I don't remember how long ago I first read this book. No doubt I discovered it as I worked my way through the Newbery Challenge, and selected it because it won that award back in 1997. I fell in love with it then, and I love it even more now. Reading a book that feeds my soul as well as my imagination is rare, and quite satisfying. Today, on my last day of 'freedom' before I return to work as an elementary school librarian, I reached for it again, and in a couple of hours, was reminded as to why I love it. Did I choose it, or did it choose me? The answer is "Yes!" The main characters in this story are 4 very individual and intelligent children and their 6th grade teacher, who also has traits and circumstances that single her out. Their qualities and life experiences set them apart from their peers, and not always in a pleasant way. However, through their individual, and then combined, experiences, they discover the best of themselves, and learn to appreciate the best in each other. This book has the courage to applaud kindness, courtesy and fair play. It has the courage to shine a spotlight on meanness, cruelty and selfishness, and to let the reader know that this kind of behavior is NOT OK, and should be dealt with. This book shows how the lives of people can intertwine in the most interesting ways, and if embraced, can expand horizons and lift individuals into a larger, better whole. It is clever, intelligent and touching.
12/24/22-I cannot say more than I said above. What a wonderful book.

Many don't tend to mention this along the lines of the best Newberies, but I'll make a strong case for it to be included in my personal top 10: it's wickedly humorous, which was not how I expected it to be, it's somehow original for what appears on the surface to be a rehashed concept, and it's overflowing with heart and real life. And the last sentence may just be the best ending sentence in the history of literature. Seriously. A real gem.

Jokes, courage, traditional tea, are elements I like here. Vaunted journeys not so much; I like lessons that sneak into our memories, not bonk on our beans. More for unusual strengths, less for political correctness, are crippled and foreign heroes. Our trivia knowledge is tested in text and "15 Questions" at end.

Mrs Eva Marie Olinski, paraplegic Gr 6 teacher, forms trivia team "The Souls" who compete for state title in nail-biting finish that circles around to Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Student Noah unexpectedly replaces Allan Diamondstein as best man at Florida retirement home wedding of silent stubborn Ethan's grandma Margaret and red-hair Nadia Diamondstein's Jewish Grandpa Izzy. Chance link between students becomes steady. On Saturdays, Julian Singh invites 'Souls' to Sillington House, his dad's new B & B, for afternoon tea "always at four".

"I am a ass" converts to "I am a passenger on Spaceship Earth" p 73. I like brave calm Julian, who outwits bullies 'Ham' Hamilton Knapp and Michael Froelich. Ham marks black permanent ink on Julian's leather schoolbag. Julian, ever polite, even challenges incorrect adult judges.

Pages narrated by cold Ethan show him to be very selfish; Nadia rather selfish. Ethan never admits to admiring Nadia's halo of red hair, no romance. Mr Singh says "Ethan took a little longer than the other two, yet his journey was the shortest. It was a ride on the school bus. And Julian was the last" p 156. I'd peg Julian first; he brought along others.

"You must know of something's existence before you can notice its absence .. Noah, Nadia, and Ethan found kindness in others and learned how to look for it in themselves" p 157. Ethan repeats bus ride many times to get the effect, so I peg him last, Nadia next.

"Larger than usual audience [comes] .. mostly because everyone would be waiting for Homer Fairbain to goof" p 135. "District deputy superintendent in charge of instruction" causes comic relief. Homer fulfils expectations, asks "hybrid .. in part .. East Indian" Julian, "What is your tribe?" p 137.

As is probably true of many everyday life books, The View from Saturday is all about the characters. I didn't really care that much about whether or not the four sixth graders won the knowledge bowl in the end; I just enjoyed reading about life from their perspectives.

Four chapters of the book are told first-person by each of the kids, and those were by far the best parts of the book. They're all really articulate, really thoughtful sixth graders who find each other and form a bond between them that involves this ritual of drinking tea on Saturdays, which is where the title comes from.

Yeah, drinking tea together on Saturdays is not the coolest thing in the world to your typical 11 or 12 year old, but it will appeal to readers who think of themselves as out of the mainstream, kids who can form their own ideas about what is cool. It's one of those books that's about appreciating how intelligent and complicated 11 or 12 year old people can be (at least from my adult perspective).

