(by Karina Yan Glaser)
I reliably love the books in this series: the kids (ages 7-15 in this one) are all great, and I like the way the books mix fun and humor with more serious themes. In this one, family history is big: the kids are gearing up for their dad’s 40th birthday, and in the course of doing so they find themselves unexpectedly learning more about Pop-Pop, their dad’s dad, who died way before any of the kids had been born. Meanwhile, early in the book, their mom’s parents arrive at the brownstone on 141st Street unannounced. “Let’s just say that in all the ways Pop-Pop was warm and loving and accepting, my parents were the opposite,” Mama says, and the book indeed features many moments of Grandma being extremely critical of everything and everyone around her. But the kids also have moments of closeness and connection with their mom’s parents (Grandpa is actually pretty great, and Grandma means well though she doesn’t really know how to support people in doing their own thing/following their own dreams). The kids end up learning more about both sides of their family by the time the book finishes, and as always there are lots of cute animals (the kids at this point have a dog, rabbit, and two cats, plus chickens, plus their mom runs a cat cafe) and sweet city moments (like when the kids take the subway to Brooklyn and a nice tattooed man catches Grandma when she loses her balance, then gets up to give her his seat).
(Like the last book, this one totally made me cry: I guess it’s good that I finished this one while sitting on the couch with a cup of tea on a Sunday morning, rather than while commuting or something.)
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