My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
I read this book in basically a day. You know when you eat a good, hot meal and you’re left feeling full and warm both emotionally and physically? That’s how I feel when I read middle grade books. There’s just something so filling about them. This book was a bundle of joy wrapped in a huge warm scarf, a perfect description for the perfect cozy winter book if I say so myself,
This book takes place over a course of a few days when the Vanderbeeker kids find out that they are being forced out of their home in Harlem right after Christmas. We follow the five siblings, each unique and equally hilarious, adorable, and witty, as they come up with both wholesome and outlandish ways to convince their landlord to let them stay.
I loved how uniquely different all the siblings are and all their individual personalities. Honestly, I haven’t read about a family as wholesome as the Vanderbeekers in a long time, both in adult and children fiction. They’re just good people, everyone from the kids to the parents and the loving neighbors. Every single character brings something to the table.
I loved how we got to read not about the Vanderbeeker kids but also about the parents. Seeing their struggles and their lives through the eyes of their children was extra wholesome. It’s just one huge family of love.
It can be expected from a book that revolves around saving one’s home that the major theme about this story is the idea of a home. We get to see the children as they take us through and around their home bought inside and outside of the walls. We get to meet neighbors who are willing and excited to help the youngest four year old Vanderbeeker kid train her bunny named after a long dead musician because of course what else would you name a cute little bunny? We get to visit and interact with the family who runs the bakery down the street. And the local kids who play basketball even when it’s way too hot or way too cold.
Whenever I read about living in New York or specific places such as Brooklyn or Harlem, there’s always this sense of magic. When you say you live at a place, whatever city it may be, it’s often referred to as a place. But when someone says they’re from a place in New York, say Harlem like in this book, it’s never just a place, it’s a community.
It’s a real tangible community that extends beyond those found behind phone or laptop screens. Growing up in the 90’s, I had a small sense of growing up in a community, even being raised outside of places like New York. But as soon as the cool touch screen phones became the new hot thing, that small town, community feeling started to erode and fade into the past. New York though, as busy as it is, seems to have found some immunity to this digital distancing because that sense of community and tight knit neighborhoods seems to still be going strong.
All in all, I really enjoyed this book. It’s a new favorite and comfort read and while I have a ton more books to read that are far more seasonally appropriate, I think I’m going to give in to the unavoidable and read the next book in the series and see what the Vanderbeekers get up to next.
[…] This is the coziest book I’ve read in a while. I always say books find you at the right time and this one did and boy am I glad that it’s a series. After I finished the book, the first in the series, I knew that every time I’m feeling down and in my feels, I need to pick up another Vanderbeeker book because they’re just so heartwarming. I feel like I’ve talked about this book a ton so I won’t go into too much detail. This series follows a group of siblings who live in Brooklyn. The first book is about the siblings fighting to keep their apartment when they find out their grumpy landlord who lives upstairs is planning to kick them out after Christmas. If you’re looking for a book full of people who have nothing but love for one another, pick up this book. You can check out my full review here. […]