The apartment in the classic Harlem brownstone feels like a part of the family in The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser (Clarion Books, 2017). But this Christmas, the family finds out that their landlord, the grumpy Mr. Beiderman, will not be renewing their lease. Now, with just eleven days before moving day, the family must find a way to win over Mr. Beiderman and convince them that he does want them as his neighbor. How can the children convince “the Beiderman” to let them stay, as well as celebrate Christmas appropriately, when there is such a deadline approaching?
The five lovable Vanderbeeker children are each unique in personality as they seek out ways to share love and serve one another and Mr. Beiderman in their own ways. Four-year-old Laney is our favorite, with her sweet innocence as she approaches the idea of cheering up a sad person. Hyacinth, age 6, is an arts-and-crafts prodigy with a clever skill she’s eager to share. Oliver is the lone boy in the midst of the family of girls, and his reading habit drives his more adventurous approach to their neighbor. And the 12-year-old twins, although used to their unique personalities as science and musical opposites, must now, for the first time, learn to respect each other’s preferences and boundaries in new ways.
Add in the second floor friendly neighbors Miss Josie and Mr. Jeet, a trained rabbit, and a curious roof-top kid hang-out, and the Vanderbeeker’s story is sure to delight the young reader. As is to be expected (especially knowing that there are sequels), the campaign to woo Mr. Beiderman will succeed thanks to the kids’ efforts. The book celebrates the necessity of service, neighborhood, and community as well as the overcoming of trauma and loneliness through brotherly love. Once again, children succeed even where grown-ups cannot.
My middle child and I read this book together a few years ago, when she was in third grade, and she greatly enjoyed it. This month I listened to the book with youngest, my 8-year-old daughter, via the Audible audiobook, narrated by Robin Miles. It was nicely done, and the customized “voices” of the characters brought the book to life. Even though we finished at Thanksgiving, Little Miss 8yo has already begun listening to it again. With the Christmas timeframe, it’s an appropriate addition to the holiday season, too!
One note (negative? intriguing?) goes back to the recent book I read about the common Darcy plot. The Vanderbeekers story fits right into the stereotype: a negative personality is converted into a positive one with a bit of extra love. As the “Darcy myth” dictates, his collective trauma has made him how he is. With another person’s influence (in this case, multiple people’s influence), he overcomes the trauma to become the positive good guy we all hoped for all along. Since I was listening to this at about the same time I was reading The Darcy Myth, I was shocked to see just how clearly this plot played out right as defined by the classics.
That’s not to say the book is bad: on the contrary, this is just what the young reader wants to read! It’s just unfortunate that this is not the way real curmudgeonly neighbors tend to be. Usually, they are just curmudgeonly and the family would unfortunately be turned out against their wishes. That said, the plot device of just 11 days in which to do so seems as completely unrealistic as well.
* nah nah nah nah I’m not listening!! *
Let’s put all of that aside and just appreciate The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street as the delightful family and community tale that it is: love wins in the end, especially at Christmas.
Get the book at Bookshop.org. OR Get the audiobook from Audible.
