The View from Saturday

The View from Saturday Summary | Plot Summary

This novel tells the story of a sixth-grade teacher, Mrs. Eva Marie Olinski, and her winning Academic Bowl team in Epiphany, New York. The team is made up of four students: Noah Gershom, Nadia Diamondstein, Ethan Potter, and Julian Singh. The students meet and become friends before being chosen for Mrs. Olinski's team through a series of Saturday afternoon teas hosted by Julian. The students come together after each one of them has gone on a journey, in which he or she comes to recognize and value kindness.

Mrs. Olinski is paralyzed from the waist down and in a wheelchair. She was injured in a car accident, which killed her husband many years ago. When Mrs. Olinski first started teaching, she worked in a school whose principal was Mrs. Margaret Draper. Mrs. Draper and Mrs. Olinski became friends, and their friendship has continued, even after the accident, Mrs. Draper's retirement and remarriage, and Mrs. Olinski's eventual return to teaching.

Mrs. Olinski returns to teaching with much less confidence after her accident. She is easily shaken by the pranks and cruelties of certain members of her class, including Hamilton Knapp, Michael Froelich, and Jared Lord. Mrs. Olinski has been changed by her accident, but sixth graders have also changed from interested children to challenging adolescents.

Each of the four children on Mrs. Olinski's team goes on a journey. Noah Gershom visits his grandparents, Nate and Sadie Gershom, at Century Village, their retirement community in Florida. Noah is a smart and knowledgeable boy. He uses the word "fact" regularly, as in, "Fact: Many of the domiciles in Century Village do not have family rooms with desks." As this example shows, Noah is not necessarily a deep thinker. He is content with the facts and does not think about the living situation of retirees that would preclude the necessity of a family room. Noah is given to nitpicking and argument. He is not a disagreeable boy, just one who loves a good argument and being right.

During his visit to Century Village, Noah becomes involved in the preparations for the wedding of two of the residents: Izzy Diamondstein and Margaret Draper. Completely unselfconscious about being the only child in a community full of retirees, Noah throws himself headlong into the process, helping wherever he can and learning whatever anyone will teach him. The residents of Century Village show overwhelming generosity to the soon-to-be-married couple, and nearly every detail of the wedding is arranged and executed by a resident as a gift to Izzy and Margaret.

Noah helps whenever and however he can and he becomes particularly involved with two of the residents. Mrs. Tillie Nachman offers to teach him calligraphy. When an accident leaves the groom's son, Allen Diamondstein, unable to fulfill his duties as best man, Noah offers to substitute. Another resident, Mrs. Bella Dubinsky, paints a T-shirt with Noah to look like a tuxedo. At the wedding, Noah must think of gifts to give several invitees whose invitations he inadvertently damaged. Noah selflessly gives away gifts that have been given to him during the course of his stay, including a wagon, a calligraphy pen and bottle of ink, Post-it notes, and the painted T-shirt.

Nadia Diamondstein is the daughter of Allen Diamondstein and the granddaughter of Izzy Diamondstein. Nadia's journey is a visit to her father sometime afterward. Nadia's parents are recently divorced, and Nadia's visit is part of the child custody arrangement. Nadia is terribly angry about the whole situation: divorce, visiting her father, her grandfather's remarriage, and the move to a new home in Epiphany. Nadia brings her dog, Ginger, on her trip to her father's new apartment and seethes with resentment for most of the visit.

Nadia's grandfather's new wife, Margaret Draper, is deeply involved in the protection of loggerhead turtle babies on the beaches near their home. Izzy has also become interested, and on a previous visit, Nadia also got interested and ended up writing a report on the turtles' life cycle for school. This visit, Nadia is disgusted with turtles, especially when her father begins to become interested. Yet when a storm threatens to kill a large number of babies by blowing them from the ocean up onto the beaches, Nadia is able to put aside her anger and resentment and help save them. She sees a parallel in the lives and needs of the turtles and her own life. Nadia, too, has been living through a storm, and she and her father "need a lift" to get through hard times, just like the baby turtles. Nadia is able to put aside her hurt feelings and the meanness those feelings inspire, and she shows kindness and generosity not only to the turtles but also to her family.

Ethan Potter is the grandson of Margaret Draper (who becomes Margaret Diamondstein). His journey is the bus ride to Epiphany Middle School. Over the last two years, Ethan, a shy and quiet boy, has developed a technique for ensuring that he sits alone on the bus. The first day of sixth grade, however, his plan goes awry when a new student, Julian Singh, sits with him. Ethan can see that Julian is an unusual student and destined to be picked on and bullied for his differences. Concerned for his own status and the peace and quiet that he enjoys, Ethan deliberately avoids becoming friendly with Julian.

