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

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil. E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg is considered a classic by many and is also a Newbery award winner from the 1960’s.  I'd heard it was a story about two kids who run away from home in an unusual way.  I was intrigued.  So I picked it up and found out that the story is just as clever and cute as I’d hoped, and the characters are realistic and lovable.  Claudia Kincaid, a 12-year-old straight-A perfectionist, does not want to pull off that "old-fashioned kind of running away... in the heat of anger with a knapsack on [your] back," so instead she arranges to run towards something.  So she recruits her brother, Jamie, mostly because he has money saved up, and they go to a large, comfortable, beautiful place- the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.  Between keeping their residency a secret and trying to solve the mystery of a controversial statue, the two have plenty to keep them busy.  This book kept me guessing ‘til the end!

Book reviewed by Erin E., Youth Programming Librarian