The Saturdays

by Elizabeth Enright

Book Overview

Four reasons to cheer! Meet the Melendys! Mona, the eldest, is thirteen. She has decided to become an actress and can recite poetry at the drop of a hat. Rush is twelve and a bit mischievous. Miranda is ten and a half. She loves dancing and painting pictures. Oliver is the youngest. At six, he is a calm and thoughful person. They all live with their father, who is a writer, and Cuffy, their beloved housekeeper, who takes on the many roles of nurse,...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0805070605
• ISBN13: 9780805070606
• Release Date: September 2002
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.4" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

Timeless clasdic

What was it like to live and grow up in New York City in the 1940s? Find out in this first story of the Melendys, which introduces Oliver, Randy, Rush and Mona, and follow their adventures one Saturday at a time. A magical story without actual magic!

What A Gem!

The Saturdays is one swell book!It is upbeat, agreeable, and not so deep that one would get bogged down by all sorts of disasters, unfortunate luck and the like, that befall many subjects in books for the 8-12 set and young teens. Older readers will also enjoy if you're looking for something breezy and fun.This book seems as if it really could have happened. It's light and amusing, but with a few serious close calls. BR>Parents will enjoy reading to their youngsters, perhaps a few chapters at a time, and more developed readers on their own, or even as a family this book will be enjoyed on a rainy Saturday afternoon or evening, while taking turns reading aloud.<br>If you love this book, then you will most likely love the others by this wonderfully talented author.<br>In sum, it is positive, decent and filled with adventure. <br>The ending is absolutely great! :)

The hit of the third grade!

When I was in third grade, a classroom aide gave us the option of listening to her read out loud, or playing on the playground. Her book of choice? The Saturdays. Within the week, every child was choosing to stay in during recess and breathlessly awaiting the further exploits of Mona, Rush, Randy and Oliver. At 40 years of age, it continues to be an all-time favorite book of mine, as well as the other books about the Melendys. I consider it a treasure to pass on to my eight-year-old daughter; something we will share and laugh together about for years.

Explaining Dumb Crambo

My original review was written 14 July 1998. This is an addition for readers (and potential readers) who are (or would be) as puzzled as I once was when the book said the Melendy children played a noisy game of "Dumb Crambo". Over 20 years after I first read THE SATURDAYS, I was lucky enough to get a copy of VICTORIAN PARLOUR GAMES by Patrick Beaver that includes it. To paraphrase, in Dumb Crambo, the players are split evenly into two teams. One team leaves the room while the remaining team chooses a verb. When the first team comes back in, the second team tells them another verb that rhymes with the first verb. The first team must guess the secret verb by acting it out. For example [not the one given], if the secret verb is "fly", the first team might be told "try". If they guess it's "spy", they act out someone spying on someone else. If they're wrong, the second team hisses them. The first team keeps trying until they act out the right verb. It's called "dumb crambo" because it's a variation of a game called "crambo." In the original, only one person leaves the room and any kind of word may be chosen. The guesser is still told a word that rhymes with the secret word. The trick is that you have to ask questions that might get you the secret word WITHOUT naming the word you're guessing. For instance, if you think the secret word is "bus", you might ask "Is it a big ground vehicle that carries a lot of passengers?" I think it shows something of the personalities and intelligence of the Melendy children that they would enjoy Dumb Crambo.

Thoroughly enjoyable family fun

My daughter, age 9 and I both read The Saturdays over the past few months along with Four-Story Mistake. We loved this family and found each character fun. I loved their adventures and wish I had read these books as a child. I recommend this book to anyone who values their child's mind and wants to protect them from the abundance of nonsense in some children's literature.