The Vanderbeekers to the Rescue: 10/19/19

The Vanderbeekers to the Rescue by Karina Yan Glaser is the third in the Vanderbeekers series. It takes place over the course of the first week of April, spring break.

Mrs. Vanderbeeker has been baking cookies and selling them out of her kitchen and she's been offered a feature in a local foodie magazine. But there's one big hang-up, the safety inspector is coming to see her set-up so she can get her permit.

New York state is understaffed when it comes to food safety inspectors. The man assigned to the Vanderbeekers doesn't like to keep his appointment times. He likes to come early and so he does. He arrives during a torrential rainstorm while the Vanderbeeker siblings are home alone. With a home full of kids and pets the inspection doesn't go well.

The Vanderebeeker children decide it's on them to fix the situation. They have five days before the photoshoot and six days before their mother's birthday. It seems like an impossible task, but they are determined to make it happen.

Besides getting the mother's baking business back on track, there is a side plot involving stray animals. Someone is dropping them off outside the Vanderbeeker home. With the rule that a commercial kitchen has to be free of pets, they don't want the animals. But they also can't just abandon them. The neighborhood animal shelter is already at capacity and it's likely their animals will be euthanized.

Fixing the animal problem and fixing the baking problem lead to a brilliant idea. The answer comes organically and isn't something that can ultimately be solved in the span of one week.

There is a fourth book planned for sometime next year. According to the back of book, it will be titled Vanderbeekers Lost and Found.

Five stars

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