THE VANDERBEEKERS LOST AND FOUND

The resourceful seven-member family returns.

Last time readers saw the mixed-race Vanderbeeker kids, they were saving their mother’s bakery from financial ruin and rescuing some cats along the way. The five children never met a stray they didn’t want to save or a situation they didn’t want to fix, and in this volume, that project is a family friend, 14-year-old Orlando, who’s been sleeping in the garden shed ever since he and his mother were evicted from their apartment and his mother took off. All five Vanderbeeker kids are determined to show their friend how loved and needed he is in New York City, no matter how difficult that may be logistically or financially. Unlike other books in the series, in which the children save the day in ways that feel plausible, this entry strains credibility a bit more given the realities of the foster-care and social-services systems. That may explain why the plot is less focused on the family unit and rather covers each child individually. The age gaps among the siblings are more pronounced than in previous entries, with the oldest children in high school and puberty thrown in the mix, which may make the novel a harder sell, with too much disconnect between the content and the reading level, despite each kid’s fundamental likability.

As lovable as ever but less likely to find its place.