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The Saturdays (Melendy Quartet, 1) Paperback – January 22, 2008

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 432 ratings

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Meet the Melendys! The four Melendy children live with their father and Cuffy, their beloved housekeeper, in a worn but comfortable brownstone in New York City. There's thirteen-year-old Mona, who has decided to become an actress; twelve-year-old mischievous Rush; ten-and-a-half-year-old Randy, who loves to dance and paint; and thoughtful Oliver, who is just six.

Tired of wasting Saturdays doing nothing but wishing for larger allowances, the four Melendys jump at Randy's idea to start the Independent Saturday Afternoon Adventure Club (I.S.A.A.C.). If they pool their resources and take turns spending the whole amount, they can each have at least one memorable Saturday afternoon of their own. Before long, I.S.A.A.C. is in operation and every Saturday is definitely one to remember.

Written more than half a century ago,
The Saturdays unfolds with all the ripe details of a specific place and period but remains, just the same, a winning, timeless tale. The Saturdays is the first installment of Enright's Melendy Quartet, an engaging and warm series about the close-knit Melendy family and their surprising adventures.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Enright has a quick eye for the unexpected, the amusing and the beautiful in what might be just ordinary experiences.” ―The New York Times

“The Melendys are the quintessential storybook family...[their] ardent approach to living is eternally relevant.” ―
Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Elizabeth Enright (1907-1968) was born in Oak Park, Illinois, but spent most of her life in or near New York City. Her mother was a magazine illustrator, while her father was a political cartoonist. Illustration was Enright's original career choice and she studied art in Greenwich, Connecticut; Paris, France; and New York City. After creating her first book in 1935, she developed a taste, and quickly demonstrated a talent, for writing.  Throughout her life, she won many awards, including the 1939 John Newbery Medal for Thimble Summer and a 1958 Newbery Honor for Gone-Away Lake. Among her other beloved titles are her books about the Melendy family, including The Saturdays, published in 1941. Enright also wrote short stories for adults, and her work was published in The New Yorker, The Ladies Home Journal, Cosmopolitan, The Yale Review, Harper’s, and The Saturday Evening Post. She taught creative writing at Barnard College. Translated into many languages throughout the world, Elizabeth Enright's stories are for both the young and the young at heart.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Square Fish; Third edition (January 22, 2008)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0312375980
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0312375980
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 6 - 11 years, from customers
  • Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 820L
  • Grade level ‏ : ‎ 3 - 6
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.7 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.15 x 0.65 x 7.55 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 432 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
432 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book enjoyable and entertaining for children. They appreciate the vivid visuals and interesting family history. The book is described as a pleasant, enduring story with good values.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

34 customers mention "Readability"34 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book. They find it a delightful read for children and grandchildren, especially at bedtime. The story is fun and cute, making it a wholesome alternative to mainstream juvenile literature. Readers love the series and recommend it as a good read-aloud or reading alone.

"I had never ready these books as a young person. I loved the entire series. Heartwarming and amazing writing. Adults will love this series too!!" Read more

"the saterdays is the best seris ever! i have read all the books with no hesitation 100% recomend." Read more

"...I highly recommend as a wholesome alternative for mainstream juvenile literature...." Read more

"...It's a great book for a child who reads above his or her grade level, but is still too young for books that are just a little too mature in subject..." Read more

6 customers mention "Entertainment value"6 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book's entertainment value. They find it funny and interesting, with an imaginative storyline.

"...The Saturdays is a fascinating and exciting book for kids who would love to take off on a bike and explore on their own and not come home till..." Read more

"We love this book! Funny and entertaining!" Read more

"...Anyway you should most definitely get this book because it is funny and heartfelt at the same time...." Read more

"Beautiful, fun story. And this is only the beginning! You will love the Melendy family series of books." Read more

5 customers mention "Visual quality"5 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the visual quality of the book. They find the story engaging and vivid, painting an ideal picture of how exciting and free it must have been in the late 1940s. However, some feel the design is poor.

"...too, because it is set in Manhattan in the late 40s, and the author paints a very vivid and ideal picture of how exciting and free it must have been...." Read more

"Beautiful, fun story. And this is only the beginning! You will love the Melendy family series of books." Read more

"Cutest book!..." Read more

"From my childhood....as lovely as I remembered..." Read more

4 customers mention "Family history"4 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the family history. They find the book engaging and charming, with a story of four siblings in 1940's NYC. The grandchildren enjoyed the family escapades.

"...Light reading, fun. These stories are the adventures of 4 siblings, their father, beloved housekeeper, and handyman...." Read more

"...the other 3 books in the "Melendy Quartet." It's a charming story of 4 siblings in 1940's NYC...." Read more

"...The Melendy family is still a delight, although a bit dated!" Read more

"This is a great book about an interesting family. The family characters are all well developed and have definite personalities...." Read more

3 customers mention "Enjoyment"3 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book. They say it's a pleasant, enduring story that they enjoy even as adults.

"...The stories hold up and are just as wonderful today...." Read more

"...I enjoyed it again as an old lady." Read more

"Interesting, pleasant, enduring story." Read more

3 customers mention "Value for money"3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's value for money. They find it a great purchase with prompt service. The book is full of good values and no offensive words like those seen in kids' books today.

