The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street

The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street is a middle grade children’s novel by Karina Yan Glaser wherein the large, quirky Vanderbeeker family attempts to save their place in their beloved brownstone by befriending their cranky landlord.

Karina Yan Glaser wrote The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street in response to a dare. As a child, Glaser dreamed of living in New York City. After attending college in New York, she stayed and built her life in Harlem and later began writing a blog about raising children in an urban landscape. After reading her blog, her uncle dared her to turn it into a book. Glaser used her experience living in Harlem to craft a story about a large family living in a historic brownstone and navigating the ups and downs of New York life. The Vanderbeeker pets are based on Glaser’s own adopted family pets, and her eldest daughter’s love of music inspired the character of Isa Vanderbeeker. The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street is the recipient of a string of accolades including a New York Times Notable Children’s Book, Bank Street Children’s Book of the Year, and Chicago Public Library’s Best of the Best Children’s Book Award, and the novel has been translated into 12 languages. The novel went on to become a beloved series consisting of six books with the seventh and last set to be released in September of 2023. Glaser is also the author of A Duet for Home, is a regular contributor to “Book Riot,” and is the author of a weekly newsletter entitled The Kids Are All Right where she gives children’s book recommendations.

This guide is based on the 2017 Houghton Mifflin eBook edition.

Plot Summary

It is one week until Christmas, and Papa Vanderbeeker gathers his family to deliver bad news. Even the family pets, Franz the basset hound, George Washington the cat, and Paganini the rabbit, are in attendance. Their reclusive landlord Mr. Beiderman has decided not to renew their lease in the new year, and they must pack up their beloved Harlem brownstone and move to a new home. Worst of all, it’s only five days until Christmas. The five Vanderbeeker children—twins Jessie and Isa, Hyacinth, Oliver, and Laney decide to form Operation Beiderman, a plan to win over the heart of their curmudgeonly landlord in hopes of persuading him to let them stay. The children have a history of annoying the grumpy old man, particularly with Isa’s violin practice and Oliver’s constant basketball dribbling, but they hope that by using their gifts to extend kindness to Mr. Beiderman that he will see them as an asset and keep them around.

The family is closely connected to their community and grieves the impending loss not only of their home, but also their friendships. While the children dream up a scheme to change their fate, Papa and Mama maintain a realistic view. Their options are slim with their unconventional career choices. Mama runs a home baking business, and Papa is a part-time computer repairman and building supervisor, and real estate prices are high. They begin looking for a new home and packing up their memories from 141st Street.

The first part of Operation Beiderman involves taking him breakfast in bed. Jessie and Laney visit their local family-owned bakery to purchase cheese croissants for the special breakfast delivery. The Castleman family owns the bakery, and their son Benny works the register. Benny asks Jessie if Isa might like to be his date for the upcoming eighth-grade dance. Stunned by this new development with her twin sister, Jessie panics and tells him that Isa would say no, but Jessie instantly feels guilty for betraying her sister.

Back at home, the children prepare Beiderman’s breakfast and nominate Isa to deliver the croissants along with coffee in Hyacinth’s teapot. However, when Isa reaches Beiderman’s doorstep and hears his heavy footsteps, she stumbles, drops the tray, spills the food, and shatters the teapot. Isa returns home feeling like a failure and the children reconvene to plan other ways to make friends with their landlord. They decide to use their individual talents to show him kindness. Jessie makes him a science invention, Isa works on recording a violin performance, Hyacinth makes him a placemat, Oliver writes him a poem, and Laney draws a picture of the brownstone. When Hyacinth delivers her placemat, Mr. Beiderman appears gruffly at the door and terrifies her. She runs home and hides in her bed crying. Oliver decides to defend his family and writes Beiderman an anonymous letter scolding him for his unkindness. Meanwhile, Jessie worries about the Benny situation, but decides not to tell Isa about it.

