I know for a fact that it can be difficult choosing quality books for our kids as they get older.  For this reason, my Multicultural Book of the Month for March is “The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street” by Karina Yan Glaser.

This is a heartwarming story about a multiethnic family who live in Harlem.  When their not so nice landlord tries to evict them from their beloved brownstone, the Vanderbeeker children take matters into their own hands.  All 5 kids have to work together, along with the rest of their community, to keep their home.

Glaser successfully manages to tell a modern story with an old school feel to it.  It’s such a positive message about family and community that can be read independently by older kids or as a great read aloud for the entire family.  Linda, a fellow homeschooling mama says it best when she wrote to me on Instagram, “This series is a very clean choice and has a lot of academic references and has good family values and is multicultural. It’s not low-level nonsense like so much of contemporary youth fiction.” 

And the icing on top?  There are 2 more books in this series!  My daughter read all 3 in less than 2 weeks because they were just that good!