A View from Saturday

by E.L. Konigsburg

“A View from Saturday” is a story about a sixth-grade teacher, Mrs. Olinski, who coaches a team of students in an academic competition similar to the Mind Olympiad or the College Bowl. Mrs. Olinski chose four students to be on the team and nicknamed them “The Souls”. When asked why she chose those particular students, she had no answer, but she knew they were the right choice. At one point the superintendent of schools questioned her choice of students stating that they were not diversified. Mrs. Olinski answered that, “In the interest of diversity, I chose a brunette, a redhead, a blond, and a kid with hair as black as print.” I cracked up! I coach teams for Virginia’s Great Computer Challenge each. Each year, administrators remind me to diversify, and every year we struggle to find students to compete. We take anyone who will show up, and that’s as diversified as we can manage! The superintendent reprimanded Mrs. Olinski for her answer after spending three days at a multicultural workshop for ‘ed-you-kay-tears’.

“A View from Saturday” tells the story of each of the four children who make up the team. Each child has had turmoil or sadness in his/her life and has taken a journey of discovery to learn to handle the turmoil. One child’s father was described as, “The storm in our private lives had picked him up and put him out of place.” In a way, all four team members of ‘The Souls” were ‘out of place’ and trying to find their way back to normal. Without knowing why, it is the journey each child is traveling that Mrs. Olinski chose the members of the team. She sensed their turmoil.

E.L. Koningsburg’s use of similes and metaphors are a wonder. “It seemed as exciting as watching a red light change” is an apt description for many events in life. “Dad hovered over me like the Goodyear blimp, “ reminds me of some of my own students who need their hands held every step of the way during math class. And “Dad could no more swing than a gate on rusty hinges.”

Several passages in “A View from Saturday” will make the reader laugh out loud. If the reader has ever been to Florida, the reader will recognize the truth of, “There are so many blonde widows in the state of Florida, they ought to have a kennel breed named and registered for them.” I remember my son accidentally washing his pet turtle down the drain. He cried, and I tried unsuccessfully to console him. I wish I had read this book so I could have quoted the author as saying, “Turtles are not trainable animals. Their brains are in the range of mini to micro.” This might not have helped my son, but it surely would have helped me!

“A View from Saturday” is a wonderful book choice not only for a study of similes and metaphors or for the use of vivid description, but also for humor. E.L. Konigsburg takes weaknesses and turns them into strength in a celebration of the resilience of youth.

Lesson Plans can be found at:
http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/view/viewtg.html