"...Full of old fashioned good values and no offensive words that you see in kids books of today. Parents and children will enjoy this classic story...." Read more

"Was a gift for a young reader. Fair price with prompt service. Child enjoyed the book and wants more from same author...." Read more

"Great purchase! Very pleased. Such a wonderful book." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2024
    I had never ready these books as a young person. I loved the entire series. Heartwarming and amazing writing. Adults will love this series too!!
  • Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2024
    the saterdays is the best seris ever! i have read all the books with no hesitation 100% recomend.
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2016
    I got this book for my homeschooled 11-year old daughter as an alternative to a secular book series given as a gift by a beloved relative. As a Christian, conscientious, and involved parent, I review and approve all reading material my kids consume- just as the public schools do when they select and approve secular literature offerings in their libraries and classrooms! That is a big plus for homeschoolers. My daughter absolutely adored this book and all those in the series. She wishes there were more, but unfortuantely there are not.

    I highly recommend as a wholesome alternative for mainstream juvenile literature.

    Any "non-helpful" votes I will assume come from disgruntled educators of the public school or secular persuasion or anti-homeschool opinion; therefore, if this review has helped you as a homeschool and/or Christian parent make an informed decision regarding your child's reading list, I would very much appreciate your show of support with a helpful vote for this review. Thank you!
    161 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2011
    I loved this book as a child, and gave it to my first grade daughter to read over our week-long vacation. I ended up reading it to both my girls (ages 5 and 7) in the evenings in installments and they really loved it. It's fun for adults, too, because it is set in Manhattan in the late 40s, and the author paints a very vivid and ideal picture of how exciting and free it must have been. Each child has his or her own solitary adventure in the city on consecutive Saturdays and roams the city in a way that kids just can't do anymore. It's a great book for a child who reads above his or her grade level, but is still too young for books that are just a little too mature in subject matter. The Saturdays is a fascinating and exciting book for kids who would love to take off on a bike and explore on their own and not come home till dinner.
    20 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2011
    The Saturdays is the first book in the Melendy series by Elizabeth Enright. This series of books concerns the Melendy children in NYC and the Independent Saturday Afternoon Adventure Club (I.S.A.A.C.), a club they formed by combining their allowances so that one lucky Melendy can have an adventure each week.

    These children are not overly sentimentalized - they fight amongst themselves and don't always tell the truth - but they are brave and courageous and polite to adults. Pretty much the kind of child you'd like your children to hang out with.

    We bought the audio book version and the reader is wonderful. She does different voices using inflection and phrasing as well as a full-on "Brooklynese" series of NYC cops!

    My modern son, raised on "stranger danger" and Nickelodeon, really wished he could go on these trips as well. So did I, nearly 40 years ago when I read the books myself.

    A wonderful glimpse into times gone by.
    7 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2017
    I am in my 50's, and just recently discovered this delightful book--plus the other 3 Melendy Quartet books in the set. Light reading, fun. These stories are the adventures of 4 siblings, their father, beloved housekeeper, and handyman. Takes you back to an earlier time in the mid-1900's, a time when kids didn't have all the electronic stuff they do now, a time when kids were kids and made their own creative fun. Love it! Can't wait for my grandkids to read these stories.
    10 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2023
    We love this book! Funny and entertaining!
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2016
    Love this book! I first read it as a child. I was a California kid and this book gave me a huge desire to live in New York. I never did, but did get to that coast. I'm now in my 70s and I've read all of the Melendy books again over the years and continued to love them. Also, being an only child, I've the relationship of the four siblings. I was thrill to find it on Kindle do have added them there so if I wake in the night and can't sleep, I can easily mentally wander into this charming world of the four Melendys and fall asleep with sweet dreams.
    32 people found this helpful
    Report

Top reviews from other countries

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  • lorna
    5.0 out of 5 stars Nostalgic
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 13, 2019
    Absolutely delighted to be reacquainted with this story read first over 40 years ago but never forgotten.
    Just as I recalled in the most part but I'd forgotten the ending
    Delightful - and now to read for the first time the remaining 3 stories. Bliss.
  • Sol
    4.0 out of 5 stars Pequeñas aventuras
    Reviewed in Spain on October 6, 2017
    Un libro de lectura muy agradable sobre las pequeñas aventuras de cuatro hermanos que deciden unir sus asignaciones semanales para cumplir los deseos de cada uno, por turnos. Sus salidas suelen tener consecuencias inesperadas y las historias son ocurrentes, entretenidas y muy distraídas. Un placer para niños y no tan niños.
  • TG
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great kids story
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 5, 2020
    My favourite kids book as a child, bought for my kids to enjoy. Efficient service.
  • TeaLover
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 29, 2015
    One of my favourite books as a child, nice to have it back in my collection
  • Jacqui Dziedziela
    1.0 out of 5 stars Sent it back.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 18, 2014
    Sent it back. Thought it was over priced for such a thin book and the hardback cover was badly printed. On reflection I don't think it was suitable for the recommended age group in this day and age in the UK. Ok if you read it as a child in the USA and wanted to share with your grandchildren.