Jancsi is overjoyed to hear that his cousin from Budapest is coming to spend the summer on his father's ranch on the Hungarian plains. But their summer proves more adventurous than he had hoped when headstrong Kate arrives, as together they share horseback races across the plains, country fairs and festivals, and a dangerous run-in with the gypsies.

Sometimes a reader comes across a book that makes a deeper mark than the usual just by blessed luck. I found my beautiful old copy of The Good Master in a bookshop that I don't frequent. I picked it up for it's gorgeous dust jacket...and set it back. I actually left the store, and hours later, at a coffee shop a short walk away decided I *had* to go back for that book. I'm so glad I did...not only is it a visual treat with the above mentioned dust jacket and endearing illustrations throughout but it's revealed itself to be a charming story of a time and place that isn't anymore, rural Hungary before WWI altered things so. The characters are all carefully crafted and such good, positive people. There is a bit of gypsy prejudice...which I took as it was portrayed, gently. I read this alone, sharing bits with my son but I will encourage both kids to read this one and laugh and bask in the warmth it leaves the reader with. ( )

good

It was a perfectly serviceable story about impish city girl Kate going to live with her country relatives but it lacked real people. Kate is a a little demon to start and there is no reason why she becomes a good girl expect that you've turned enough pages and the story has moved on. There really isn't any reason why and so she and her cousin Jansci are very 2 dimensional characters. Seredy has more fun with the people who tell stories and fables and myths. It had too much of a "A Boy and Girl of Hungary" social studies book than a fun read.

Set in Hungary, this 1935 Newbery Honor book is one of those "learn about life in a different culture" candidates that were so popular with the Newberys for a good many years.
The plot described on the blurb says the book is about a rambunctious hellion of a girl being sent from her father in "the city" to spend some time with her relatives in "the country" because he can't handle her naughtiness anymore. So she comes to spend time with her uncle (the good master of the title), aunt and cousin. As she spends time with them, she begins to behave better and love the rural life. But all of this is rushed through in the first two chapters. Then, the rest of the book is just happy tales of what happens on a farm in Hungary. The morals are that your elders always know what's best for you, and rural life is better for you than urban living. It wasn't a bad book, but it wasn't a really good one either. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
"The Good Master" strikes me as a poor title, as the uncle is in no way a "master" to his son or niece, just genial and fatherly. Nor is he the protagonist. The story is primarily about Kate, and secondarily about Jancsi, her cousin. ( )