The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street
By Karina Yan Glaser
Hi! Have you ever moved from your house and been sad? Well, the Vanderbeekers know what that feels like. The Vanderbeekers rented a Brownstone apartment, but their landlord, Mr. Beiderman, was not going to renew their lease.
They had until Christmas day to try to convince Mr. Beiderman to let them stay. First, the Vanderbeeker children tried getting “The Beiderman” cheese croissants. Oliver suggested that they do mean things to the Beiderman as their second plan. The first plan didn’t work, but nobody agreed with Oliver on the second plan, so they started brainstorming other ideas. Oliver came back from The Beiderman’s apartment.
Jessie was the one who had bought the croissants. While she was at the store, Benny, the owner of the store’s son, asked Jessie if Isa (Jessie’s twin sister) would like to go to the 8th grade dance with him. Jessie thought it would ruin their sisterhood, so she said no. So, Benny got mad. If Isa did or did not go to the dance with Benny, I don’t want to ruin the book for you.
Will they renew their lease? Will Benny stop being mad at Isa? Or will all hope just fade away? As I always say, read the book to find out!
I recommend this book to readers who can take a little sadness (there’s a little bit of sadness at the end – I almost stopped reading. But, trust me – DON’T STOP!!).
A few helpful things I like to say about the books I read:
“Run and Get Mom” (how I describe the scariness factor):
I had to get my mom at that sad part. (So, just so you know for next time, sadness counts for “Run and get mom” – really anything you’d have to get your mom for.)
“Yucky-Lovey Stuff” (how I describe the romance factor):
Zero. None. Nada.
I give this book 5 ½ wands.
I give this book more than 5 wands because I felt a lot of emotions throughout the book. It made me excited and scared and sad and happy and the list goes on and on. I personally like the beginning and I got into it from the start!
Source: Review Copy
