LoginJune 2023 Notable Author: Laura Amy Schlitz
Newbery Winner’s Plays Helps Kids Better Understand History
Laura Amy Schlitz was born and raised in the Baltimore area and graduated from Hereford High School in Parkton. She then attended Goucher College, graduating in 1977 with a degree in aesthetics, a major she designed herself. Her dream was to be an actress, but it didn’t work for her so she took a job with the Enoch Pratt Library - Fells Point branch.
There she excelled at telling children’s stories, probably because it was similar to acting. Then a friend asked her to write an adaptation of Beauty and the Beast for the Children’s Theater Association. Schlitz completed the adaptation in 10 days. The compliments she received for the script turned on a light in her and she realized she was a writer, not an actress.
She credits her family life for giving her the background to write. Her mother stayed at home till she was in the 5th grade, she and her brother, Paul, “had a universe of stuffed animals, and … gave them all distinct personalities and interactions.” Schlitz read constantly. Her mom fed her interest by frequent trips to the library. In fact, the library recognized their family as the one that checked out the most books. She still fondly remembers reading the Little House series, The Black Stallion, and Beezus and Ramona.
In 1991, Schlitz joined the Park School of Baltimore as librarian for the lower school (Elementary) and began to write. Her first book, A Gypsy at Almack’s (1993) sold well. She wrote more books as well as a series of monologues (one-person plays) for Park School students so they could feel what it was like to live in the Middle ages. Each monologue gave the perspective of a child living then, such as a plowboy, shepherdess, a falconer’s son, a glassblower’s daughter, and a beggar. “I wrote them for the kids to inhabit the characters and better understand the history,” Schlitz said.
These monologues became the core of Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village which was awarded the 2008 Newbery Medal. Continuing to write, she received a Newbery Honor in 2013 for Spendors and Glooms, and the National Jewish Book Award in 2016 for The Hired Girl.
Schlitz still lives in Baltimore and is still telling stories to children as the lower school librarian at the Park School.
Genre: yOUNG ADULT
Category of fiction for readers from ages 12-18. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate with the age and experience of the protagonist.
Sample Reading List: Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village; The Hero Schliemann: the dreamer who dug for Troy; The Bearskinner: a tale of the Brothers Grimm; Splendors and Glooms; The Hired Girl; Princess Cora and the Crocodile, Amber and Clay..
Writer's Prompt - Fun With Words
Fun With Words - Maryland Writers’ Association (MWA) invites you to have fun writing young adult fiction like Laura Amy Schlitz. Using up to 100 words, pick a child from the Medieval era and write a monologue describing an aspect of their life.Title your work and submit to: https://marylandwriters.org/Notable_Maryland_Authors by the 22nd of the month to receive an MWA Fun With Words submission certificate. Selected responses to be published with next month’s article and on the MWA website.
Submit Your FUN WITH WORDS Prompt
Beth Smith
Jul. 1, 2023SCULLERY KNIGHT - I want to be a knight not a scullery maid. Girls can be knights. Why not? I can ride a horse, well, ole Nell. I can fight with a sword. Well, I am excellent with a mulberry stick sword. I always beat brother Tom when we play knights in the garden, and he is fourteen and I am only twelve. One morning I heard Sir Dudley talking about a bold lady who is leading a great army in France. I could lead an army instead of washing mugs in the scullery. Will I be a knight? Probably not.
Viola Robinson-Boone
Jul. 1, 2023WHAT THE HAY? - Who defines popularity anyway? Living on a farm makes me unpopular. Students tease my best friend about her many wigs. Blakely Lawrence is the most admired tenth grader at Kennedy. She proudly nicknamed me Hay Girl the day a patch of hay fell from my pants pocket when I retrieved my lunch money. That incident pushed me deeper into the world of the unpopular. Cadan Shaw rescued me. I’m his date for the sophomore dance. Blakely’s popularity dipped tremendously. She was counting on him asking her. It’s incredible how popularity shifts at Kennedy from one day to the next.
Silb
Jul. 1, 2023THE SCULLERY MAID - It’s late again, but I just finished scrubbing the last pot. Finally, I can get a little sleep. I lie down as close to the hearth as I can to try to stay warm. I was lucky today. I was able to grab a hunk of bread to eat along with the scrapings from the pots. This was a good day. I often find very little left in the pots and that’s my main source of food. I wonder what it would be like to be able to grab stuff from the platters when they come back.
Lawrence McGuire
Jul. 1, 2023BALM OF MYTH - I, Grimbold the Lame, son of the adder-tongued notary Sithric, serve as apprentice to the swordsmith Cliferoc of Isarncol, a walled town that lies a bowshot away from the war-fierce Welsh. Whoever thought a boy born with a twisted foot would make an able apprentice? Because my master is learned he knows of the Greeks. Long ago, they worshipped a god of smiths named Hephaestus. Hephaestus, too, suffered from a foot malformed. When I stretch out on my pallet to sleep, I smile since a foreign god shares my infirmity and my vigilance for the forge, blade-birthplace, womb of fire.
James Burd Brewster
Jul. 1, 2023FAITHFUL AND DAUNTLESS - O, I am yet ten years just. Tho, lo, I know my future well. As a knight for Scotland I shall be and husband, one day, to Ellen of the Netherby clan. When first I saw her and she me, the fates were cast, our love meant to be. Soon, I will be manly and I will ford the Eske to woo my beloved. Should instead her father betroth fair Ellen to some laggard or dastard, I will ride to Netherby Hall and swing her to the croupe and flee over bank, bush and scaur and Lady Lochinvar she will be.
