The Saturdays

The Saturdays follows four siblings in pre-World War II New York City who devise a plan to make their weekends more exciting. The Melendy children - Mona, Rush, Randy, and Oliver - pool their allowances to create the Independent Saturday Afternoon Adventure Club (I.S.A.A.C.), enabling each child to fund a special solo outing. Each child pursues distinct interests during their designated Saturday, from artistic endeavors to urban explorations. The siblings live in a brownstone with their economics professor father and their housekeeper Cuffy, creating their own adventures against the backdrop of 1940s Manhattan. The novel explores themes of independence, creativity, and the balance between freedom and responsibility. Through their weekend adventures, the children discover new aspects of themselves and their city while learning to navigate the complexities of growing up.

Readers consistently describe The Saturdays as a comforting, nostalgic story about sibling relationships and childhood independence. Many note its ability to appeal to both children and adults. Readers liked: - The realistic portrayal of sibling dynamics - The children's adventures exploring 1940s New York City - Each child getting their own focused chapter - Details about art, music, and culture that enrich the story "The book respects children's intelligence without talking down to them" - common sentiment in reviews Readers disliked: - Slower pacing compared to modern children's books - Some dated language and cultural references - Less action/conflict than contemporary middle-grade fiction Ratings: Goodreads: 4.17/5 (6,800+ ratings) Amazon: 4.7/5 (280+ ratings) Common Sense Media: 4/5 Several reviewers mention rereading the book multiple times as both children and adults, with one Goodreads reviewer noting: "It holds up beautifully and reads differently at each stage of life."

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The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall Four sisters spend a summer vacation exploring the grounds of a Massachusetts estate while forming a friendship with the young boy who lives there.

The Moffats by Eleanor Estes A family of siblings creates adventures and solves problems in their small Connecticut town during the early 1900s.

Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright Two cousins discover an abandoned summer colony near a dried-up lake and befriend the elderly residents who still live there.

Half Magic by Edward Eager Four siblings find a magical charm that grants wishes by halves, leading to unexpected results during their summer adventures.

🌟 The book was published in 1941 and is part of a beloved quartet known as The Melendy Family series, which continues with The Four-Story Mistake (1942), Then There Were Five (1944), and Spiderweb for Two (1951). 🌟 Elizabeth Enright was the niece of renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright and grew up surrounded by creative influences, which likely contributed to her vivid descriptions of the brownstone and city architecture in the book. 🌟 The author won the 1939 Caldecott Medal for her illustrations in "Picture Tales from the French," showcasing her talent as both a writer and artist before penning The Saturdays. 🌟 The children's allowances in the book were 50 cents each per week, which would be equivalent to approximately $9.50 in 2023, making their pooled "Independent Adventure Fund" worth about $38 in today's money. 🌟 The brownstone setting was inspired by Enright's own experiences living in New York City during the 1940s, when such homes were popular residences for middle-class families, often housing multiple generations under one roof.