What do You think about The View From Saturday (2003)?
Mrs. Eva Marie Olinski, a paraplegic who returns to teaching after several years following a serious accident, chooses four students from her sixth-grade class in the Epiphany, NY, middle school for the Academic Bowl team. Noah Gershom accidentally becomes best man at the wedding of Ethan’s grandmother and Nadia’s grandfather while visiting his grandparents in Florida. Nadia Diamondstein, in addition to being the granddaughter of the new wife of Ethan’s grandfather, has red hair, a dog named Ginger that’s a genius, and a fondness for baby turtles. Ethan Porter, in addition to being the grandson of the new husband of Nadia’s grandmother, is the quiet second son of one of Epiphany’s oldest families who stands up for Julian. And newcomer Julian Singh, who is originally from India and whose father has opened a bed and breakfast in Epiphany, starts it all off by inviting the others to a tea party. How did Mrs. Olinski choose her team? She had a number of answers, but were any of them true? Yet, there is no doubt that these four students, with their own individual personalities, develop a special bond among themselves, calling themselves “The Souls,” and this attracts their teacher’s attention. Why did they make such a good team? And will they be able to win—especially against seventh and eighth graders? In 1968 E. L. Konigsburg had won both the Newbery Medal for From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and an honor award for Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth. The View from Saturday won the Medal in 1997. The biggest complaint is that the book is boring, at least the first four rather long chapters where the author provides the setting for the action by describing the different backgrounds of the four students as well as Mrs. Olinski, and that therefore it can be somewhat confusing to read, especially with alternating the final quiz bowl championship match with the accounts about the different journeys which each kid has had to make. Some of the reason for this may be that Konigsburg started out with four separate short stories that she had written and then tied them together with a unified theme. One teacher noted that his kids told him that the book started very slowly, mainly because they didn't see the looming connections between the characters, but once the connections become evident, thanks to Konigsburg's marvelous narrative, they thoroughly enjoyed reading the novel. He concluded that the story provides very positive statements about success, hard work, and civility, and I agree. There are a few things about it that I didn’t care for. One was a rather gratuitous reference to bra straps and what would be to most kids a somewhat titillating use of the word "puberty." Also, one student refers to another as “an ass,” which is a perfectly acceptable use of the word, but it’s said in such a way as to imply another, more vulgar, usage. And there is a reference to drinking wine. Aside from these, however, I enjoyed reading the book. It is certainly a different approach to story-telling, and I can see why some children would not care for it, but I can also see why others would really like it.
—Wayne S.
As part of UMHB’s READ 3307, I read "The View from Saturday". A teacher, Mrs. Olinksi, who was returning to school after being paralyzed in a car crash ten years earlier, had always been excellent at choosing students for the Academic Bowl. She always provided sufficient reasoning for her choices. However, this year in particular, she chooses four very different and unexpected students for the team. Their bond seems unbreakable, but how far will Julian, Nadia, Ethan, and Noah advance? Will they succeed the expectations set before them? Through the use of vivid description, many conversations in the form of dialogue, and an emphasis of imagery, Konisburg brings this first person narrative about sixth graders to life. The book honestly portrays realities of life for today’s children in that two main themes are teamwork and seeing people who are different than you in a positive light. Characterization in depth allows the children in the story to be convincing and each has qualities that can be viewed in children today. Also, the book helps children enlarge their points of view. This book allows for young readers to imagine themselves in Noah’s shoes. The book illuminates problems dealing with growing up in today’s world, such as learning to cooperate with others and overcoming pressure in order to reach a common goal.
—Kendra
Noah: Best Man at Nadia’s grandfather’s and Ethan’s grandmother’s wedding and writes calligraphy.Ethan: Fervent lover of musicals and one of the oldest families in Epiphany.Nadia: Rescues baby turtles and is confused about her parent’s divorce.Julian: The English boy who invites them all to tea.The Souls are four people looking for friends, and very smart. They all are in the same 6th grade class, with the new teacher Mrs. Olinski. The 6th grade academic bowl is approaching, and their paraplegic teacher picks the four underdogs for her team. Somehow, Mrs. Olinkski made four choices that took her team to the state finals (don’t worry, you know this from the begining).The odd thing about this book is, well, I hate to be so critical, but many of Konigsburg’s sentences end with prepositions. They have to be good, or else it wouldn’t have won the Newbery Honor, but every time I read a sentence, it felt like fingernails on a chalkboard at first.There is some fabulous writing, however. Eva Marie Olinski watched Margaret Draper Diamondstein hug her grandson The new Mrs. Diamondstein was dressed in a jogging suit. A turquoise jugging suit. Turquoise! She had always regarded the color turquoise, like shocking pink and chartreuse, as the color equivalent of the word ain’t quaint when seldom used, but vulgar in great doses.I just find that sentence the mix of narration and opinion to send tingles up my arm. And when you think that the entire book is like that, the wonderful narrator makes up for the prepositions, of which I have yet to get used to (pun intended).I highly recommend almost any book by Konigsburg.
—Laura
