Here I am reading the sequel before I've even read the first in the series. I was going to wait for a library copy to arrive and finish it first, but decided to see if it would stand on it's own. I recieved my digital copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am charmed by the Vanderbeekers, a biracial family living in Harlem. The children, Oliver, Jesse, Hyacinth and Laney are stuck at home for the summer while Isa is away at orchestra camp. When Mr Jeet, their elderly upstairs neighbour, has another stroke and ends up in the hospital, they come up with a plan to rejuvenate the church garden as a surprise. Triple J, the pastor, said he thought a garden would be a good idea, so they sort of have permission. Unfortunately, while he is away on a family emergency, nefarious plans are afoot.

The Vanderbeekers are a delightful collection of quirky characters. There is an abundance of love all around them. I love the connection between generations. I love that although there is some tension between Oliver and Herman Huxley, a boy in the neighbourhood, this is resolved positively. I adore that both Hyacinth and Herman are knitters. Fans of the The Penderwicks are sure to enjoy this.

My only quibble with the book is that Black Eyed Susan seeds are sown and bloom in less than 18 days. This scientific impossibly irked me because the story would have been satisfying enough had they only been shown to germinate: a far more plausible reality. Nonetheless, I'm still looking forward to reading the first in the series.

Cicero said, "If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." Hence if you have a book about a library, you have a more than satifsying sequel to The Vanderbeekers on 141st Street. In this garden-themed second installment, oldest twin Jessie is in the spotlight while Isa is away at music camp. There is plenty of love for family, neighbors, pets and plants to go around. Get a copy of this book ASAP so, too, can immerse yourself in the world of the Vanderbeekers!

Thank you, thank you to Houghton Mifflin and NetGalley for a digital ARC of this spectacular sequel.

I had the opportunity to read a NetGalley digital ARC of this book and a copy of this book was also provided to my #BookRelays reading group on Twitter. This book is a follow-up to The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street, so fans of this family’s adventures are in for a treat.
The book picks up a few months after where the first book left off. It is now summer break and the kids are out of school with time on their hands. Isa is away at music camp, leaving her twin sister, Jessica, alone in their shared bedroom. Oliver, Hyacinth, and Laney decide that they want to surprise their elderly upstairs neighbors with a special garden planted in an unused lot owned by their neighborhood church. Jeet is in the hospital after suffering a stroke and Miss Jessica now spends all of her time at his bedside.
However, the church treasurer is trying to sell the lot to condominium developers while the pastor is away on a family emergency. The kids are desperate to finish the garden in time for Mr. Jeet and Miss Jessica to see it. They also would like to see if they can prevent the land from being sold.
It’s nice that these kids get along so well with each other and seem to be good at working together to accomplish something important. I’m a little bit bothered that they’re doing this work without permission by breaking into the locked property. The parents in this book have no idea what’s going on because the mom is busy helping Miss Jessica at the hospital and the dad is busy with his building maintenance duties. The kids have good intentions, but I would rather see them work on this project with permission and maybe even some adult supervision.

I loved this book as much as the first one! The good-hearted Vanderbeekers are back and they just want to do something special for their upstairs neighbors, Mr. Jeet and Miss Josie. But will their plans be thwarted before they can show everyone the community garden they've created?

!As magical as the the first book! I like this family. The children are wonderful and thoughtful. I think it would be wonderful to live in a large family. I did like the message of this book; the children turn a vacant lot into a wonderful garden for a neighbor (against all odds, too)! 4th grade up will enjoy this story! The characters are memorable and well developed. Children easily relate to them.

This is a sequel to family drama story. The family has a 4 kids, each individuals with their own strengths and weaknesses. They decide to make a gift to a family friend who is unwell and the gift is a garden. It's a lot of hard work and they have to do it together. It's a really nice story.

I was so happy to return to reading about the lovable Vanderbeeker family! It was so sweet to see more of the new relationships that were formed in the first book and to see the new elements it brought to their tight knit community.

It is so nice reading about a family who is loving and respectful to each other and wants to spend time together, but that also sometimes fights and makes mistakes.

The ingenuity and hard work that the kids put in of their own volition (while also making mistakes and having setbacks) as they sought to build a garden is inspiring and a great example to children reading the book.

I wouldn’t say I loved this one quite as much as the first one–perhaps because it doesn’t have the same joy of being introduced to the family and neighborhood for the first time, or because I had to read this one more sporadically– but I still really enjoyed it! And it had me emotional at the end.

I highly recommend this sweet series and I’m looking forward to reading more about the Vanderbeekers in future books.

The Vanderbeekers are back in another heart-warming adventure. The kids wants to plant a garden for Miss Josie and Mr. Jeet. And when the Vanderbeeker children set their mind to something, there’s not stopping them.
Along the way there are obstacles, of course, but these kids always have another idea ... another plan ... another friend who is excited to join them in their adventure. And so, they don’t just plant a garden. They plant seeds of friendship, seeds of community and seeds of love.

This is a wonderful story about family, love, friendship, and a community that cares for one another. You want neighbors like the Vanderbeekers and you want friends like the Vanderbeekers. It will make a wonderful read aloud at school to evoke discussion.

