2008 Newbery Winner

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! by Laura Amy Schlitz. First of all I do have to mentioned that I got hooked on this book just by reading the foreword! What a way to speak to the reader! Another thing I must also mention is that I was amazed as to what extent Laura Amy Schlitz went to please all her students studying about the Middle Ages. Imagine, writing 17 monologues/dialogues so that everyone has a big part! Wow! Every monologue/dialogue told of the lives of many who lived in a medieval village. As one opens the book, you have a map of the village and you can see where everyone lives; the setting. Not only did Schlitz write all these parts but also gives the reader facts "A Little Background" and also includes footnotes that appear on the sides to further explain about the way life was during the Middle Ages. This collection includes from the poor to the rich, from the Lord's daughter Isobel to the peasants, My favorite monologue was "Alice, the Shepherdess" that tells the life Alice whose Mother died when she was born. She was then cared for by a sheep and so when Jilly, her so called sister, who is actually a sheep, is dying, she who goes out of her way to make sure it survives. Schlitz explains that many believe that by singing to sheep, they recover and that's what Alice did. Jilly recovered.