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


The fourth book I have read for the Young Reader's Challenge is "From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" by E. L. Konigsburg (1967).

I chose this book because it was my daughter's favorite book when she was growing up. I also chose this book because it was recommended by JLSHall. I have to say that both women have excellent taste in children's books.

This book is a charming account of two very brave and resourceful siblings who decide to run away. Well, Claudia, the main character and older sibling, decided to run away and Jamie, the younger, was chosen to go because of his vast financial ability -- and his $24.43.

Claudia planned her runaway down to the most minute detail -- her running away was to be DIFFERENT. ""Claudia knew that she should could never pull off the old fashioned kind of running away..." so she decided to run not from some where but to somewhere -- somewhere large, warm, comfortable, and beautiful. And that was how Claudia and her brother, Jamie, ended up living in the Metropolitan Museum of Art--and right in the middle of a mystery that made headlines."

The book is clever, the children are funny, there is something in it for everybody -- a little art, a little history, a little mystery. It is easy to read but not simplistic. I enjoyed it and hated to see it end.

I would recommend this for 8-12 year olds with the warning "don't try this at home".