Once again I have fallen in love with the Vanderbeekers. This book is full of love, laughter, and the bonds of family and friendship. I love how the children act selflessly for the ones that they love. It is a heartwarming story and this family is delightful to visit with often. Students with little experience of city life will get a glimpse of NYC's Harlem neighborhood and those who live there will enjoy seeing their neighborhood depicted so well in this book. The Vanderbeekers are a wonderful family that every reader should experience at least once, but, really, they should experience them as many times as the can!

I read this in one day! I loved seeing what the Vanderbeeker kids were up to now. This story like the first tale of their lives portrayed real kids in a real way, that my son and I love. It reminds me of books I loved as a child- Like All of a Kind Family. The kids once again band together with neighbors and friends to help someone and in the process learn a lot about themselves.

I know what you are thinking, is it possible to love the Vanderbeekers anymore? Yes! Yes it is. The humor, silliness,and creativity that I adored in each of the characters in the first installment, is all back again.

A fantastic sequel. Can't wait to get it out on fall reads list for kids. There will be a wait list again.

I was so happy to read this second book about the Vanderbeeker family, and it was as sweet and wholesome as the first.  In The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden, the kids are suffering from summer boredom when Miss Josie suggests they plant a community garden in an empty lot next to the church. When Mr. Jeet suffers a stroke, the love and respect the Vanderbeekers have for their friends and neighbors makes the garden an act of love.  At first, the kids go through the right steps to get permission, but when they don't get a clear answer, they go ahead with their plan, and face consequences later.  They recruit help from their friends and an unlikely helper.  They keep the garden a secret from most adults until they need help in the end.  The strong relationships this smart group of kids have with their community helps them with their garden.

What I liked about this book was the kindness and creativity of the children.  Their parents brought them up to be respectful and solve their own problems, and although they faced a few issues, they faced consequences and worked together.  I really hope there are non-fictional kids like the Vanderbeekers out there.  They are generous and willing to spend their own money to help their community, and one went above and beyond to make sure another was able to make it to camp.  They truly care for and respect one another.

What I didn't like about this book was that Isa was absent for most of it!  She was my favorite character in the first book, and she was away at camp for most of the story.  I also loved the food mentions and crafts in the first book (to the point of creating a Pinterest page with links to their suggestions), and there weren't as many summer foods mentioned in this one.  Although, I desperately need some cheese croissants and someone to teach me to knit.  Overall, I enjoyed this story and I hope to read more from this family.

A really lovely book! I haven't read the first book but will definitely be picking it up now. Loved this!

The feel good sequel to The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street will renew your faith in the power of community. The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden demonstrates how a good idea, hard work and kindness can transform and heal individuals and neighborhoods.

This is the sweet sequel to Vanderbeekers of 141st St. It is just as good if not better than the first book! The Vanderbeeker kids are at it again working together to help their neighbors. They are building a community garden for Mr. Jeet and Ms. Josie to enjoy. They must pull together their resources and work against time. This is a feel good book!

This has a strong Penderwicks vibe but feels much more modern. The biracial Vanderbeeker family has squabbles and misunderstandings but they support each other regardless. This second book in the series follows four of the siblings (the fifth is at camp) as they try to renovate a community garden to bring joy to a neighbor with medical problems. Despite being slightly unrealistic in how much the kids get done alone, this is a great story about kids who think about the people around them and not just themselves.

Another wonderful story about the Vanderbeeker family!! If you haven't read the first book in this series, I suggest you do so right away, and pre-order this one IMMEDIATELY.

In this book, the Vanderbeeker kids are creating a garden as a special surprise, except the location they've chosen is less than ideal. They have several challenges to overcome, but in usual Vanderbeeker fashion, they will face them creativity and love.

An excellent follow-up to the first book, this is a 2018 middle grade must-read.

I really enjoyed the first book about the Vanderbeekers and the second did not disappoint. Very similar in tone and dynamics to The Penderwicks, while also being their own unique family (and in a very distinct setting), I hope there will be more books to come about the Vanderbeekers!

Interest Level: 3-6

What if someone you loved very much asked you to do something and then they got very sick? Would you do everything in your power to make it happen? That is exactly what has happened to the Vanderbeeker kids. While Isa is gone for three weeks at a music camp the other four Vanderbeeker kids see themselves having a completely boring summer. When tragedy strikes their beloved upstairs neighbors, Miss Josie and Mr. Jeet, the kids have to pull together to create a magical garden for them to come home to. With the help of their friends they work very hard to turn a run-down, overgrown old patch of land into a garden paradise. Just when things start looking up their dreams get crushed by a land developer wanting to build fancy, new condominiums in the exact location of their garden. Will Mr. Jeet and Miss Josie make it back to see their masterpiece before it is bulldozed? This is a must read second installment to The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street. New friends, old friends, and family all pull together but will it be enough? Read this delightfully charming book about this amazing neighborhood in Harlem.

I said in my review of book one that I would love to live in this neighborhood and have all of these people as neighbors. Book two only magnifies this. The Vanderbeekers have a magical community and you don't want to miss even one page of these books!!