The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden

The Vanderbeekers return in this follow-up to their debut adventure, chronicled in Karina Yan Glaser's The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street, and the result is a book every bit as engaging, appealing, and heartwarming as the first! When their beloved upstairs neighbor Mr. Jeet has a stroke, the children are terribly worried and upset. Oliver has the idea of turning the vacant, overgrown lot next to the church into a community garden, something Mr. Jeet and Miss Josie have long wanted, as a means of cheering their seriously ill neighbor up, when he finally gets home from the hospital. All of the siblings pitch in, working to clean up and clear the lot, and then to plant a beautiful garden. Even the absent Isa, away at music camp, manages to show more contribute from a distance, through her violin playing. But will the efforts of the siblings (and the friends they inevitably involve in their quest) all be for naught, when it looks like the lot has been sold to a developer...?

I read The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden in two days, on my train commute to and from work, and it was an absolute delight. I continue to find this family and their larger community both endearing and amusing. I love the individual characters - Hyacinth with her knitting (and what a surprise that school bully and spoiled rich kid Herman turns out to be a fellow knitter!); Laney with her hugs and her faith in the ability of her pet bunny, Paganini, to cure all ills; Oliver with his natural little selfishnesses, and his growing understanding of the value of unselfishness - but I also love the ensemble of characters, how they all work together to create something beautiful, and to do something loving for their friend. Glaser often references classic works of children's literature in her stories, but the one book that this one truly reminded me of, is the obscure 1955 children's novel, The Hidden Garden, by Mabel R. Bennett, which also concerns a New York City wasteland turned into a community garden. Highly recommended, to anyone who has read and enjoyed the previous Vanderbeekers book, and to anyone looking for heart-satisfying family stories for the middle grade set. show less

While Isa is off at sleepaway orchestra camp, Jessie, Oliver, Hyacinth, and Laney are stuck at home in the brownstone with nothing to do but get on one another's nerves. But when catastrophe strikes their beloved upstairs neighbor, their sleepy summer transforms in an instant as the Vanderbeeker children band together to do what they do best: make a plan. They will create the most magical healing garden in all of Harlem.

While Isa is off at sleepaway orchestra camp, Jessie, Oliver, Hyacinth, and Laney are stuck at home in the brownstone with nothing to do but get on one another's nerves. But when catastrophe strikes their beloved upstairs neighbor, their sleepy summer transforms in an instant as the Vanderbeeker children band together to do what they do best: make a plan. They will create the most magical healing garden in all of Harlem.

Return to Harlem's "wildly entertaining" family in this funny, heartwarming sequel. When catastrophe strikes their beloved upstairs neighbors, the Vanderbeeker children set out to build the best, most magical healing garden in Harlem—in spite of a locked fence, thistles and trash, and the conflicting plans of a wealthy real estate developer.
While Isa is off at sleepaway orchestra camp, Jessie, Oliver, Hyacinth, and Laney are stuck at home in the brownstone with nothing to do but get on one another’s nerves. But when catastrophe strikes their beloved upstairs neighbor, their sleepy summer transforms in an instant as the Vanderbeeker children band together to do what they do best: make a plan. They will create the most magical healing show more garden in all of Harlem. show less

I read an advance reading uncorrected proof copy with 326 pages. Thank you, Karina! The author asked me if I wanted a copy and offered to add my name to the list, and I received it from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

It’s been a long time since I’ve had the opportunity to read a book in advance of publication and I am grateful because I have such fun reading books early. I’ll probably reread the book when the hardcover edition is available, just in case changes have been made between now and then. This copy already has a good look to it though, with a real cover image and inside illustrations, section and chapter titles, etc.

It could work as a standalone but I highly recommend reading the first book first. This show more one isn’t due out for a few months so there is plenty of time to read the first Vanderbeeker book before reading this second book.

It took me less than a 24 hour period to read it. For just a bit it started very slowly for me, maybe because I already knew the characters and didn’t need as much set up, but I think it was mainly my mood and not the book, but I did like it more and more as it went on. At first I thought I wouldn’t like it as much as the first book but by the middle and definitely by the end I actually enjoyed it even a bit more than the first book.

It’s a sort of modern “The Secret Garden” and I thoroughly enjoyed the references to many other books as well.

I appreciate how even though they have normal sibling squabbles, these kids, even though they have a fairly wide age range, want to spend so much time doing things together. And I also love how they have other friends, both fellow kids and adults.

I really missed Isa in this book. I do think the reason for her absence is realistic. I am glad we got to see her eventually, and the phone call with her helped, though for me the text message did not.

These kids, siblings and their friends, and many of the adults too, are resourceful, industrious, creative, loveable, and endearing. They and this story are delightful.

There is plenty of humor, and one time I did laugh out loud (bunny in the hospital scene) and other amusing scenes too.

Even though as an adult I could easily guess how things would go, more than the target age readers I think, I still felt a lot of suspense, and was heartily rooting for these kids and their project.

The food mentioned in this book, at least to my pre-vegan childhood self, and some of the food is vegan or seems close to it, and of course all of it could be veganized, was so appealing that I didn’t want to read the book feeling hungry.

At one point, after daily action, there is a one week long gap of time and initially I found it jarring but it was the right decision for the story.

The characters and relationships are interesting and have some complexity. This is also a great story about community.

Ultimately, it’s a sweet but not overly sweet story.

Another plus: This book can be enjoyed by both girls and boys.

The illustrations are charming.

I love the author’s bio part that says “One of her proudest achievements is raising two kids who can’t go anywhere without a book.” show less

I really loved this sequel novel. I loved seeing what new adventures this family went thought. I also enjoyed how again the parents were such a important part of this novel and it was a prefect slice of life novel for 2018 NYC. I loved the time line of this book and also the plot. I really thought it was a fast pace book and i loved seeing both new and old characters. I loved the summer adventure but also how it handled harder issues like older people getting sick but also a save the day plot, like in this first book. This book just put a smile on my face and I really liked it. I will def be checking out book 3!

Another delightful installment of the Vanderbeeker family, this time during a summer adventure in Harlem.
The Vanderbeeker children and their friends, both old and new, must come together toward a new goal: to set up a neighborhood garden as a surprise. The story of how they achieve their dream with teamwork and how the garden comes to fruition is empowering.
This unselfish family and how their circle of friends/village expands is again heartwarming.