Ethan's prediction is correct. Julian is indeed bullied and teased. When the bullying escalates, Ethan intervenes, helping to prevent Julian from becoming physically hurt by the bullies (Hamilton Knapp and Michael Froelich). Julian repays Ethan's kindness with a secretly given invitation to a tea party. The invitation is a puzzle, which Ethan must solve. Ethan's interest is piqued, and he attends the tea party on Saturday at 4:00. Julian has also invited Noah and Nadia, and the four students begin a friendship and a regular habit of teatime on Saturdays.

Julian Singh has grown up on cruise ships and attended boarding school in England. His mother is dead, and his father (a chef) has decided that he wants to settle down and own a bed and breakfast. Mr. Singh buys an old farmhouse called Sillington House in Epiphany. Julian is marked as different by his dark skin and hair, his clothes, his accent, and his manners. Julian shows strength and resourcefulness in the face of the bullying, but he is nevertheless hurt by the mistreatment. Julian has learned considerable sleight-of-hand from a magician named Gopal, and he uses his magic to delight and please his new friends. He begins the tea parties, but it is the energy and kindness of all four students that makes them a success.

After several Saturday teas, the four students are good friends, and Nadia suggests that they name their group The Souls. Julian suggests that The Souls have a project that they will work on collectively. Mrs. Olinski, Julian tells them, needs help. She is unsure of herself and being bullied by the same students that bully Julian. The Souls ask Noah what they should do, and Noah tells them. The reader does not know at first what Noah's suggestion is.

Mrs. Olinski is not putting together an Academic Bowl team the same way that her fellow teachers are. She does not put on a class competition to determine the winners. She decides to simply appoint her team. She chooses Noah, Nadia, and Ethan, but cannot determine her fourth choice for a while.

Epiphany High School is putting on a production of Annie, and Nadia takes Ginger to try out for the role of Annie's dog Sandy. Ginger gets the part and Michael Froelich's dog Arnold is cast as Ginger's understudy. Julian finds that he is able to trust Michael more as the play goes on, but he is still wary of Hamilton Knapp. On the day of a matinee performance for the middle and elementary school students, Hamilton and Michael plan to drug Ginger with tranquilizers and laxatives. But the drama coach allows Michael's dog Arnold to star in that day's performance instead of Ginger, and Julian decides to go ahead with his plan to remove the drugged treats from backstage. Julian cannot help himself and lets Michael know that he (Julian) knew about the drugged treats and prevented Michael's dog from being hurt or embarrassed by the malicious trick.

At the same performance, Hamilton Knapp begins disruptive chanting during and after the play, and Mrs. Olinski sees enough of his efforts and satisfaction with the trouble he has caused to decide that Hamilton is capable of real malice. Mrs. Olinski has been mentally putting together her Academic Bowl team, and has considered Hamilton. Seeing his cruelty at the play convinces Mrs. Olinski that Hamilton is unsuitable. She chooses Julian for the fourth team member, and Noah's plan for helping Mrs. Olinski is finally in the works.

After the performance of Annie, Mrs. Olinski and The Souls end up at Sillington House, where Margaret and Izzy Diamondstein are staying for the weekend. Mrs. Olinski is thrilled to see her old friend, but then carried away by intense jealousy and pain as she sees her students reuniting with their grandparents. Mr. Singh guides her in for tea, and the calm and civilized atmosphere of teatime gives Mrs. Olinski a chance to relax and let her feelings of pain go away. Mrs. Olinski then sees the four students whom she has chosen for her team treating each other with respect and kindness and genuine friendship around their own tea table. She begins to get a glimmer of the truth about The Souls and their kind plans on her behalf.

Throughout the novel, the reader follows The Souls's progress through the competitions that lead them to the Academic Bowl finals. Mrs. Olinski's team handily beats first the other sixth-grade classes, then the seventh grade, and then the eighth grade. The Souls sweep the district championships, then the regional championships. Throughout the competitions, Mrs. Olinski gains confidence and a greater ability to "stand on her own two feet," figuratively speaking. At the finals, The Souls work together flawlessly, each student deferring to the expertise of the others as the questions demand. Julian gives an answer that is not given credit by the panel of judges, and he pushes the issue even to the point of being penalized. When the judges determine that Julian's answer is indeed correct, the points are restored, and The Souls continue their drive to victory. After winning, The Souls honor their teacher and coach, Mrs. Olinski, by walking off the stage and standing on the main floor level, because she cannot climb the stairs to get to the stage.

Driving home from the finals, Mr. Singh asks Mrs. Olinski about her reasons for choosing The Souls for her team. Mr. Singh tells her that she did not choose for reasons, because reason did not play into the decision. She chose because she recognized in each of the students their own recognition of kindness. Mrs. Olinski did not so much choose, as allow herself to be chosen.