Elaine Konigsburg’s The View from Saturday is a Newberry Award winner, and it is really a collection of four short stories of sixth graders, all tied together by their teacher, Mrs. Olinski. Noah was accidental best man at Nadia’s and Ethan’s grandparents’ wedding, and Ethan defends the new Indian student, Julian, from the sixth grade bullies. Each character has a really distinctive voice and style of thinking, so the stories intertwine but are very different.
I liked that not all of the characters are likable all the time. Konigsburg does something really nifty, where she uses the Academic Bowl questions to walk the reader back in time to understand the very personal and human reason these students know the answers. I loved that each child had something to offer the others. It’s so important to remember that middle schoolers get such a bad rap, when really they are capable of such selflessness. This is a great empathy and friendship book, and just a fun read.
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