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onceuponacarm's review against another edition
4.0
Like Slumdog Millionaire (of which I saw the movie a couple of years before reading this book, though The View from Saturday predates it by more than a decade), we have a quiz contest and the backstories of the contestants that show how they came to know the answers to a variety of obscure questions. Noah, Ethan, Nadia, and Julian's paths cross several times along their path to becoming quiz team The Souls. These bright, conscientious kids find in each other kindred spirits, but the story is less about them as characters as it is about the events during their sixth-grade year and the summer before. Through a mix of serendipity and blatant kindness, the kids are brought together along with their remarkable teacher Mrs. Olinski, a few grandparents, and Julian's father. Though the book is built around a competition, it is truly a story about cooperation, friendship, and connections.
readingjag's review against another edition
2.0
This seemed like one of those award winners where adults think it's so amazing and kids will be bored to tears.
readmayahread's review against another edition
3.75
It actually took me a while to get into the book. The first chapter was interesting but the following ones took me some time to understand as they revolved around the students Mrs. Olinski chose to be in her sixth-grade Academic Bowl team.
I found it boring at first but later liked the story more and more. The four students who make up the team are a joy to read and perhaps sound a little too good to be true (especially from my POV as a reader from outside the US) but they were wonderfully written nonetheless.
This book also reminds me of movies like Akeela and the Bee etc. Motivational and uplifting.
I found it boring at first but later liked the story more and more. The four students who make up the team are a joy to read and perhaps sound a little too good to be true (especially from my POV as a reader from outside the US) but they were wonderfully written nonetheless.
This book also reminds me of movies like Akeela and the Bee etc. Motivational and uplifting.
lattelibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
E.L. Konigsburg is perhaps one of the most talented authors of my mother's generation. It almost feels like we've forgotten about her, but I'm determined to not let that happen. Told through the perspectives of the Academic Bowl team "The Souls" and Mrs. Olinski herself, we are privy to the lives of a paralyzed teacher, children with divorced parents and remarried grandparents, a Jewish child, and an Indian child. They seem like an unlikely fit, but perhaps there are greater forces at work that have brought them together.
This beautiful book begs the question of who is in control: the adult, or the children. Mrs. Olinski believes that she has chosen The Souls to become a team for the Academic Bowl, but as they go farther and farther in the competition, she wonders if perhaps they chose her.
This is also a book in which children are trusted, respected, allowed to be knowledgeable (more knowledgeable than adults, at times), and allowed to be creative. Even now, I'm getting chills thinking about it. If you're wanting to visit children's literature of an earlier time, definitely visit The View from Saturday. There's no other book like it.
Review cross-listed here!
This beautiful book begs the question of who is in control: the adult, or the children. Mrs. Olinski believes that she has chosen The Souls to become a team for the Academic Bowl, but as they go farther and farther in the competition, she wonders if perhaps they chose her.
This is also a book in which children are trusted, respected, allowed to be knowledgeable (more knowledgeable than adults, at times), and allowed to be creative. Even now, I'm getting chills thinking about it. If you're wanting to visit children's literature of an earlier time, definitely visit The View from Saturday. There's no other book like it.
Review cross-listed here!
fertilepress's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
ameserole's review against another edition
3.0
It was interesting.. and confusing at first.
The View from Saturday ended up being an okay book with some stuff to like. The only thing I couldn't really get behind were some of the characters and sayings. For example. Mr. Singh was really unlikable to me. Not matter what, I couldn't stop being annoyed or frustrated. Then there's Mrs. Olinksi, who was weird throughout most of the book but then towards the end - things just sort of clicked.
Other than that, I'm honestly not sure if I would've read this if I wasn't in a challenge that recommended it. Probably not but it was fun to try something new. Even if this whole thing was weird to my poor brain.
The View from Saturday ended up being an okay book with some stuff to like. The only thing I couldn't really get behind were some of the characters and sayings. For example. Mr. Singh was really unlikable to me. Not matter what, I couldn't stop being annoyed or frustrated. Then there's Mrs. Olinksi, who was weird throughout most of the book but then towards the end - things just sort of clicked.
Other than that, I'm honestly not sure if I would've read this if I wasn't in a challenge that recommended it. Probably not but it was fun to try something new. Even if this whole thing was weird to my poor brain.
thewallflower00's review against another edition
3.0
E.L. Konigsburg also wrote The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler which I recall as a memorable book from my sixth-grade self, although I haven’t read it since then. I remember the kids were naked in the fountain gathering up money, and the answer was B for Bologna.
The format for The View From Saturday is its big draw. It’s kind of an anthology and kind of not. You’ve got four separate kids and the novel takes the time to tell their stories. Or really, it tells their character-forming anecdote. And there’s a Pulp Fiction-esque string that ties each to each in some coincidental way. That’s about four-sevenths of the book. The rest is when they are together. These kids call themselves “the souls” for some reason which escapes me, but it sounds pretentious because it is. And they’re on a quiz bowl team and the big question is will they win, since they’re so young.
The style left me pretty cold. There was an absence of emotional involvement in the characters. They all look at things in the same way, in a static robotic analytical way. There’s divorce, there’s death, there’s remarriage. But none of the kids seem to care. They all act like distant little autistic geniuses. They don’t use contractions. They do calligraphy and theater and Saturday afternoon tea.
It’s supposed to be about friends getting together, but I can’t believe these kids would be friends unless you plugged them into each other, like one of those four-way cables for the original Game Boy. They’re such little perfect students walking around like wind-up toys. They have backgrounds, but they’re lacking character. And that makes me lose my investment.
The format for The View From Saturday is its big draw. It’s kind of an anthology and kind of not. You’ve got four separate kids and the novel takes the time to tell their stories. Or really, it tells their character-forming anecdote. And there’s a Pulp Fiction-esque string that ties each to each in some coincidental way. That’s about four-sevenths of the book. The rest is when they are together. These kids call themselves “the souls” for some reason which escapes me, but it sounds pretentious because it is. And they’re on a quiz bowl team and the big question is will they win, since they’re so young.
The style left me pretty cold. There was an absence of emotional involvement in the characters. They all look at things in the same way, in a static robotic analytical way. There’s divorce, there’s death, there’s remarriage. But none of the kids seem to care. They all act like distant little autistic geniuses. They don’t use contractions. They do calligraphy and theater and Saturday afternoon tea.
It’s supposed to be about friends getting together, but I can’t believe these kids would be friends unless you plugged them into each other, like one of those four-way cables for the original Game Boy. They’re such little perfect students walking around like wind-up toys. They have backgrounds, but they’re lacking character. And that makes me lose my investment.