“And we’re going to save again,” Jessie said. Then each of the Vanderbeeker kids handed her a birthday card with a picture of what they thought her dream vacation destination was. The choices included Paris, Bangkok, Monterey Bay, Prince Edward Island, and Disney World. Inside each card was a five-dollar bill. This, of course, only made Mama cry more.
It took a moment for her to control herself, but when she could talk again, she waved her hands in front of her face and said, “Happy tears. These are happy tears.”
And the Vanderbeeker kids surrounded Mama and Papa, and surrounding them were Auntie Harrigan and Uncle Arthur and Mr. Jeet and Miss Josie, and surrounding them was their hodgepodge of a community, connected not by blood but by an abundance of love.
The next day, the Vanderbeeker kids would all remember different things from that moment. Isa would remember having a great sense of peace about her audition the day before, a peace she had not remembered feeling for months. Jessie would remember noticing that she was now taller than her mom, a discovery that surprised and stunned her. Oliver had been squeezed in on all sides, and even though he did not enjoy having the air sucked out of his lungs, he would remember feeling like the luckiest kid in the world. Hyacinth would remember Franz wriggling around and howling, the feel of his paws stepping on her sneakers and making her heart warm and content. And Laney . . . Laney would remember thinking that with all this good news, her parents were certain to let her adopt Tuxedo the kitten and maybe even the guinea pigs, whom she had already secretly named Anne and Diana.
In the end, the Vanderbeeker kids did all agree on one thing: as they were smooshed in the middle of the twenty-three-person hug, standing in front of what would soon become Mama’s bakery, they could all smell the barest hint of sea salt caramel chocolate cookies on the breeze.
Epilogue
Five months later
PERCH MAGAZINE
Where to Find the Best Cookies in New York City? Try Harlem’s New Cat Café
By Nina Walker
* * *
If you were to take a walk along 143rd Street in Harlem, you might notice a charming bakery painted white and trimmed in pink. Look up, and most likely a tuxedo cat peering at you with curiosity, perched on a branch growing out of the sidewalk. A large picture window graces the front of the bakery, and flowers tumble in a flurry of color from the planters on either side of the door. Take a closer look through the window, and you might see a cat snoozing in a hammock or basking in the afternoon sun, and a pair of kittens scrambling up the maze built into one wall. Welcome to the Treehouse Bakery and Cat Café, Harlem’s newest must-see cookie spot.
The first cat café opened in Taiwan in 1998, but the trend truly took off in Japan. In Japanese cities, where many apartment buildings restrict pet ownership, the cat café provided a perfect opportunity for those wanting some cat companionship. The trend traveled to America, where multiple cat cafés have achieved great success. The Treehouse Bakery and Cat Café is the newest, opened by Harlem resident Maia Vanderbeeker this month.
“I love coming here after work,” said Shirley Adelaide Chester, a neighbor and frequent customer, as she enjoyed a “Cat-puccino” and cuddled a ten-week-old tabby named Jubilee. “Petting these cats is like getting a dose of sunshine in your body.”
The Treehouse Bakery and Cat Café has twelve cats living there at any given time. They are all rescues and up for adoption, and a bulletin board holds photos and detailed descriptions of the cats. All potential adopters must fill out an application and have a home visit before taking ownership of their new furry friends.
You can find Maia in the kitchen six days a week. There she bakes around one thousand cookies every day for the shop and for special events. The menu changes with the seasons (pumpkin butterscotch cookies and maple brown sugar cookies are the current specials), but two neighborhood favorites are available every day: chocolate sea salt caramel cookies and double chocolate pecan cookies. Get there in the morning—cookies often sell out by early afternoon—and plan to return again and again.
The Treehouse Bakery and Cat Café
Open Tuesday through Sunday, 8 a.m.–6 p.m.
125 West 143rd Street, New York, NY 10030
Acknowledgments
As always, it has been an honor to work with Ann Rider, my brilliant editor at HMH Books for Young Readers. I am grateful for her insight, intuition, and, most of all, her kindness. Tara Shanahan is the best publicist an author could wish for, and I feel so incredibly lucky to have her working on my books. Many thanks to Celeste Knudsen and Lisa Vega for the beautiful book design, to Katya Longhi for the gorgeous book cover, and to Jennifer Thermes for the lovely Harlem map endpapers. I absolutely adore Lisa DiSarro and Amanda Acevedo, HMH’s amazing school and library marketing team; I appreciate all of their hard work putting the Vanderbeekers into the hands of teachers and librarians. A huge hug to Tara Sonin, Alia Almeida, and Emma Gordon for supporting me and celebrating each milestone, and to all the HMH sales reps who travel miles and miles to share books with booksellers. I’m incredibly grateful to Cat Onder, John Sellers, Mary Magrisso, Candace Finn, Elizabeth Agyemang, and Mary Wilcox for all that they do (they each do A LOT!). Special thanks to Colleen Fellingham, Alix Redmond, and Erika West for their watchful copyeditor eyes.
I adore my Curtis Brown family who have cheered me on and advocated on my behalf these past few years. In particular, my agent Ginger Clark deserves a lifetime of wombat happiness. Thank you, Holly Frederick, for championing the Vanderbeekers and for having big dreams for me, and Tess Callero, for all of your social media awesomeness.
Librarians, teachers, booksellers, readers—thank you for your enthusiasm for the Vanderbeekers and for letting them into your hearts. You are the best!
I am so grateful for Amy Poehler, Kim Lessinger, and the Paper Kite team for loving the Vanderbeekers and these stories!
The Kid Lit community is an incredible one, and there are so many who have encouraged me and cheered me on—too many to list! A special shout-out to my critique partners, Laura Shovan, Casey Lyall, Timanda Wertz, Margaret Dilloway, Leah Henderson, Ki-Wing Merlin, and Lauren Hart, who read early drafts of this book and gave invaluable feedback.
Huge hugs to Lauren Hart, Emily Rabin, Katie Graves-Abe, Harrigan Bowman, Desiree Welsing, Janice Nimura, the Glaser family, and the Dickinson family for being wonderful, amazing people. In addition, lots of love to the communities that have inspired and encouraged me, including the Town School, the Town School Book Club, Book Riot, Read-Aloud Revival, the New York Society Library, the New York Public Library, the Book Cellar, All Angels’ Church, and my Harlem neighbors.
Lastly, I have the opportunity to pursue my writing dream because of the loving support of the three most important people in my life: Dan, Kaela, and Lina. I love them to the moon and back.
Look for more
Vanderbeekers
adventures in 2020!
The Vanderbeekers Lost and Found
When autumn arrives on 141st Street, the Vanderbeekers are busy helping Mr. Beiderman get ready for the New York City Marathon, planning their neighborhood’s Halloween 5K Fun Run, and making sure the mysterious person sleeping in the community garden gets enough to eat. But when they discover the true identity of the person making their home in the shed of the community garden, their world turns upside down as they learn what it means to care for and love someone in an impossible situation.
In this fourth book in the Vanderbeekers series, return to 141st Street and experience another season with Isa, Jessie, Oliver, Hyacinth, and Laney as they attempt to make their neighborhood a better place, one hilarious, impossible plan at a time.
Visit hmhbooks.com to find all of the books in the Vanderbeekers series.
About the Author
Photo by Corey Hayes
KARINA YAN GLASER is the New York Times bestselling author of the Vanderbeekers series as well as a contributing editor at Book Riot. She lives in Harlem, New York City, with
her husband, two daughters, and assortment of rescue animals. One of her proudest achievements is raising two kids who can’t go anywhere without a book.
Visit her online at karinaglaser.com
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