Shelly's Book Blog

I started reading The View from Saturday, by E. L. Konigsburg, a few years ago and for some reason never finished. I'm very glad that I took the time to revisit this Newbery Medal winner (1997). It's about four 6th grade students who form a team called "The Souls." They and their teacher, Mrs. Olinski, who is a paraplegic woman confined to a wheelchair, enter an academic decathalon called the Academic Bowl. The story is about their journey toward winning the Academic Bowl state championship, but it is also about these five people's personal journeys toward righting something that has gone awry in their lives. The point of view changes often, with most of the main characters having a chance to tell their own stories. I thought the story was uplifting, touching, and very wise.