What is the conflict in The View from Saturday?

The View from Saturday is a novel by E.L. Konigsburg that explores the conflicts, tribulations, and relationships of a sixth-grade teacher, Mrs. Olinski, and the four children—Noah, Nadia, Ethan, and Julian—that she chooses to represent her class during the upcoming Academic Bowl contest. In addition to Mrs. Olinski, each of the four children (who call themselves "The Souls") have stories, and each child narrates a chapter that centers on his or her story.

Noah is the first student to be selected for the team because he's a capable leader and is always first to have the answer. However, he has to learn to set aside his selfishness and constant desire to be the hero to trust in his teammates and share the spotlight.

Ethan is constantly being compared to his older brother, Luke, who's proficient at both sports and school. Ethan's struggle is to overcome the perceived deficiencies that fester in the comparison—that he can't measure up—and learn to accept himself for all the great things he is.

Nadia moves to New York with her recently divorced mother while her father stays in Florida. She needs to adjust to this new life and accept grown-up problems like divorce if she is to become a grown-up herself.

Julian is the new kid in school and suffers through being bullied, particularly because of his Indian heritage. He faces the constant inner struggle of maintaining the moral high ground despite his desire to fight back.

Mrs. Olinski, who became a paraplegic after a car crash, must overcome her own internal suffering, resulting from how others (including her own students) view her along with a latent anger about her lot in life.

The short answer is that there's not just one problem in the story, but several smaller, individual problems. Thematically, however, you could say that the overarching problem that binds everyone's story into a coherent whole is learning to be a better person, overcoming issues inside yourself and how that ultimately breeds success. Each character learns from the best parts of the others how to fight their own internal fights.

Each of the viewpoint characters in this fun book has his or her own problem (or problems). However, there are two interrelated problems that they all share. First, each of the children and the teacher are all trying to find ways to fit in. Second, as members of the academic team, they want to win the competition. Obviously, these two relate: they must accept one another to have a chance at winning, and if they win, they'll have better places in life/school.

This is a tough question to answer because the story is not told in anything close to resembling chronological order. It starts about as far into the timeline as it could go—the competition. Then each member of the team has a flashback that explains a bit about their previous summer or beginning of the school year. They all fit together, because each flashback shows exactly how they came to meet and be a part of the team with their teacher.

Despite each flashback having a few minor conflicts, I would say that the overall main plot conflict is Mrs. Olinski's choosing of the team (The Souls). Specifically, it is her struggle with exactly who should be the fourth member of the team. It may seem like a minor conflict, but I do feel that Mrs. Olinski choosing Julian as the fourth member represents the plot climax. After choosing him and forming the full team, everything else is more or less falling action and conclusion. If choosing Julian is the climax, then the search for Julian (the fourth team member) is the main conflict.

Here is that section of the text:

The Souls continued their animated conversation, when suddenly, as if on signal, the four of them looked back at Mrs. Olinski.

And that is when she knew.

That is the exact moment she knew that Julian Singh would be the fourth member of her team and that she would always give good answers when asked why she had chosen them.

What is the climax of The View from Saturday?

I believe that the climax of the book The View from Saturday occurs when the Souls defeat Maxwell in the Academic Bowl, bringing the state championship to Epiphany.  This event occurs in Chapter 10, and is the culmination of not only of a long year of hard work for the team, but signifies the end of the journey of the four members and their teacher, Mrs. Olinski.  The defining moment comes when Julian correctly answers the last two questions posed by the commissioner of education.  Fittingly, both questions pertain to the author Lewis Carroll, who wrote Through the Looking Glass.  Julian had used that book to hide clues in making his first overtures of friendship leading to the Souls' weekly gatherings for renewal at Sillington House, gatherings from which the group gained a sense of unity and strength.

The event's climactic nature is described succinctly -

"Between reality and realization, there was a pause.  It was over.  There was a beat - time for hearts to skip.  There was a gap - time for hearts and minds to connect.  There was a moment for joy to find its home.  It was over.  And Epiphany had won".

Ordinarily, the Souls would come up to the stage at this point to receive their trophy, but upon their victory, they gather in appreciation around Mrs. Olinski, who is wheelchair-bound and cannot get up on the stage.  The commissioner has to come down off the stage to present the trophy to the Epiphany team.  The team does not want the award unless Mrs. Olinski is there with them; as a symbol of their solidarity, it is apropos that the trophy is called "a loving cup" (Chapter 10).

What is the turning point in The View from Saturday?

For me, at least, the turning point in the novel comes in Chapter Five when we are finally told how it is that Mrs. Olinski selected the fourth member of her team. Having already chosen Ethan, Noah and Nadia, and now having definitely decided against the infuriating Hamilton Knapp after his performance in the theatre, suddenly, she sees the four friends together, and notes the way that they function so well as a team and show such consideration to each other. Note what she thinks when she sees them together:

There were nods and smiles and obvious pleasure in one another's company. Mrs. Olinski thought, how unusual to find four sixth graders who listen to one another sympathetically, unselfishly. How courteous. How courteous.

It is when the four children look at her at the same time, "as if on signal," that Mrs. Olinski knows that the fourth person she will choose for her team will be Julian Singh. This is of course a key moment for the plot of the story as we find out how and why Mrs. Olkinski chose the team.

What is the main problem in The View From Saturday?

There is not one single problem. The wonder of this book is how well all the many different problems of the book come together into a seamless whole. The Souls are trying to win the Academic Bowl. Mrs. Olinski is trying to find a way to be whole, find peace, and teach now that she's in a wheelchair. Each of the four members of the Souls is trying to find a way to fit in. (Each has a different challenge.)