Christmas approaches, but the Vanderbeekers struggle to find any holiday joy. As Mama hurries to pack the brownstone, Mr. Beiderman begins showing the apartment to prospective renters. Papa takes the children to purchase a Christmas tree, and the entire family gathers to decorate and enjoy their last Christmas in the brownstone, but the event is tinged with sadness and grief, and the children know they must work to quickly fulfill their plan. Isa goes to Castleman’s and when she sees Benny, he acts strangely and she attempts to tell him about their move, but Benny thinks they are talking about her refusal to attend the dance, and he is unkind to her. Benny’s behavior hurts Isa’s feelings, and she leaves the bakery feeling even worse than before. The children continue their efforts to woo Mr. Beiderman as Laney secretly delivers a small Christmas tree to his door and Hyacinth crafts him a holiday wreath. Isa drafts a petition, and the children get the signatures of many of their neighbors imploring Mr. Beiderman to let them stay.

The children learn that Mr. Beiderman once taught art history at the local college, and they learn from their neighbors Miss Josie and Mr. Jeet that Mr. Beiderman once loved jazz music. While packing the house, they find an old box of jazz records, and Laney delivers one to Mr. Beiderman’s door. However, Oliver later finds the record smashed in the garbage. They walk to the college and inquire inside about Mr. Beiderman, but no one can help them. With time running out, they feel like their mission is doomed to fail and resolve that they must say goodbye to their friends and home. Hyacinth finds a stray mama cat with kittens and secretly delivers one to Mr. Beiderman’s door. Mrs. Castleman gives Isa an envelope containing an old news article from 2007 reporting on how Mr. Beiderman’s wife and daughter were killed by a reckless cab driver.

Isa and Jessie oversee cooking the Christmas dinner, so Isa goes to Castleman’s to purchase bread. She confronts Benny over his harsh treatment, and he tells her what Jessie said about the dance. Isa storms home and confronts Jessie, telling her twin to never make decisions on her behalf. The sisters sleep apart for the first time, each feeling awful over the breach in their relationship, but not knowing how to repair it. Christmas Eve arrives, and Uncle Arthur and Auntie Harrigan, and Mr. Van Hooten, Isa’s violin teacher, arrive for the celebration. Isa and Jessie are still not speaking, but they finish the meal preparation, and the entire family goes to Miss Josie and Mr. Jeet’s apartment to eat. After the meal, Laney and Mr. Jeet entertain the guests by showcasing the tricks they have taught Paganini. The crowd loves it, but when they cheer and applaud, Mr. Beiderman starts banging on the ceiling above them. Isa grabs her violin, stands outside Mr. Beiderman’s door, and passionately plays. He opens his door and begins to cry. Later, as Mr. Van Hooten is leaving, he tells Isa that Luciana Beiderman once was his student and that the violin Isa plays belonged to her. Now all the children understand why Mr. Beiderman is so sad and why he hates music.

On Christmas morning, the family exchanges gifts and prepares breakfast. Benny arrives with pastries from the bakery and apologizes to Isa. He asks her to the dance, and she accepts. When Isa returns home, she and Jessie make amends and invite Benny to stay for breakfast. Franz drags Hyacinth towards the door, and when she opens it, she finds the kitten with a note from Mr. Beiderman asking to see her. All the Vanderbeeker children walk up to his apartment, and he invites them inside where they see all the gifts that they sent him prominently displayed along with paintings of his daughter. He apologizes for his cruelty and explains that once he heard Isa playing the violin, he didn’t think he could bear to hear it again, thus the reason he did not renew their lease. The children force Mr. Beiderman to accompany them to breakfast and he tells the family that they can stay in the brownstone. They spend the rest of the day together celebrating and getting to know Mr. Beiderman. He asks Isa to visit him and play the violin, and Laney and Hyacinth will help him care for the kitten. One month later, Benny arrives to escort Isa to the dance and all the neighbors stick their heads out the windows of the brownstone, including Mr. Beiderman, to wish them well.