Amy Poehler’s Production Company Options the Vanderbeekers Series
(Via Variety)
November 21, 2023: A Duet for Home is a Teen Readers Choice Award Finalist!
October 2023: Lalo and I were on television! Check us out on NY1!
September 14, 2023: Publisher’s Weekly did a Q&A on my feelings around the final book in the Vanderbeekers series.
August 1, 2023: Booklist has given The Vanderbeekers Ever After a starred review! "With a lovable cast and a strong, resilient main character, the final volume in the Vanderbeeker series tells a heartening story about a family and a community that readers will long remember.."
May 26, 2023: A Duet for Home is featured at The Museum of the City of New York’s centennial exhibition! This is New York: 100 Years of the City in Art and Culture will be up for a year. Check it out!
May 17, 2023: Check out the cover reveal for The Vanderbeekers Ever After over at Mr. Schu’s blog!
May 15, 2023: A Duet for Home was included in Stories Beyond Borders: A Chinese American and Diasporic Reading List, selected by the Chinese American Librarian Association.
November 22, 2022: A Duet for Home was selected as a Best Book of 2022 by the New York Public Library, the Chicago Library, BookPage, and Happily Ever Elephants!
October 28, 2022: A Duet for Home was on The Today Show as a book recommended by Qian Julie Wang!
September 9, 2022: It was an honor to curate a list of back-to-school books for the New York Times Book Review! Check out my picks here.
July 17, 2022: I really enjoyed chatting with Tish Harrison Warren in her New York Times newsletter. Check out “Books That Immerse Me in a Better World” here! (Must have a New York Times subscription.)
June 14, 2022: The Vanderbeekers is featured on The Today Show and Read with Jenna Jr’s Summer Book List for Kids! Check out the segment here!
June 1, 2022: The Washington Post KidsPost Summer Book Club includes A Duet for Home among its eight middle grade books. Sign up here.
April 1, 2022: A Duet for Home is one of Amazon’s Best Books for Ages 9-12 for the month of April!
April 1, 2022: Bookpage gave A Duet for Home a starred review! “Karina Yan Glaser infuses A Duet for Home with sweetness and optimism while acknowledging the complexities of her characters’ lives.”
March 25, 2022: The New York Times Book Review reviewed A Duet for Home! “A Duet for Home” is Karina Yan Glaser’s first departure from her best-selling Vanderbeekers series, but this new middle grade novel revisits three of that series’ themes: family, community and home. Readers who love the Vanderbeekers will not be disappointed.”
March 2022: Publisher’s Weekly gave A Duet for Home a starred review! “Inspired by her years of work in the New York City shelter system, Yan Glaser’s (the Vanderbeekers series) bighearted standalone moves quickly through its complex plot without forsaking strong characterizations of Huey House’s many staff and residents, concluding with a potent message about the power of direct action.”
February 15, 2022: Kirkus gave A Duet for Home a starred review! “A powerful, heartwarming, and thoughtful tale of kids cultivating chosen families during challenging circumstances.”
October 2021: The New York Times profiled me in their Sunday Review column! What a dream come true!
July 2021: Check out the cover reveal to my first standalone middle grade novel, A Duet for Home, on Bookpage!
June 2021: The Vanderbeekers Make a Wish is a Library Guild Selection!
January 2021: The Vanderbeekers Lost and Found is a Nerdies 2020 Best Middle Grade Selection!
September 2020: The Vanderbeekers Lost and Found is a Publisher’s Weekly Bestseller!
September 2020: Kirkus Reviews calls The Vanderbeekers Lost and Found “as lovable as ever.”
January 2020: The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street is a finalist for the California Young Readers Medal!
January 2020: The 2019 Nerdies for Middle Grade Fiction has been announced, and The Vanderbeekers to the Rescue made the list!
November 2019: The New York Times Book Review says, “Like many fictional families before them, the warm, vibrant Vanderbeeker family of 141st Street — 13-year-old twins Jessie and Isa, 10-year-old Oliver, 8-year-old Hyacinth and 6-year-old Laney — has developed a devoted following. The third and newest installment of Karina Yan Glaser’s series featuring the multiracial clan that lives and works in a Harlem brownstone, The Vanderbeekers to the Rescue is almost a case study in why these kinds of series are so captivating for young readers.”
September 2019: The Vanderbeekers to the Rescue is a Publisher’s Weekly bestseller!
May 2019: The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden is a 2019 Bank Street School Children’s Book of the Year selection! (link)
March 2019: The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden is a 2018-19 New York City Book Award Winner! The New York Society Library's New York City Book Awards, established in 1995, honor books of literary quality or historical importance that, in the opinion of the selection committee, evoke the spirit or enhance appreciation of New York City. (link)
February 2019: I wrote a short story for the amazing Kazoo Magazine; it will be in the Explorer’s Issue (No. 12).
