4.5

I didn't find The View from Saturday particularly interesting or intriguing. The book was awarded the Newberry Medal. There is certainly an effort at diversity. The View from Saturday the first book I've read by Konigsburg - her writing seems similar to Jerry Spinelli (I've read several of his books).
Related works: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass

Favorite Passages:
No normal person would continue to be cheerful and wear short pants.
________

I am a passenger on Spaceship Earth
________

"It's a reproduction of a famous painting by an impressionistic French artist who was famous."
________

Between reality and realization, there was a pause. It was over. There was a beat - time for hearts to skip. There was a gap - time for hearts and minds to connect. There was a moment for joy to find its home. It was over. And Epiphany had won.
_______

How can you know what is missing if you've never met it? You must know of something's existence before you can notice its absence.

I was intrigued that this author was first a chemist! I also had no idea she wrote so many books. Having read only one other by her before this, I'm ready to read more. The kinds of characters and the plots she explores have an uncommon depth, yet remain understandable and entertaining to younger readers.

The boy is told by his mother at the beginning of the story to write a B&B letter to thank his grandparents for having him at their house. He is rude and very disrespectful, he explains that he should not have to write the letter because he only had to go so that she could go on a trip herself. I flipped to another section of the story to see if it improved, it did not. In this section he is with his family watching turtles move from their nest to the ocean. He is being told some information about how the turtles grow and his mental comment is, "I'm not sure why they are telling me this...I'm the one who wrote the paper on it for school and got an A."

The attitude that was presented in the sections of the book that I did read was not an attitude that would be considered appropriate in our household, so I did not even finish reading the book.

This is a really fantastic book. I loved how Konigsberg slowly unveils the story. I didn't read the back of the book so it was a nice surprise that seemingly supporting characters in one chapter (or seemingly throwaway lines of dialogue) take sudden prominence in the next. Also, Kongisberg is terrific at leaving things unsaid, so that readers have to draw their own inferences and discover aspects of the characters on their own. That being said, Konigsberg also delivers several stand up and cheer (or grin broadly while reading it on the el) moments, too. I loved it.

I picked up this book because in the time between when I was in school, and now that my kids are reading to this level, I've missed out on a lot of Newberry Medal winners. I've decided to catch up and started with this book. While I'm used to more adult themes, more angst in the characters, and generally longer stories, this one really hit. As with any ya story, I'm always waiting for the adult themes to crop up. For instance, these are sixth graders. The story centers around three boys and a girl. These kids are still young enough that they don't have any of the usual dating drama. Some of these kids are dealing with some pretty rough issues. I wanted to see a resolution to the issus, however, the story stays centered around a Quiz Bowl of sorts. Secondary characters include those that are living in a retirement village in Florida. I've visited retirement camp grounds, and while the retirement community has a certain drama and appeal of all it's own, I've never seen retirees pull together to raise funds for someone's grandkid(s), or to stage a wedding. What these kids have is respect. Respect for one another, their teacher, community, and most of all--themselves. I think adults can take a page from this book as well, because we as a society seem to have lost that respect. They accept each other and really become a team though this story. The acceptance comes from accepting an outsider into their small school. They accept bullies--not to say that they stand for the treatment that is dished out, but find ways to deal with those who are mean and otherwise short-sighted. While short, this complex little book is excellent. I woud recommend this one for adults as well.

This was a good book and had the promise to be a really good book, but I felt like it just didn't deliver at the end. I really liked the set up of the book, four sixth graders at an academic bowl, and with each question they are given, we are taken into their previous experiences where we learn more about the characters and how they know the answers. (Slumdog Millionaire, anyone?). And I find this set up makes for an exciting and unexpected narrative. I liked the character development with the kids. There were a lot of feelings and situations (divorcing parents, not fitting in, unkindness, etc) that I felt middle-schoolers could relate too. But then there was not a lot of resolution with these feelings (which I guess is more true to real life- we don't resolve all these deep seeded insecurities in the course of one school year). But the ending gives you a sense that it is all nicely wrapped up, when not a whole lot was addressed. There are good themes in here, such as kindness and the healing balm of good friends.

The part that bothered me the very most was the ending, where I was expecting some poignant, pulling together of all the different stories and pieces of the puzzle. The author tried to do just this, but it just left me scratching my head a little. She tried to make it profound and mysterious, and I didn't feel that way at all. It was a little jarring in how random it was (I'm talking about Mr Singh here).

