What books are similar to The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street?

The 10 closest matches to The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser on ReadingList include Front Desk, A Boy Called Bat, Crenshaw, Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie, and Ghost Boys. Each is scored on shared themes (family, community, and home), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 3–6), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.

Are books like The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street reading-level appropriate?

Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 3–6), so the picks stay grade-appropriate. See how ReadingList judges text difficulty on the /standard methodology page.

How does ReadingList choose similar books?

Matches are ranked by shared themes, shared award and reading-program lists (two books picked for the same state award were chosen by the same committees for the same readers), same genre, comparable Lexile and grade band, and publication decade — computed from cited public curriculum data, not editorial opinion or AI-generated summaries.

Books like The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street

If you liked The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street, read Front Desk, A Boy Called Bat, or Crenshaw — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared themes, shared award lists, and reading level.

Looking for books like The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser (Realistic Fiction · grades 3–6)? It’s most often read for its themes of family, community, and home. The 10 titles below are the closest matches in the ReadingList database — each scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level, and each linked to the curricula, states, and grades where it’s assigned, with primary sources.

These are reading-level matches, not just topical ones — so the picks stay grade-appropriate for a grades 3–6 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

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Why each is a match

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Front Desk640L: Shares themes of family, both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list, and same genre (Realistic Fiction). Amazon →
A Boy Called Batgrades 3–5: Shares themes of family, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–5). Amazon →
Crenshawgrades 3–6: Shares themes of family, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–6). Amazon →
Drums, Girls & Dangerous Piegrades 6–9: Shares themes of family, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (6–9). Amazon →
Ghost Boys360L: Shares themes of family, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–7). Amazon →
Look Both Waysgrades 5–8: Shares themes of community, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (5–8). Amazon →
Mick Harte Was Heregrades 5–8: Shares themes of family, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (5–8). Amazon →
The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrisegrades 5–8: Shares themes of family, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (5–8). Amazon →
The Thing About Leftoversgrades 4–7: Shares themes of family, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–7). Amazon →
All About Samgrades 4–6: Shares themes of family, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–6). Amazon →

Books like The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street for younger readers (K–2)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps K–2— same scoring, different audience.

Ida B. and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World by Katherine Hannigan · grades 2–8 — Shares themes of family, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (2–8).
Night in the City by Julie Downing · grades K–2 — Shares themes of family and community.
Picture Purrfect (Bodega Cats #1) by Hilda Eunice Burgos · grades 2–5 — Shares themes of family and community and overlapping grades (2–5).
The One and Only Ruby by Katherine Applegate · grades 2–5 — Shares themes of family, both on the Garden State Children's Book Award list, and overlapping grades (2–5).
Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan · grades 2–8 — Same genre (Realistic Fiction), overlapping grades (2–8), and the same era (2010s).

Books like The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps 3–5— same scoring, different audience.

Attaboy, Sam! by Lois Lowry · grades 4–6 — Shares themes of family, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–6).
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary · grades 4–6 — Shares themes of family, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–6).
Ferris by Kate DiCamillo · grades 3–6 — Shares themes of family, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–6).
Hope in the Valley by Mitali Perkins · grades 3–6 — Shares themes of family, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–6).
Ida B. and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World by Katherine Hannigan · grades 2–8 — Shares themes of family, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (2–8).

Books like The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street for middle school (grades 6–8)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps 6–8— same scoring, different audience.

Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman · grades 7–10 — Shares themes of family and same genre (Realistic Fiction).
Attaboy, Sam! by Lois Lowry · grades 4–6 — Shares themes of family, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–6).
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary · grades 4–6 — Shares themes of family, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (4–6).
Ferris by Kate DiCamillo · grades 3–6 — Shares themes of family, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (3–6).
Forged by Fire by Sharon M. Draper · grades 7–10 — Shares themes of family and same genre (Realistic Fiction).

Books like The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street for high school & teens (grades 9–12)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps 9–12— same scoring, different audience.

Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman · grades 7–10 — Shares themes of family and same genre (Realistic Fiction).
Forged by Fire by Sharon M. Draper · grades 7–10 — Shares themes of family and same genre (Realistic Fiction).
Ruby Lost and Found by Christina Li · grades 6–9 — Shares themes of family, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (6–9).
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares · grades 7–10 — Shares themes of family and same genre (Realistic Fiction).
The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman by Gennifer Choldenko · grades 6–9 — Shares themes of family, same genre (Realistic Fiction), and overlapping grades (6–9).

Book data last updated 2026-07-07. Matches are computed from each book’s cited attributes — see the methodology.

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