February 2019: The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden audiobook, narrated by Robin Miles, is an AudioFile Earphones Award Winner! “Narrator Robin Miles's vocal repertoire shines as she brings the Vanderbeeker world to life.” (link)
February 2019: The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street is a 2019-2020 Georgia Children’s Book Award Nominee. (link)
February 2019: The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden is on the long list for The Nature Generation’s 2019 Green Book Award. (link)
January 2019: Check out the cover reveal for The Vanderbeekers to the Rescue on Mr. Schu’s blog. (link)
January 2019: The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden will be translated into Norwegian by the publisher Mangschou Forlag.
December 2018: Tiana Sirmans, a Kid Reporter for TIME For Kids, posted a wonderful review of The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden. (link)
December 2018: The audio version of The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street, narrated by Robin Miles and produced by Recorded Books, was selected as a Booklist Editor’s Choice Top of the List for Youth Audio. (link)
September 2018: The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden is a New York Times Best Seller! (link)
September 2018: The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden makes the list for Publisher’s Weekly’s Noteworthy Middle Grade and YA Sequels for Fall 2018. (link)
August 2018: Paper Kite Productions, Amy Poehler's production company, has optioned The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street. Check out the official announcement on Variety! (link)
June 2018: The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street was selected as an honor book for the Judy Lopez Memorial Award for Children's Literature. (link)
May 2018: The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden is a Junior Library Guild selection for Fall 2018. (link)
May 2018: Sarah Scoop, an online editorial website focused on fashion, travel, and lifestyle, posted an interview and a lovely review of The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden. (link)
May 2018: The Vanderbeekers was included in a round-up of fantastic books chosen by School Library Journal: 20 Books for Young Readers to Celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month & Year-Round. (link)
May 2018: What a thrill to hear that The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street is a Lectio Book Award Finalist!
April 2018: The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street was selected as a Bank Street Best Books of the Year Selection! Check out the complete list of all the wonderful titles here.
April 2018: The best-selling book The Read-Aloud Family by Sarah Mackenzie includes The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street in the book list for excellent read-alouds for 8-12 year olds.
March 2018: Check out the cover reveal for The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden on Mr. Schu's blog!
March 2018: The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street was selected as a finalist for Vermont's 2017 Dorothy Canfield Fisher list! (Link)
February 2018: World Magazine selected The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street as the Children's Novel of the Year! (Link)
January 2018: The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street was chosen for a Nerdy Book Club Award! The nomination and voting process is done entirely by readers, most of them teachers and librarians, so I’m incredibly honored! (Link)
December 2017: The Atlantic Journal-Constitution selected The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street for their 2017 holiday book gift guide, saying, "Like 'Anne of Green Gables,' this story feels like a favorite teddy bear, or comfort food--it has the evergreen radiance of a classic. It's about the value of home, family, and community. Heck, it's about the meaning of life." (Link)
December 2017: Anne Arundel Public Libraries in Maryland selected The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street as one of their best children's books of 2017. (Link)
December 2017: The Austin Statesman recommends The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street for holiday gift giving, saying, "Cue the ingenuity of “The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $16.99). This debut novel from Karina Yan Glaser harkens back to the big-family adventures of series like Elizabeth Enright’s Melendy siblings. Isa, Laney, Oliver, Jessie and Hyacinth have ideas about how to win over Mr. Beiderman; the corresponding reality often goes awry." (Link)
December 2017: The Buffalo News selected The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street for their holiday gift guide, saying, "this marvelous addition to the classic library of book families in the tradition of Jeanne Birdsall's 'Penderwicks' series." (Link)
December 2017: The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street made it into the San Francisco Chronicle Holiday Books Gift Guide! (Link)
December 2017: Southern Living selected The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street as one of the Best Children's Book of 2017! (Link)
November 2017: The New York Times chose The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street as one of their Notable Children's Books of 2017! (Link)
November 2017: The Chicago Public Library selected The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street for their 2017 Best of the Best Children's Book List! (Link)
November 2017: The New York Times children's book review editor, Maria Russo, said that The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street was one of the stand-out middle grade books of the season! Listen to the 11/10/17 New York Times Book Review podcast here. The children's book section begins at 36:00; The Vanderbeekers is mentioned at 43:10.
November 2017: Melissa Thorkilsen of Elm Street Books recommends The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street for her winter book picks at New Canaan Moms. (Link)
October 2017: The New York Times gave a wonderful review for The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street! Read it here.
October 2017: Thrilled to announce that Ann Rider at HMH Books for Young Readers has acquired a third book in The Vanderbeekers series. Expected publication in 2019!
