For our third read in this year’s Cousin’s Book Club, we’ve chosen The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright. It’s a different speed and genre from our first two books, Minecraft: The Island by Max Brooks (2017) and The Legend of Luke by Brian Jacques (1999), and I’m a bit surprised by our reactions to it.
My son (14) finished the book first, which shocked me. It may be that he wanted to get the book over with, since he (like his sister, 12) is at a stage where he claims, “I can’t read two books at once. It’s too confusing.” I finished the book second, and my daughter is still working through the final chapters.
Story Synopsis and Summary
The plot of this semi-humorous tale is slightly different than I had expected from reading the synopsis on the back. I had thought these four Melendy children would enjoy their Saturday adventures together, but instead, these eight Saturdays are spent individually for the most part.
The basis of the story is that the four Melendy children decide to pool their allowances each week, allowing one kid to splurge on whatever activity he or she wants on a given Saturday—that is, to do whatever $1.60 will let them (about $34.50 is today’s money).
Randy gets first dibs on Saturday Two, and she chooses to go to a museum where she meets Mrs. Oliphant who invited her for tea and a story. It’s this chapter that really sets the tone for the book—even more than the first—and from here on out it feels episodic, where each chapter (Saturday) serves as a standalone short story. It’s no wonder Enright kept going with these books, writing four in all!
On Saturday Three, Rush goes to a Siegfried and Brünnhilde show (by Fafner, as if I know who any of those people are!) and finds a dog along the way. This dog proves that these stories are loosely connected and that they eventually build off each other as the weeks progress.
Saturday Four was my favorite chapter, where Mona decides to go to a hairdresser on Broadway and change her look completely, with a bob, manicure, and nail polish. What made this chapter so great was the very human feelings of regret she feels when she arrives home to a less-than-welcome reception. It shows how tough freedom can be on a child and how unprepared most adults are to witness it.
Saturday Five was little Oliver’s Saturday, and although he wasn’t supposed to do it, he goes out on his own to the circus. It’s an event quite similar to one in Enright’s Newberry-winning novel, Thimble Summer, and one that I think could spark some healthy discussion among readers and teachers.
On Saturdays Six through Eight, the children decide to pool their resources for outings together, and the choose things like a cold picnic in Central Park and visiting Mrs. Oliphant’s lighthouse. A dip in the Central Park water starts a chain reaction of events that none of them were prepared for and all these chapters nicely together.
Personal Reflections (PDF Discussion Guide Available)
While this book moved a bit more slowly than modern novels do—as if it were written for a generation that only read books!—it was an entertaining read filled with silly, sometimes emotional anecdotes. Enright admits that she pieced together these tales from stories she’d heard all over, and a few were even slightly autobiographical. However the stories developed, they make for a fun series of small adventures starring kids growing up somewhat well-to-do in the Big Apple at the beginning of WWII.
Like I did with Minecraft: The Island, I created a downloadable Discussion Guide (PDF) for parents and teachers to use with this first book in the series. It’s only 4 questions long, but it’s thought-provoking and fit for middle-school-aged readers. Feel free to use it for your young readers. I hope it’s a benefit to you and sparks some discussions.
Conclusion
My son answered all of the discussion questions today, and he somehow managed to fit “KFC chicken sandwich” into every answer he gave. Either he’s writing fluffy answers or he’s a little distracted. Probably both.
Besides the homework (and his gnawing hunger), I think he enjoyed the book well enough. I did too, though perhaps not well enough to long for books 2-4. Still, I think they’re a solid choice for healthy WWII-era children’s literature and might make for a nice homeschool series to read.
©2025 E.T.