The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street

The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser

It’s five days before Christmas, and the Vanderbeeker children should be dreaming about sugar plums and presents. But when their curmudgeonly landlord mysteriously refuses to renew their lease, the five siblings must find a way to change his mind before New Year’s. All they have to do is show him how wonderful they are, right? But as every well-intentioned plan goes comically awry, their shenanigans only exasperate their landlord more. What the Vanderbeekers need now is a Christmas miracle.

The Good

The Vanderbeekers are kind, love each other, and try to help out everyone around them, even their grouchy landlord. They pray before they eat a meal. The Vanderbeeker family is a great example of a real family today, but not a perfect one.

The Bad

Mr. Beiderman’s wife and daughter died in a car crash.

Ages

Any age can read this book, it just depends on their reading level. An awesome read-aloud for anyone.

My Take

I read this book for a book club with some of my friends, and we all enjoyed it so much we decided to finish the whole series! The kid’s plans are hysterical and I love how they are devoted to helping others.

Review by Kaitlyn