From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I like E. L. Konigsburg. In this cute book, she takes the universal experience most children have of "running away" and makes it into an adventure every child dreams about. Set in the '60s, Claudia and her brother Jaime run away from their suburban home and go into to the city and "live" in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. They live on Jaime's meager savings, bathe in a coin-laden fountain, sleep in an old Victorian bed on display in the museum, and spend their days exploring the museum. The story even becomes a bit of a mystery as the children become interested in a statue of an angel, that may have been sculpted by the great Michaelangelo. In meeting the eccentric Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, Claudia finds a kindred spirit, and the children find out the truth about the beautiful statue.
Though this certainly could never happen today with security measures as they've become, and probably couldn't have happened even back in the 1960's, it's fun to read about and dream about the adventure of the Kincaid children.



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