The view from Saturday

  The view from Saturday

Genre- Children's fiction
Author- E. L. Konisburg
Tagline- "Nadia's prize was to select their group's name- 'The Souls'"

The view from Saturday is a children's novel by E.L. Konisburg. It is about a group of four children, Noah, Nadia, Ethan and Julian who name themselves "The souls". They train under their paraplegic teacher, Ms. Eva Marie Olinski, for the Academic Bowl competition. When they win the competition, their teacher is often asked how she chose the team, a question to which she does not have the answer. 

The story Uses a unique narrative structure. In the first few chapters, one chapter details a question of the Superbowl final, and the next is about an incident in the answering child's life. Noah relates his experience at being the best man at his grandfather's friend's wedding, and learning calligraphy. Nadia talks about saving pet turtles. Ethan talks about meeting Julian and attending his tea parties. Julian talks about the school production of the play 'Annie'. Some incidents are repeated from different characters' perspectives.

Each of the main characters is related by living in the same city, by their parents commenting on  each other's actions or by being an employee of another parent. The characters are united by something that they discover in the incident narrated. At the end of the novel, Julian's father gives a hint to Ms. Olinski as to why she subconsciously chose the team she chose. 

The plot also uses humor. Noah' mother sarcastically replies to Noah and the gang also parody the stereotypical British tea party. The book has many humorous scenes in which Noah and Nadia bicker, much to the amusement of the others.

I love the book as it has a very nice plot with relatable characters, each with distinct personalities and desires. It is a positive story showing its characters' growth. Noah learns patience, Nadia learns to deal with change, Ethan becomes more outgoing and Julian overcomes the bullying he faces due to his mixed heritage. However the book may be confusing and unsatisfying because of its philosophical musings, narrative structure and its ambiguous answers to the main questions around which the plot is built.