Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! by Laura Amy Schlitz and Robert Byrd

A review of a book for young people

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! was written for a group of students studying the Middle Ages and is meant to be performed before an audience. Parts for twenty-one players are included, most in the form of verses to be performed by a single player, with two dialogues for two players each. The verses offer vivid glimpses into the lives of medieval young people aged about ten to fifteen years old, each with a distinct personality. Sometimes a verse will continue a story begun in an earlier verse, as with the lament of Isobel over her stained silk gown:

I passed through the town on my way to the market
and somebody threw it – a clod of dung.
I saw the boys, but I didn't know which –
I was walking eyes down, as a modest maid should.

The next voice is from someone unexpected:

I shouldn't have done it.
I knew it was wrong
when the muck left my hand –
it was folly and cruelty
And I wish I hadn't.

The stories in Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! reflect the harsh realities of life in the Middle Ages, but the feelings of the young characters are timeless. (2007; 85 pages; recommended for ages 10 and up; 2008 Newbery Medal winner)