But this is also me being nit-picky. Still a good read, overall, good writing, I think Middle-schoolers will like the story lines and its message.

3.5/5 stars!

This was a heartwarming reread - although it was a bit boring and the narrating style slightly tedious at times, it gave me that warm, fuzzy feeling of calm and friendship.

Until now, the only book written by E.L. Konigsburg that I knew about was From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. So when I discovered this audio CD at our local library, I just knew I had to borrow it.

This book tells five different stories, individual tales about the four members of an Academic Bowl team as well as the teacher and circumstances which brought them together to form a cohesive group they named The Souls.

The various stories are very different, but connected; sometimes in very unusual ways. I enjoyed hearing perspectives from each character - it really gave the other characters more complex and rich dimensions than you would get with a single narrator.

The audio CD is performed by a full cast, which also adds to the realism. Overall, it's a very engaging tale and I really enjoyed listening to it as I drove around town and to and from class.

interesting quotes (from paperback edition with ISBN13 9780689817212):

"I concluded that many friendships are born and maintained for purely geographical reasons." (p. 29)

"'Dad and I were going to Epcot...'
'Why do you want to go there to see Mr. Walt Disney's Version of the World when you can see Mother Nature's real thing?'" (p. 53)

"Sixth graders had stopped asking 'Now what?' and had started asking 'So what?'" (p. 59)

new words: ruggelach, zaftig

Girl yes.

The 1997 Newberry Medal was rightfully bestowed to Konigsburg. While her first award in 1968 for The Mixed Up Files of Basil E. Frankweiler was also laudable, her second masterpiece is by far the greatest.

As I turned each page, this highly crafted, wonderfully delightful tale solicited a wide spectrum of emotions, from tears to laughter and from sorrow to joy. Filled with insightful analogies and magical symbolism, Konigsburg fit all the fragmented pieces together while weaving past and present tense in a style that was easy to follow.

Intuitively, sixth grade teacher Mrs. Olinsky choose a team of four to compete for the Academic Bowl contest. Each member brought separate skills and knowledge as together they rivaled even the toughest eighth grade team.

The beauty of the story was not only in the winning, but truly in the magic of the journey as along the way each member, including their paraplegic mentor Mrs. Olinsky, learned the wisdom of kindness, of sharing, of caring and of the acceptance of things unseen and felt by the human heart.

It is every writers dream to craft a heartwarming, deeply profound book such as this.

Highly recommend!

The first time I read this book I think I was in the fifth grade, Mrs. Armbruster's class. I didn't recall much of the story, but I did remember that my mom absolutely loved it. When I told her that I had found it at work and was planning on rereading it for a project she was much more excited than I had anticipated. But I digress.

The story follows a group of four sixth graders who drink Saturday afternoon tea and have dubbed themselves The Souls. In the first four chapters we follow each character individually, learning how they became a Soul and their distinct likes and behaviors. We also learn about their homeroom teacher, Mrs. Olinski who, in a car accident, lost both her husband and the ability to walk. The Souls decide to make it their duty to help her turn her life around; coincidentally she has also chosen these four students to represent her class in the upcoming Academic Bowl. As The Souls compete in a series of competitions leading up to the state-wide championship, they come to find that their experiences from early chapters of the book often relate to questions asked of them as they compete (Slumdog Millionaire style). In the end, it's hard to decide whether Mrs. Olinski knew that the students would work well together, or if The Souls were just always destined to be.


“They called themselves The Souls. They told Ms. Olinski that they were The Souls before they were a team, but she told them that they were a team as soon as they became The Souls. Then after a while, teacher and team agreed that they were arguing chicken-or-egg. Whichever way it began --chicken-or-egg, team-or-The Souls -- it definitely ended with an egg. Definitely, an egg.”


E. L. Konigburg is an American-born writer and illustrator of both children's and young adult fiction. She has won two Newbery Medals, one of which was awarded to The View from Saturday in 1997. Her other notable stories and awards are From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, which won the 1968 Newbery Medal, and Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and me, Elizabeth, which was named a 1968 Newbery Honor book.

Personally, I loved this book. I had just finished reading a pretty hearty book and it was nice to have a quick, easy read. The lighthearted story touches upon a lot of things that elementary and young middle school students could relate to -- dealing with bullies, standing up for yourself, and learning to do what you love, even if nobody else is doing it. As a teacher I highly recommend this story for students and read alouds, but it's definitely a fun read for adults as well.