James Burd Brewster
Jul. 1, 2023MAHALA THE MOOR - I shouldn’t complain. I wasn’t bartered off to the Goths like my sisters. The French lord who slew our parents during the Crusades took us back to France. Spoils of war he said. The lord’s lady fancied me and took me on as a chambermaid. I have learned much and present well when allowed out in public. There are downsides to my position, many related to the Lady’s hygiene and bodily functions. I don’t mind washing her hair, applying sweet salves and balms to her body. Plucking her body hair isn’t too bad, but preferable to servicing her chamber pot. Yuck!
Erica Decker
Jul. 1, 2023A GLIMPSE OF GLORY - Lances clash as knights dash their might in a rousing crash of mirrored steel. Both remain steadfast to their steeds, stoic and unmoving against their foe. The crowd roars its demands of brutality and the knights return, facing with their coat of arms as shields displaying their honor, their history, their legacy. High on their horses, they give silent vows of their triumph. Only one can be named victorious. Hidden, my chest swells. Perhaps one day, a knight I would be, felling those in the name of righteousness. Until then, a boy peasant I would remain, haunted by unfulfilled glory.
Doris Brady
Jul. 1, 2023MEDIEVAL TIMES - I woke up shortly after sunrise. Shoving my straw pallet aside, I dress quickly. The rough woolen undershirt scratches my skin, but keeps me the warmest. Our animals, pigs, chickens, a cow and two goats, had spent the night in a separate pen inside our two-room wooden house, their body heat helping to keep my family warm. My older brothers were already up helping my father with the animals; I’m expected to help with household chores like mending and cooking. I’m 12, so I learn by watching my mother. Another baby’s due; I hope this one survives.
Rob Billingsley
Jul. 1, 2023MAY DAY IN ASSISI - Too hot a day for May, climbing this rough road to Assisi. Papa offers his cobbler services at the annual Calendimaggio. I slipped once, scraped my knee. “Keep up, Bianca. We’re almost there,” said Papa. Following our burro, ill-named Allegra, with her rump’s slow rhythmic sway, I slipped again. “Bianca, you are one clumsy eleven-year-old. Hold onto Allegra’s harness.” At my third fall, neither of my parents looked back. Mama said, “Favorino lost his daughters to Francisco’s church. Sons of nobles seek other brides,” winking at Papa, nodding toward me. Clara’s vow of poverty would be easy. I’m already poor.
Steve Baker
Jul. 1, 2023The Drudgery and Gaiety of Summer Jobs in Antiquity - The other kids of Quarryberg had landed desirable summer jobs like Plague Wrangle or Viking Apprentice. Not me though! I got stuck with an internship at M.I.T. (The Medieval Institute of Torture). It sounds glamorous but all I do is hose down The Rack, pick scraps of skin out of maces and retrieve an occasional errant head that may have rolled under the Iron Maiden. On the upside, girls seem to be impressed with my toenail collection and souvenir spleens! Notably, my friends and I can't afford The Malt Shop because Grogshakes cost an arm and a leg; but tonight, thanks to leftovers from yesterday's drawing-and-quartering, DRINKS ARE ON ME
Dave Gardner
Jul. 1, 2023WHY ME? - My earliest memories were of beatings - ugly, savage beatings from the older village boys. I didn’t know why they were so cruel, or why they were angry at me. My pleas to stop were ignored, and they taunted me when they kicked and struck me. That first time I crawled home, Mother sobbed, tearing the cloth from her skirt to wipe my bleeding head and ears. When Father came home, his face went pale, then furious red. But he did nothing. Father was the town executioner - hated by all. Their anger and helplessness against him was directed at me . . .
Lew McIntyre
Jul. 1, 2023ORANGE, ALMOST YELLOW - The forge’s heat seared ten-year old Thomas’s face. He held the nascent arrowhead in the glowing charcoal with tongs. “It’s all in the color,” his father said. “Wait until it is orange, almost yellow, then quench it.” This was Thomas’s first arrowhead, from start to finish. He had shaped it since early morning, from a lump of iron into a recognizable arrowhead. He also acquired several painful blisters. “Father, I think it’s there.” “Almost,” said his father, his hand on his son’s thin shoulder. “…yes, now!” Thomas’s mind captured the color and he plunged the arrowhead it into the water bucket. Steam exploded. “Wait until the steam stops,” said his father.
Karen McIntyre
Jul. 1, 2023PRICKED FINGERS - Marie struggled to sew the fabric pieces together. More and more, her mother was having her make clothing for the family. Today, she was making trousers for her father. The canvas-like fabric was heavy and hot laying across her lap, and pushing the needle through the fabric gave her tiny bleeding pricks on her fingers. She sucked on her fingers for a moment, then fished a small thimble out of her mother’s sewing box, just the right size for the little fingers of an eight-year-old. Much better she thought, bending over her work.
Karen Whitehair
Jul. 1, 2023A FAMILY'S HOPE - I can’t sleep. Tomorrow, I’ll walk with my father to begin a new life with a strange family four leagues away. Mother insists an apprenticeship to become a skilled seamstress will bring a better life. I’m not so sure. Marta said Lady Marlow beats her apprentices and even starves them if they don’t work hard. Mother says Marta’s a gossip who knows only how to milk cows. She’ll amount to nothing. Maybe I want to stay and milk cows, too. Why must I leave the only home I know? At least Father will be with me the first night.