I read this book as part of my quest to read all of the Newbery books. This was not one of the betters ones. 
 I can't believe how little happened in this book. It was so slow. There was (at least) one chapter about standing helplessly in the forest for a day, waiting until nighttime so that the plot could move forward. Another chapter about eating lunch. Another about packing up lunch to continue hiking. 
 I didn't like any of the characters. The protagonist goes from frustratingly obedient to frustratingly disobedient. The plot surprises were not surprising. 
 I wondered if the book was acclaimed for its wealth of vocabulary words to look up, such as mazer (a drinking bowl), wattle and daub (the building technique) and the various liturgical hours (fixed times of prayer). However, I'm not sure it would do well in a public school curriculum, since the whole text is peppered with constant God, Jesus, Hell and prayer. I know it is an important facet of the characters, but I am reminded of George Carlin's list of people he could do without, which includes "anyone who mentions Jesus more than three hundred times in a two-minute conversation." 
 There is one historical character in the book (John Ball), so I wonder if the series is meant to describe the Peasants' Revolt from a child's point of view? I don't think I'll pick up the others to find out.