October 2017: The Buffalo News gave a lovely review of The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street, saying, "This wonderful debut novel brings to vivid life a lovable, big, biracial family and their vibrant Harlem neighborhood and is a stellar entry in the library of children's novels of book families, in the vein of Jeanne Birdsall's"Penderwicks" series...This beautifully written book is funny, poignant, and sweet."
October 2017: I wrote a guest post on TeachingBooks.net called, "Classic Books That Inspired The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street." Check it out here, where you will also find a video recording and a name pronunciation guide!
October 2017: Oliver Vanderbeeker gets interviewed at the Children's Book Review! Check out his thoughts about cookies, books, and the last time he felt embarrassed.
October 2017: Amazon.com's editors chose The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street as one of the best books of the month for October for ages 9-12!
October 2017: So pleased to see The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street on the list for Book Riot's Must-Read October New Releases!
September 2017: Brightly chose The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street as one of their best children's and YA books for October 2017!
September 2017: Fab Book Reviews says this about The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street: "If a cozy, heavenly blanket – think of a warm, lovely blanket, possibly handmade, the best in the world- came in the form of a book, that book might look something just like Karina Yan Glaser’s The Vanderbeeker’s of 141st Street. One of the most genuine, moving, kindhearted novels I have had the pleasure of reading in the last long while, I cannot think of enough wonderful things to say about this extraordinary debut children’s novel." (Link)
September 2017: Foreward Reviews calls The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street, "a delightful story about a delightful family. It is a thoroughly enjoyable book that will undoubtedly find a place of honor on many bookshelves." (Link)
September 2017: Eight-year-old Emmie Enchanted gave The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street five-and-a-half wands out of five wands on her wonderful book review blog, Fantastic Books and Where to Find Them. She writes, "I give this book more than 5 wands because I felt a lot of emotions throughout the book. It made me excited and scared and sad and happy and the list goes on and on. I personally like the beginning and I got into it from the start!" Read her complete review here.
August 2017: The American Bookseller's Association and Author's Guild invited me to participate in one of their fall author events at Bank Street Bookstore on October 29th at 1pm with Rachel Vail. Check out their announcement here.
August 2017: The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street received a second starred review! Booklist says, "Few (families) in children's literature are as engaging or amusing as the Vanderbeekers, even in a time of turmoil... Add this captivating first novel to the list of family stories that would make an only child long for siblings." The full review is here.
August 2017: The American Bookseller's Association chose The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street for their Autumn 2017 Kids' Indie Next List! Thank you so much, booksellers!
August 2017: The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street received a starred review from School Library Journal! "Glaser's pitch perfect debut set in Harlem introduces the endearing biracial Vanderbeeker family... Readers will look forward to future adventures. A highly recommended purchase for all middle grade collections."
July/August 2017: The Horn Book published an interview with me for their Summer 2017 Publisher's Preview. Check it out here.
July 2017: I had the privilege of speaking at the Girls Write Now Chapters series in June. A recap of the series is here.
June 2017: The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street is a Fall 2017 Junior Library Guild selection!
June 2017: School Library Journal listed The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street among their most hotly anticipated Fall 2017 children's book releases! Check it out here.
June 5, 2017: The School and Library Journal did a recap article about the panel I was on with Tracey Baptiste, Paul Griffin, Katherine Paterson, and Jason Reynolds for their Day of Dialog on May 31, 2017.
May 4, 2017: I'm incredibly honored that the American Bookseller's Association chose The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street as one of ten best debut MG/YA Summer/Fall 2017 books for their Indie's Introduce list! To learn more about the program or to read blurbs about the selected books, visit their website.
April 18, 2017: Kid lit advocate extraordinaire Mr. Schu added The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street to his 2017 Best Books Presentation. I could not be more thrilled and honored!
February 23, 2017: Hello, librarians, booksellers, reviewers, and bloggers! Great news! The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street is available to request on Edelweiss and NetGalley.
February 17, 2017: Laura Lampert of Random House's parent-oriented blog, Brightly, asked me some questions about how to engage reluctant middle grade readers. You can check out her post and my tips here!
February 8, 2017: Check out the Vanderbeekers cover reveal and interview with the wonderful Mr. Schu, where I completely fangirl over Linda Sue Park, talk about the amazing cover illustrator Karl James Mountford, and confess to the number of books in my tiny apartment (hint: it's a lot)! (link)
February 2, 2017: The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street was included in the Fall 2017 Children's Sneak Previews, under Houghton Mifflin Harcourt! (link)
September 29, 2017: My dream-come-true publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt acquired a sequel to The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street! Hooray!
December 7, 2015: The official publishing announcement for The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street was posted on Publisher's Weekly! (Link)
November 19, 2015: Amanda Nelson from Book Riot invited me on her awesome podcast, GET BOOKED, to talk about all things Kid Lit. Check it out here.
