A sweet and satisfying end to the series. If you haven't met the Vanderbeekers, I highly recommend that you start at the beginning, The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street, and meet this warm and loving family and experience all of their adventures together. ( )

Well middle grade escapism isn't going to happen in this one. I love all the Vanderbeekers but this one gives me pause in suggesting to a younger reader reading above grade level. Glaser is a pro at tackling tough stuff in a tasteful appropriate manner and that continues but this one is extra heavy with illness and death. I cried a lot ( )

This book was a very soild end to the series. I think this book def was emotional read and it handles much harder topics including childhood cancer and other issues of grief. This book was a harder read but i think it was really honest read bout that topic and even though it was hard book the heartfelt moments shine through and i really loved these characters and would read so many books in this world!! ( )

This book was a very soild end to the series. I think this book def was emotional read and it handles much harder topics including childhood cancer and other issues of grief. This book was a harder read but i think it was really honest read bout that topic and even though it was hard book the heartfelt moments shine through and i really loved these characters and would read so many books in this world!! ( )

I enjoyed this series. I was disappointed in the sixth/last book (the only one I gave 4 vs. 5 stars) but I think that this last book is my favorite of the seven books, with some caveats. For me book seven is the best of the bunch but I wonder if every reader will feel the same way I never thought I’d cry all the way through a Vanderbeekers book. Unlike many readers though I enjoy cancer stories including pediatric cancer stories. I loved how the whole cancer journey was shown. I adore Steve the nurse in particular. With Laney and Edward and the other children and the families/loved ones sensitivity was shown. I hope that children/everyone are now getting full anesthesia for bone marrow aspiration tests. In the past I worked with pediatric oncology patients and years later worked with my dog doing animal assisted therapy in a variety of places but we never got the training that the dogs and their people got in this story. I wish that we had. The earlier book all have parts that I also loved.

Except for book six I like the later books better than the earlier books. In part it’s because younger Laney was written in an annoying way in the first book/early books and in the later books, especially this book, she is written in a realistic AND wonderful AND realistic way.

Even though the author does some recapping of what happened in the previous books it isn’t much and I do think that readers should read the previous six books in order before reading this one. This is necessary to understand the relationships between the characters.

I love the therapy dog angle here and wasn’t surprised to read in the Acknowledgements in the back of the book that the author does this work with her dog.

I loved all the pen & ink drawings at the start of each chapter and the pictorial map that is at the front and back of the book. The illustrations seemed more varied than in the previous six books and I liked that the drawings reflected what was going to happen in each chapter.

I want more Vanderbeekers. Before I started reading this book I thought that it made sense to have the series completed at seven books but I’ve changed my mind. I was disappointed at how abruptly this book seemed to end and how much it left to the imagination. There is a lot more room for a lot more books. I’d thought that maybe the twins would be near to graduating high school and leaving for college and if that had been the case then I would understand stopping because the relationship dynamics would drastically change the kids didn’t age as quickly between books one and seven as I thought they would. I suspect I know what will happen but the last line of the book kind of made me feel nervous but I think and hope unnecessarily.

I love this author and will happily read most if not all of her books. I hope this series comes out as a seven book set. It would make a great gift!

I actually borrowed the audiobook to read simultaneously with the hardcover but I didn’t not like the audio narration at all and read just the paper book. ( )