The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden

August 15, 2018
Four siblings and their neighbors come together to prevail over gentrification.The Vanderbeeker children live in Harlem, and one of their beloved neighbors, the elderly Mr. Jeet, has just suffered a second stroke and landed in the hospital. Distraught, the children decide to turn their grief into something beautiful to welcome Mr. Jeet home with, in hopes that it will also bring some joy to Mr. Beiderman, a crotchety neighbor still grieving his wife's and daughter's deaths six years ago. Their project: a garden. They have 17 days to turn a dirty, abandoned church lot into an oasis, but the father of brother Oliver's sworn enemy and a mysterious real estate developer together present an obstacle. Many pieces must fall into place and many people must band together to make the Vanderbeekers' dream a reality in under three weeks. This companion novel to The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street (2017) stands on its own for readers who haven't encountered the first book. The plot and endearing (and diverse) characters are reminiscent of the classics from the 1940s and 1950s but with refreshing and realistic attention to socio-economics at work. The Vanderbeeker kids are biracial; Mama has "straight black hair" and Papa's is "big and unruly," with the kids "a surprising blend," though all different one to the other.Perfect for individual reading while tucked away in a treehouse or as a family read-aloud. (Fiction. 8-12)

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September 1, 2018
We catch up with the biracial family from The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street (rev. 11/17) in summertime. While nine-year-old Oliver complains of boredom and almost-thirteen-year-old Jessie mopes about missing her twin, Isa, away at music camp, seven-year-old Hyacinth and five-year-old Laney are content to spend more time with their de facto extended family: elderly neighbors Mr. Jeet and Miss Josie and their previously grouchy landlord, Mr. Beiderman. At first Miss Josie's suggestion that they turn an abandoned lot next to their church into a community garden is scoffed at?until a medical emergency sends Mr. Jeet to the hospital and the children decide to make the garden as a surprise for him when he comes home. As in the first book, there are individual struggles, too; for instance, Oliver must reconsider a formerly unkind classmate who wants in on the project, and Mr. Beiderman is working to overcome his grief-induced agoraphobia. While mentions of cellphones and Minecraft set the book solidly in the present, the independence of the children (their father easily accepts that they are off to the park each day) and general goodness and support of their Harlem community provide a timeless sensibility. monica edinger

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)