The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street

Jessie awakens on Christmas Eve with a knot in her stomach. Everyone gathers in the kitchen, and Oliver asks if Isa and Jessie will still prepare the Christmas meal for the family. Isa is the last to come downstairs, and she answers curtly to all of Jessie’s questions about the meal planning. They argue about divvying up the cooking duties, and Mama reminds them they must push past their conflict to complete the meal. The rest of the family leaves to work the toy drive so Isa and Jessie can get to work. The sisters complete their tasks in the kitchen without speaking, and when Isa is finished, she stomps downstairs to practice her violin.

After working the toy drive, Hyacinth leaves abruptly, saying she must walk Franz, but she is really going to work on her secret plan. Hyacinth has been caring for a mother cat and her kittens, and she goes to check on them in the makeshift shelter she fashioned from a discarded cabinet and old blankets. When she sees the fluffy kittens, she remembers her father’s words: “Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened” (225). Hyacinth wraps up one of the kittens in her scarf, carries it to

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