The Ultimate Book Geek Challenge, Part Five, Or, An Aside about My Sisters and Me in New York

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Category 34, About a city: The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser

Here's the story of how I came to read this book.

Six of us Jacobsen sisters went to New York in September so we could go to my brother Colter's art show opening at Callicoon Fine Arts Gallery in Manhattan. We had a great time being tourists in the city. One day, after visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art, we were walking away from Central Park down 81st street on the Upper East Side and one of my sisters (I think it was Leah) saw a book that was trapped on top of a wrought iron gate about ten feet above the ground. Apparently it had been dropped from above and lodged there. Leah jokingly said to Cammy (the athletic sister), "Hey, Cammy, climb up and get that book!" And the next thing we knew, Cammy was scaling the gate and had grabbed the book.

It was a hardback copy of The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street. It had been there for a little while before Cammy rescued it but was still in pretty good shape, considering that it had been face-down on top of a big gate. Leah took it home with her and I bought it later and read it. It's a delightful little book.

Here we are at Colter's show opening. Of the Jacobsen siblings, we are missing Amy and Ethan in this photo.

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