In the end, it's the idiosyncratic realness of the voices of the kids that makes this book so memorable and enjoyable. Some readers might argue that the kids are sort of unrealistically mature, kind, and intelligent, but I think extraordinary kids exist and are the kinds of characters that make for a really affecting read.

This book, to put it simply, is about 4 kids who are all misfits in one way or another, who form a fantastic friendship and through this friendship get chosen as their class' academic bowl team. Because of their diverse interests, experiences and strengths, these kids become the best academic bowl team in the area and they eventually dominate the entire tournament. However, this is not really what the book is about. The book is about fining ourselves, finding good friends, learning to care for others and using our strengths to help those around us.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I have read only three books by E.L. Konigsburg, but this was the one I liked the best, by far. I enjoyed getting to know each of the character's and their personalities. I loved that Noah is always saying "fact:" and stating whatever his honest thoughts are, and that Nadia love her dog "Ginger, the genius" and Ethan, who doesn't speak much so instead often thinks "I would've said ____, but I don't speak much, so I didn't say it," and lastly Julian who is British and says things like "indeed," and "pardon me." I loved watching their friendships form and how their lives criss-cross until they eventually form an unconquerable group. I loved the themes in this book and I loved the writing. I would recommend this book to anyone, though I could also see how many would find it boring since there is not a whole lot that could be called "plot." All in all, however, I personally enjoyed it.

Interesting, believable characters who face challenges and family dynamics that are relevant for today's children. Perhaps to illustrate that "current" society, there are also a couple instances of vulgarity, which I despise.

(I know, I know, they hear it everyday at school, but that doesn't mean it's acceptable to put into a children's book! Shouldn't there be a few safe havens left? I see billboards everyday that annoy me too, and I certainly don't want to take pictures of them to put on my walls at home. Honestly.)

Other than that minor flaw, I devoured the book. The plot was trademark Konigsburg - well developed, interesting, and conclusive. I enjoyed the smokescreen comparisons between "today's" children and previous generations, and although the general lack of respect and increased sense of entitlement are obviously lamentable changes; I appreciated how the author demonstrated that they didn't have to be.

Families have parenting and lifestyle choices, and children don't have to become casualties of a deteriorating society. They can rebel against the "Who cares?" attitude and be willing to be remarkable. Be unique, be intelligent, be kind! I was especially happy to see this message of encouragement and hope in a children's book, cleverly disguised as a story of 4 sixth graders and their teacher.

It made me want to inspire and motivate children, more than just my own. To make a difference, to be an agent of change, to fight against the suffocating apathy that surrounds us.

Who knew I was such a rebel?

A 1996 young reader that won the Newberry award is a delight.
The story follows four sixth-graders from Epiphany, New York
who are chosen to represent their class in the Academic Bowl.
It is fun, curious, and charming. Very enjoyable.

24 of 100 in 2017

I enjoyed the storytelling structure in this book. It begins with a nervous teacher and 4 six graders in an academic bowl. As she hears the first question, the teacher relaxes, knowing her team knows the answer. Then, in alternating chapters (intermixed with more quiz bowl questions), you learn the back story of each character, how they met, how they know the answers to the bowl questions they are being asked, and how they became friends and a team.

I didn't enjoy this quite as much as The Mixed Up Files... partially because portions of the explanation of the mystery (how they became a team, why the teacher chose these four students) didn't make sense to me - I don't understand what the monkey has to do with anything or how Julian's father knew any of the things he shares in his last conversation with the teacher. Is it supposed to be a magical monkey?? But I love the themes of friendship and difference, the importance of kindness and curtesy, connection and the power of "a quiet tea."

A wonderful story that increasingly grew on me as it progressed. The book starts out a little slow as the members of the Academic Bowl team are gradually introduced alongside snippets of their competition alongside each other, but I realized that I was fully invested in the middle of Ethan's perspective and truly enjoyed spending time with these characters. There are minor details early on that come together in a completely satisfying way by the end, rewarding patient and meticulous readers.

I re-read this for the first time since elementary school to remind myself, in the midst of my Wolf Hall slog, that I am literate. A very sweet book with tinges of slight racism that I did not pick up on when I was eleven and did not care for on the revisit

It was surprisingly really good for a required English class read I rlly enjoyed it and yk those book that’s make you wanna be a better and smarter person… this was one of those

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.