Well, what did you guys think? I hope some of you read it - it was only 91 pages, including notes! I thought this was such a fun idea for a book, and love that it was written by a librarian for her students who were studying medieval times. In her forward she explains that she wanted to write a play for them, but plays are tricky because there's only a few leading characters, so she devised the idea to create a monologue for each student (with a few dialogues thrown in there as well) so that they could all have a chance to shine. As a teacher (well, at least potential teacher) and former "extra" in a play, I thought this was genius! And very informative. While some might read this book and think, "How depressing! What a terrible time to live!," I find the history fascinating. And, being a children's book, the character's situations were not wholly desperate: a chance of love here, an opportunity for a new life there. Ok, looking back, most of them didn't have much to call rosy about their circumstances, but the narratives felt real- maybe not optimistic, but not overly pessimistic either - it just kind of was what it was. Overall, the novel was a fun read, a historical novel that kept me entertained due to its brevity, and I loved it's realness without the despair you might find in an adult novel set in that era.
