Karina Yan Glaser: The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2017)
The 141st Street brownstone holds a special place in the hearts of the Vanderbeeker family: it is their home. However, four days before Christmas, they receive bad news: their landlord will not renew their lease for the following year, so they have to leave their home at the end of the month. The children, Isa, Jessie, Oliver, Hyacinth and Laney, therefore decide to convince Mr. Beiderman that the house is not the same without them, no matter what the cost. They must hurry, because they have four days to make “Operation Beiderman” a success or they will have to move.
Throughout the story, we can see the everyday life of a family, the preparations for Christmas and the dynamics between family members, neighbors and friends. One of the main points is that raising children requires not only the family, but also the wider environment. As the children try to convince their landlord to let them stay, they all reminisce about their homes and realize that as long as they love each other, they can find a home anywhere.
Karina Yan Glaser comes from a biracial family. She was born in California, but went to college in New York and somehow stuck around there. She has been living there for twenty years with her husband, two teenage children, two dogs, and three cats. She considers her greatest achievement that her children never go anywhere without a book.
