This is not a new novel at all, but I didn't read it until it was suggested to me by a student. I found Konigsburg story of run away children in New York City to be creative and engaging! Claudia an eldest daughter who is feeling unloved is the mastermind of the run away scheme. She has everything planned, when she and her brother will leave and what they will take, and most importantly where they will go. Of course, every child plans to run and hide at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art! From the day they depart for NYC instead of going to school is the point in which this story gains speed and interest. Exactly how will they eat, sleep and blend in at the museum? Not to worry, Claudia has almost everything figured out and she won't let you down as a main character for one minute! They few sketches scattered throughout the book add to it just a little bit. As a reader, you are constantly envisioning everything that is taking place in the plot, but seeing on the page, what your minds eye is seeing, just adds something to the story. The children are living in a museum and to see them with the art that is being described and discussed in the pages does add something to the text. ( )

An adventure in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City! I would have chosen a library if I were running away, but to each their own I suppose.

In Konigsburg's From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiller, siblings Claudia and Jamie run away to live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The bathe in the museum fountain, sleep in a royal bed, and glom on to school groups taking tours during the day. During their vacation from reality, the children stumble upon a secret involving a beautiful sculpted angel with curious markings on its base. Claudia and Jamie must solve the mystery of the statue with the help of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.

The story is so realistic and timeless that I felt I was right there with Claudia and Jamie, standing on top of the toilets waiting for the museum to close. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiller is an engrossing and captivating read, full of page-turning good fun! ( )

My mom was the curator of a local history museum when I first read this book. As an adult, I find the book still holds a sense of wonder and excitement comparable to what I felt then. ( )

My mom was the curator of a local history museum when I first read this book. As an adult, I find the book still holds a sense of wonder and excitement comparable to what I felt then. ( )

This is a fun book about a little girl, Claudia Kincaid, who runs away from home because she wants to get back at her parents for not paying enough attention to her. She drags her little brother James along with her and they end up hiding out for a week in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Isn’t it great to be a kid? An adult would go to jail for that! During their week in hiding Claudia and James learn that the newest exhibit, a marble angel, may in fact be a genuine Michelangelo sculpture. Written in 1966, this is one of the few realistic books that do not center on life’s problems. The book combines the adventure of the Golden Age of children's literature with the new realism of the late 20th century. ( )