Reading Response Journal: The View from Saturday

Shari Chong must have e-mailed me on January 2, 2009. She wanted to enroll in my Children’s Literature course, but it was full. Not wanting additional students, I tried to brush her off. But she called me, then before I knew it, she was in my office. She was panting, having run all the way from the other side of the campus.

I relented. I wrote a letter to the Registrations Office to allow Shari Chong to enroll in the course AAE283: Introduction to Children’s Literature.

Shari’s a junior Fine Arts student who plans to teach Arts and Literature when she completes her degree as well as her post-graduate diploma in education.

Please go over her reading response journal, then tell me if I’d made a wise decision in letting her join the class.

Where Kindred Spirits Meet

by Shari Chong

nebraska.lib.overdrive.com

"Before you can be anything, you have to be yourself.
That's the hardest thing to find."
-- E.L. Konigsburg

There is liberation in having like-minded friends. In E.L. Konigsburg’s novel, The View From Saturday (1996), we see the advantages of being around people who love and accept us unconditionally. These relationships free us to discover ourselves, explore our potential and in turn, accept others for who they are.

Entry 1: Soul Searching
I just finished the book. I couldn’t put it down! And I can’t wait to reread it! What kindred spirits they are -- Noah, Nadia, Ethan and Julian! What kindred spirits they are -- Mrs. Olinski and Mr. Singh!

Wikipedia (2004) describes a “kindred spirit” as “someone who shares similar thoughts and feelings; someone who is close in temperament and nature to yourself, to whom you have a rare spiritual link that is very special which you can't quite explain.”

I came across the term many years ago when reading L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables (1908). Anne Shirley is my favourite literary heroine. She is feisty, hot-headed, exceptionally insightful and extremely redheaded (just like Nadia)!

It is interesting that we say we “look for” and “hope to find” our kindred spirits. So it is a search, a journey! And how liberating it is to find others who “just know” because it enables you to relax and “just be”.

I see three “kindred” relationships in this novel, the first between the four children, the second between The Souls (the four children) and Mr. Singh, and lastly, between The Souls and Mrs. Olinski.

(Mr. Singh is Julian’s father while Mrs. Olinski is the four children’s teacher and coach in a statewide quiz competition.)

Anne Shirley would have declared Mr. Singh a kindred spirit right off the bat. He is the insightful adult, a child at heart, fanciful and imaginative. He is also the voice of wisdom that brings all the kindred spirits together under one roof in the Sillington House.

Mrs. Olinski’s “kindred” relationship with The Souls is progressive. She is recognized and accepted by the children before she is even aware of it. “The Souls opened the front door for her” (Konigsburg, p. 160) to enter their lives.

Did they choose to love her or did she choose them? The answer is, “Yes!” (Konigsburg, p.160).

Entry 2: Where Souls Meet, There is Freedom
We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. (Williamson, 1992, pp. 190-191)

The last two lines of this quote from Marianne Williamson remind me of something Ethan Potter (one of the four children) said, “Something in Sillington House gave me permission to do things I had never done before. Never thought of doing…The Souls listened and were not embarrassed to hear, and I was not embarrassed to say…” (Konigsburg, 1996, p. 93)

Entry 3: Where Souls Meet, There is Healing
My family loves wholesome movies that inspire and encourage. Many of these movies revolve around the student-teacher relationship. Movies such as To Sir, With Love (Clavell, 1967), The Ron Clark Story (Haines, 2006), and Freedom Writers (LaGravenese, 2007) depict the student-teacher relationship as symbiotic, with both parties learning from each other.

I recently bought Akeelah and the Bee (Atchison, 2006) for my Dad. The movie tells the story of a young girl, Akeelah Anderson, who has the gift of spelling and how she and her teacher make it to the top in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in America. When I watched the movie, I made instant links with Konigsburg’s novel.

Both stories are about extraordinary children whose potential is recognised and nurtured. But most importantly, both stories feature children being able to heal broken hearts through compassion.

In Akeelah (Atchison, 2006), the teacher who helps the girl, Dr. Joshua Larabee, is carrying a deep pain inside of him from the loss of his daughter and wife. Mrs. Olinski is also carrying a deep pain inside of her because of her accident which has rendered her wheelchair-bound.

And just as Akeelah helps Dr. Larabee find hope again by needing and loving him, The Souls help Mrs. Olinski “stand on her own two feet” by giving “her some support” and “a lift” (Konigsburg, 1996, p. 97).

“All the king’s horses and all the king’s men could not have done for Mrs. Eva Marie Olinski what the kindness of four sixth-grade souls had.” (Konigsburg, 1996, p.159).

I’ve journeyed with The Souls for a couple of months now. From the very beginning, I’ve wondered what the title meant, The View From Saturday.

Upon reaching the end of my Reading Response journey, I realize that the “view” is the vantage point from which we see each character’s journey come into perspective.

It is the point where paths converge and four souls come together, regrouped and ready to forge new paths together. Whenever The Souls would meet, they were free to be themselves.

Thus, love and kindness multiplied and overflowed into the soul of their teacher. Indeed, there is liberation in having like-minded friends.

Let me end with this conversation which warms my heart:

“A cup of kindness, Mr. Singh? Is that what I’ve found?”

“Kindness, yes, Mrs. Olinski. [The Souls] found kindness in others and learned how to look for it in themselves… Each of The Souls has had a journey, and so have you, Mrs. Olinski.” (Konigsburg, 1996, pp. 157-158)