Konigsburg does not seem to shy away from controversy, but her novels tend to be much more concerned with the inner lives of young people than with social issues. Even so, The View from Saturday may make some readers uncomfortable with its disdainful treatment of the idea of diversity, the academic buzzword of the moment.

Although the educational concept of diversity is a secondary issue in the novel, it is a recurring motif. Konigsburg points out that the theory of diversity in practice excludes Jews (perhaps even discriminates against them), other unfashionable ethnic groups such as East Indians, and would appear to exclude handicapped people such as Mrs. Olinski. The main characters of The View from Saturday even seem to be drawn together partly because they are each unfashionable in some way that cannot be helped, even though their roles as people on journeys is the...