The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street
Series: The Vanderbeekers, Book 1
By: Karina Glaser / Narrated By: Robin Miles
Length: 5 hrs and 39 mins
A family with so much heart I’m dying for the sequel!
I wish I was a Vanderbeeker! And that’s saying a lot ‘cause I’m desperately fond of my own family. But the Vanderbeekers are clever, funny, loving. Plus? Everyone is a part of their family, from their many pets, to their upstairs neighbors, to their friends who live just around the corner.
So when their landlord decides not to renew their lease (What?!? But they’ve lived in the brownstone on 141st Street forEVER!!!), the five kids are thrown into a tizzy. They decide they’ll do whatever it takes to get him to change his mind, but the man is a beast—doesn’t even like music, for heaven’s sake! They’ll get him baked goods (that ends in disaster); they’ll start a neighborhood petition (that doesn’t end too well either); they’ll learn as much about him as they possibly can, all so they know what angle to take with him (and boy do they learn a lot!). Everything they do shows what heart they have and what kind of devotion they have to their family, to the life they’ve known.
Karina Glaser really wrote a wonderful story here, with wonderful characters, wonderful escapades, and a beguiling secret that’s quite touching when revealed. I had a lump in my throat by the end of the audiobook, I tell you; a veritable lump! And Robin Miles? Well, she’s just a top-notch narrator, no matter what she narrates. But here in The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street she has quite the challenge with so many characters of such varied ages, such varied personalities. She meets the challenge with style and humor, and I adored her voices for each of the children. Even the twins don’t truly sound alike; they’re unique girls, each with a personality of her own (something that even they forget at times).
You want a really enjoyable listen of an audiobook? Here it is. I was really sad when I’d finished with it but was thoroughly overjoyed to find that there’s a sequel. I DEFINITELY want to know what the characters get up to next. Such creative and loving kids, such warm writing, such wonderful narration! Time well spent!
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