The View from Saturdayby E. L. Konigsburg

Published in 1996. 163 pages.
1997 Newbery Medal Winner.



A favorite memory of third grade is my teacher, Miss Burns, reading aloud E. L. Konigsburg's Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth, which was a Newbery honor book in 1968. This was the same year that Konigsburg was awarded the Newbery Medal for From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. She is the only author to have received both the medal and an honor book award in the same year.

For some reason, I hadn't gotten around to reading The View from Saturday until now - having chosen it for my Newbery Challenge, "Something About Me" Challenge, and Book Awards Reading Challenge lists. (It's a good thing that cross-listing is allowed!)

I thoroughly enjoyed this children's novel about a sixth-grade quiz bowl team and their teacher/coach. The value of friendship is the overarching theme of the novel, which also suggests the importance of each of us telling our own stories.

I had expected that there would be an "edgy-ness" to this book, like there is to Konigsburg's Silent to the Bone (2000), but there was not. That is not to say that the characters are not unique, from diverse backgrounds, or without "real life" situations (such as divorce, bullying, and physical handicaps), but I would have no reservations about recommending this book to anyone.

2007.44