The View from Saturday is a children's novel by E. L. Konigsburg

E. L. Konigsburg

Elaine Lobl Konigsburg is an American author and illustrator of children's books and young adult fiction. She is one of five authors to win two Newbery Medals, awarded annually for one contribution to American children's literature.Her first two manuscripts were submitted to editor Jean E...

. It won the annual Newbery Medal

Newbery Medal

The John Newbery Medal is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association . The award is given to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. The award has been given since 1922. ...

 for excellence in American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 children's literature

Children's literature

Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...

 in 1997, the author's second Medal.

Summary

Mrs. Olinski returns to the classroom at Epiphany Middle School

Middle school

Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...

 several years after an accident that left her paraplegic

Paraplegia

Paraplegia is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek: παραπληγίη "half-striking". It is usually the result of spinal cord injury or a congenital condition such as spina bifida that affects the neural elements of the spinal canal...

. Four of her sixth-grade students form a group they call "The Souls" and she chooses them to represent her class in Academic Bowl competition. They defeat the other sixth-grade teams, then the seventh- and eighth-grade champions at Epiphany, and so on until they become New York state middle school champions.

Chapters alternate in narrative mode between first-person limited

First-person narrative

First-person point of view is a narrative mode where a story is narrated by one character at a time, speaking for and about themselves. First-person narrative may be singular, plural or multiple as well as being an authoritative, reliable or deceptive "voice" and represents point of view in the...

 and third-person omniscient. In the first person, the four students each narrate one chapter related both to the development of The Souls and to a question from the Academic Bowl finals

Final (competition)

The final of a competition is the match or round in which the winner of the entire event is decided.In sports competitions following a knockout system, where only two individuals or teams compete in each match, the final is usually played between the winners of two semi-finals...

. Noah Gershom recounts learning calligraphy

Calligraphy

Calligraphy is a type of visual art. It is often called the art of fancy lettering . A contemporary definition of calligraphic practice is "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skillful manner"...

 and being best man

Groomsman

A groomsman is one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony. The term usher is more common in the UK while the term 'groomsman' is considered somewhat lower-middle- class and used by those who have adopted the term from America. Usually the groom selects his closest friends and...

 for his grandfather's friend in Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

. Nadia Diamondstein describes working to conserve sea turtles and meeting Ethan, also in Florida. Ethan narrates meeting Julian, a new boy in town, and attending his tea parties, where the four Souls became friends. Julian Singh explains being new at school and tells of handling a chance for revenge against one of the bullies —remarkably grounded in the part played by Nadia's dog in the school musical "Annie

Annie (musical)

Annie is a Broadway musical based upon the popular Harold Gray comic strip Little Orphan Annie, with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and the book by Thomas Meehan. The original Broadway production opened in 1977 and ran for nearly six years with a blonde Annie as the poster...

".

Main characters

• Noah Gershom is a 12-year old boy who goes to Epiphany Middle School. Noah has brown hair and glasses. Mrs. Olinski chose Noah first for the Academic team as he is smart, observant, always has a good answer for everything, is good with words, and is a good leader, not afraid to take charge. His dad is a dentist, and Nadia's mom works for him. His mom is a real estate agent. Noah Gershom learns that he isn't always the hero and that it is a team effort that wins the Academic Bowl.

• Nadia Diamondstein is a beautiful girl with curly red hair. She moved to New York
  New York
  New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
  
   from Florida
  Florida
  Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
  
  . Her parents are divorced. Her mom is a dental hygienist who works with Noah's father, and her dad, Allen Diamondstein is an accountant. Her grandfather is Izzy Diamondstein, who married Ethan's grandmother. Nadia's dog, Ginger, successfully auditioned for the part of Sandy in the school play, Annie.

• Ethan Potter is a tall boy with blonde hair and a love for theater. He lives on a farm, and his family is one of the oldest in Epiphany. His grandmother, Margaret Draper, married Nadia's grandfather. The teachers at the school are disappointed in Ethan, as he is not as smart or athletic as his older brother, Lucas. He is often quiet and is more on the nervous side until the Souls formed. After getting to know Nadia, he discovers that he really likes halos.

• Julian Singh is a rather eccentric Indian boy with black hair. He has a British accent because he went to boarding school in England
  England
  England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
  
  . His mother, a singer, died young, and his father is a cook, and owns the Sillington House (a farm) which he uses as a Bed and Breakfast Inn. Julian is teased and bullied by other sixth-graders when he first moved into town. He is the last chosen for the Academic Bowl by Mrs. Olinski.

• Mrs. Eva Maddie Olinski is a sixth-grade teacher at Epiphany Middle School and runs the Academic Bowl team, the Souls. The Souls respect Mrs. Olinski and restore her confidence in her ability as a teacher, which had been shaken after a car accident which rendered her paraplegic. At first, she is not sure how she picked her team, but knows later on, thanks to Mr. Singh who gives her a good logical reason.

External links

• E.L. Konigsburg Biography