The View From Saturday

Written by E.L. Konigsburg, The View From Saturday is a beautifully written novel about overcoming problems the world throws you. This novel tells the story of a teacher who returns to teaching 6th grade after an accident left her confined to a wheelchair. She puts together a group of four students with extraordinary stories to compete in the Academic Bowl competition. Facing other teams, bullies, and personal issues, the team comes to learn so much more about themselves and what it really is to care for a friend. This is a fantastic tale about a team and their mentor, set within four riveting short stories, one for each team member, that ask questions about life and deliver beautiful answers.

Book Reviews
Kirkus Reviews: "Admirable acts, challenging ideas, and grace notes positively festoon this superb tale of four sixth graders and a paraplegic teacher forming a junior high Academic Bowl team that sweeps away the competition. The plot is composed of interwoven puzzles. What prompts Mrs. Olinski to choose Noah, Nadia, Ethan, and Julian for the team over the usual overachievers and honor students in her class? What do they know about her, themselves, and each other that puts them so precisely on the same wavelength and gives them such complementary knowledge and experience? Each has a tale to tell, in the course of which all four witness acts of kindness and respect that teach them to find those feelings in themselves and others. In wry prose filled with vivid imagery, information, and often oblique clues, Konigsburg takes her team through bonding, drills, and a series of contests as suspenseful as any in sports fiction; the children and Mrs. Olinski's public triumph mirror inner epiphanies of rare depth and richness. The large cast, looping plot line, and embedded stories with different narrators require careful sorting, but the effort is eminently worthwhile, and Konigsburg kindly provides answers at the end."

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/el-konigsburg/the-view-from-saturday/

Publisher's Weekly Review: "Glowing with humor and dusted with magic, this contemporary novel explores the ties that bind the four members of a championship academic quiz-bowl team. Sixth-grade teacher/coach Mrs. Olinski, teaching for the first time since becoming paraplegic, proudly observes her students' victories from the confines of a wheelchair. She is not sure what propelled her to choose the members of her team, nor does she fully comprehend the secret of their success in repeatedly beating older, more sophisticated competitors. Readers will be equally mystified until the backgrounds of the foursome (who call themselves The Souls) unfold during a series of first-person narratives that reveal the links between the students' private lives. Newbery Medalist Konigsburg (From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler) orchestrates a stunning quartet of harmoniously blended voices. She expresses the individual struggles of each of her characters while showing how they unite to reach a common goal. Wrought with deep compassion and a keen sense of balance, her imaginative novel affirms the existence of small miracles in everyday life."

http://www.buffalolib.org/vufind/Record/1077058/Reviews

Activities
The View From Saturday features a lot of interesting topics and activities. One that we get to see a lot of is the art of calligraphy. With this activity, you can start learning how to write calligraphy. You can also learn how to write calligraphy in all kinds of styles. Plus, you can level up and start writing your own poems and stories in calligraphy! Click the link below to get started!

http://www.calligraphy-skills.com/

Pretend you are a reporter from The Epiphany Middle School Newspaper. Write an article about The Souls winning the academic bowl. Include an interview with all four members and Mrs. Olinkski. 

Other Links
Original Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFAOT_DYO2

Information About the Author: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._L._Konigsburg