The 2008 Newbery Medal: Who Won?

The 2008 Newbery Medal winner is Laura Amy Schlitz, the author of Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village. The Newbery Medal represents the highest honor an author of children's books can receive in the United States. According to the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC),

In Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village, thirteenth-century England springs to life using 21 dramatic individual narratives that introduce young inhabitants of village and manor; from Hugo, the lord's nephew, to Nelly, the sniggler. Schlitz's elegant monologues and dialogues draw back the curtain on the period, revealing character and relationships, hinting at stories untold. (Newbery Medal Home Page)

Schlitz's book began as a series of monologues that she wrote for her students at Park School in Baltimore where she serves as librarian. The publisher of Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village is Candlewick Press. Robert Byrd illustrated the book. Three novels for children, Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis, The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt, and Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson, were designated Newbery Honor Books. Have you and/or your children read any of these books? What did you think of them? Click on "comments" below and share your opinions.