byrd, R. (2007). Good masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a medieval village. Cambridge, Mass.: Candlewick Press.

Summary:

A book depicting life in medieval times in England during the year 1225. Readers are offered a glimpse of what daily life was like for numerous characters through nineteen monologues and different point of views. Each chapter tells something different for each child like their personalities, the chores they do everyday, the struggles they have to endure when they have little to nothing or everything in their possession.

Evaluative Criteria:

In Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!, author Laura Schiltz introduces readers to the setting of England in 1255 and life during the Middle Ages in a Medieval Village. The book provides artwork to help readers capture the setting and the village that the children of the story live in. She uses a collection of plays in the differing forms of 19 monologues and 2 dialogues to introduce numerous characters and life in on an English Manor. The chapters showcase different characters and accurately depict their socio-economic status, what their duties and jobs are, and what hardships they endure while living on an English Manor in 1255, so it shows that life was not always rosy.  Readers will be able to enjoy the stories of the individuals in the book as they can act out their stories. Readers will be able to find themselves in the characters of the children and find meaning in their messages. For example, wanting to be independent and free like the runaway, or wanting to be adventurous, courageous and finding oneself like the knight’s son. The book also gives small piece of background information that can be used to help teach readers about medieval civilization. The author writes in a style that reflects the Middle Age time period and allows readers to enjoy the experience.