The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser

Rating: My bookshelf

Reading Level: Mid-Late Elementary, Late Elementary, Middle School

A heart-warming and look into a family’s response to being evicted. Expect honest grief and some joy, too.

Possible (Minor) Concerns:

• Mild Romance. A mixup occurs when a boy who wants to ask one of the girls to a dance thinks he has been rejected by her.
• Tragedy. The “villain” landlord who is kicking the V’s out of their apartment lost his wife and child in a tragic accident.
• Vengeance/Anger. When a family is being evicted, the kids respond with some honest but unsavory reactions, including name-calling, threatening letters, and toothpicks stabbed into gumdrops pretending they are someone’s eyes. There is also mention of “cursing with 1000 curses.”
• Mild Explicatives suggesting the f-word. Both the daughter and mother yell “Fudge” when something goes wrong. There is also the use of “freaking.”
• Use of the word “sucks.”
• Mention of poor parenting. Allegra’s parents are described as pediatricians who forgot they had a daughter of their own. On the other hand, the V’s have great parents.
• Monsters in the bathroom at night. Laney Wales up her sister to go to the bathroom at night because she’s scared. I don’t want my pre-schooler to get any ideas.
• Brief suspected Divorce. When the parents tell the kids they have bad news, the kids assume the parents are getting divorced. They make assumptions about what that means, even though the parents have no intention of getting divorced. This topic could be sensitive for separated families. It happens in the beginning of the very first chapter so you can scope it out if it’s a sensitive topic for your reader. Regardless, it might be a good opportunity to talk to any kid about what a divorce is and what it really means.

Things I liked:

• Empathy. The family learns to have compassion for their landlord even if he is kicking them out.
• Strong Family Relationships. The family pulls together in times of trouble, and the kids generally have good relationships with their parents and each other.
• Community. The V’s are close with their neighbors and other members of their community.
• Biracial family. The V’s are described as a bi-racial mix, and the kids diverse physical features are celebrated.

Overall, none of the minor concerns outweigh the strong model of family, community, forgiveness, and empathy.