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Summary: ~The View From Saturday~, a book to read & remember!
Review: The View From Saturday is about four sixth graders and their teacher/Academic coach in the town of Epiphany. The book is told in 4 perspectives of Noah Gershom, Nadia Diamondstein, Ethan Potter, and Julian Singh. Mrs. Eva Marie Olinski is their coach and teacher and for several, but good reasons, she decides to pick these 4 students who call themselves "The Souls" for the Academic Bowl. Throughout the competition, each character flashes back to their journeys. Noah, by accident, is best man at Ethan's grandmother and Nadia's grandfather's wedding when he explains a B & B letter. Nadia is a little on the spastic side and enjoys walking on the beach and saving baby turtles with her genius dog, Ginger, when Nadia tells of turtle love. Ethan is in one of Epiphany's oldest families; he enjoys musicals and performances and is the quietest of the bunch when he explains a B & B inn. And finally Julian, the strangest of the kids, starts it all when he invites the others to a simple tea party.
After being paralyzed waist down in a car crash, Mrs. Olinski comes back to teaching. How and why did she choose "The Souls"? How did this sixth grade quartet win against seventh and eighth graders? In the end, you will find out the answers to these remarkable questions and find out what "The Souls" learned from their "journeys". Read this book to find out and you will always remember that tea is always served at 4:00 PM!!!
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Summary: A Tea Party To Remember
Review: Nadia Diamondstein, Julian Singh, Ethan Potter, and Noah Gershom were "just kids" without one another. The first character is Nadia, the owner of an exceptionally smart dog and whose grandfather gets married over the summer. Julian, a stranger from England who knows magic and has a father who starts a Bed and Breakfast. Next in line is Ethan, the quiet child whose grandmother weds Nadia's grandfather. And Noah is the unlikely best man at the wedding, who always has a plan.
Together, however, the sixth graders formed The Souls, a tea partying, academic-quiz bowl playing, calligraphy-writing foursome who overcomes all odds to evolve into their true selves.
I loved this book. The View from Saturday was an amazing combination of well-written humor and an intricately woven plot line. This book was made for all people to read, it is a heartwarming tale that makes you want to go out and do something good for this crazy world.
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Summary: unique and intriguing
Review: First off, the book is about four SIXTH graders. I note this because some of the reviews on Amazon erroneously say the characters are in seventh grade. Anyway, these four sixth graders go onto defeat the seventh, then eighth graders in their schools, and eventually take the regional trivia bowl championship. The four children "can spell and define puberty but have not yet gone through it." Given this, I can accept the tea parties and some of the other pastimes they engage in in "The View." Also, they are NOT presented as perfect without any character flaws or problems. The "Souls' as they call themselves are exceptionally intelligent and compassionate, but they - at least for Ethan and Nadia - do not make the "right" decisions instantly. Nadia, for example, wavers between helping some stranded baby turtles, or holding on to her grudge against her grandfather and father. This book also has some wonderful imagery. For example, ELK compares painting Nadia without her freckles to brushing the cinnamon off cinnamon toast. In summary, I would highly recommend this book.
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Summary: Book Review
Review: Noah, Nadia, Ethan and Julian started out as sixth grade classmates, but evolved into The Souls. Each Year,Mrs. Olinsky, the sixth grade teacher chooses as four person academic bowl team. This team competes in the grade and if they win they go on to compete in other competitions. Together this team accomplished wonderful things, such as winning the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade competitions. Nobody knew why they were chosen, and Mrs. Olinsky, the teacher, doesnt exactly know why she chose them either. So, fate brought them together to create a wonderful friendship that will last a lifetime and this shows through an extraordinary story of sucess of a team, calss, school and friends. In my opinion Noah is the most interesting character in this story. He likes to write in calligraphy, and enjoys spending time with relatives. At times he also complains about his family. Noah tells the long story of how he was the best man at the wedding of his grandparents' friends. I enjoyed reading about each of the diverse characters. The View from Saturday can appeal to a wide spread of people because of the interesting plot and way it is written. Many people have loved reading this book as you can see because it has won many awards, and I think E.L. Knonigsburg is a fantastidc author.
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Summary: Quotables
Review: E.L. Konigsburg uses descriptive nouns and vivid modifiers to paint a vivid picture of the characters in your head in The View from Saturday. First you get to know the charcter. She does this by painting the vivid picture and you feel like you know the character personally. You also feel like you are a "Soul." She does this by making you feel like you are there during their conversations, and there while they win the Champion Bowl. Also seeing the vivid picture makes you feel like you are watching them. You feel you are watching them because you really can picture the conflicts between the Noah and Nadia . So in conclusion, this book really shows that character desciption delivers an emotional message. You should definitly read this book.
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Summary: Heart and Souls
Review: They call themselves the Four Souls: Noah, Nadia, Ethan, and Julian. They are four extraordinary sixth graders, possessing both brilliant minds and precocious insights into human behavior. They are the kinds of students that teachers feel lucky to encounter a few times during a career -- and Mrs. Olinski teaches all four during the same year! She recognizes their talent without exactly knowing why. The four students form an incredible friendship centered around the ritual of Saturday tea, and, later, on an academic bowl team coached by Mrs. Olinski. The book, which won a Newbery medal, had received some criticism for portraying twelve year olds with adult characteristics. It's true that their vocabulary and especially their insights boggle the mind. But I'd like to think that people like the Four Souls really exist, and, more importantly, that all children have flashes of brilliance that align them with the characters of this book. The author's ingenious use of structure results in a perfectly balanced book, in which each of the children is given equal voice. These four people emerge from the sometimes ugly world of middle school, and, partially helped by and partially helping their teacher, they create of world of their own, where loyalty, creativity, and unusual thinking are the keys to happiness and self-discovery.
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Summary: View from Saturday
Review: It is a wonderful book about four friends and a paraplegic teacher. All of them a related in some different way. This is a captivating book in which you will root for some and jeer the others. The author gets you caught up in each of their different stories. Inspiring you on every page. A must read for sure!
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Summary: The View from Saturday
Review: The View from Saturday is the story of four unlikely 6th-graders who are picked by their teacher, Mrs. Olinski,for the Academic Bowl team. Each of them is special but they are also slightly troubled by different things. Nadia's mother and father just became divorced. Julian just moved to America and his family is somewhat eccentric. Noah and Ethan are both lonely. But they became very good friends and a great team. This book tells the perspective of each character. The author details each characters life very well in four great short stories inside the book. You should definitely read this amazing book.
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Summary: Saturday Tea
Review: Strange things go on all the time. But the strangest things of all are those that are linked by the thin thread of life. So when four six-graders realize that they all share this linkage, they realize something else, how every single one of them need each other. Noah- accidental best man of Ethan's grandmother and Nadia's Grandfather
Nadia- red haired dog-lover who loves turtles
Ethan- Nadia's "cousin," who loves teh opera, and halos
Julian- a magician who loves tea-time. Mrs. Olinski has chosen these four, also known as The Souls, for the Academic Bowl for a reason. But what? This book tells not one story, but four stories of kindness, of joy, and of living, through a certain event. A good book to read with a good cup of tea.
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Summary: Well deserved Newbery Winner!
Review: I read this book for a children's lit class I'm taking in college, and I found it very interesting and creative! I love how Konigsburg introduces us to each character, by the ringing in to answer a question at the bowl. Each character tells his/her story and you find yourself trying to figure out how the kids are "related" to eachother before they tell you. It was a great book with lively characters. I recommend it to others.
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