Revisiting One I Liked as a Pre-Teen

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

I read this the first time when I was eleven. When I went to New York this past June, I wanted to do the Met tour about this book. Unfortunately, we weren't at the Met on a day that they offer. We are going back this coming June, and I definitely want to visit the rooms that Claudia and Jamie visited while there. And see the Angel. And the fountain where they bathed.

Claudia and Jamie are twelve and nine respectively. Claudia is dissatisfied with her life, and feels like she needs to do something to shake things up. She decides to run away, but not just anywhere--to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Claudia doesn't save her money, so she needs to take someone who has money, which is why she chooses Jamie. He holds onto him money.

One day, they stay on the school bus, then take a train into the city. Claudia wants to waste money on buses and taxis, but Jamie keeps a clear head. They go to the museum, and every day before the museum closes, they hide in the restroom. On their second day, there is an inordinate number of people at the museum, and the kids don't know why until they "steal" a newspaper. As it turns out, there is a new statue that may be a work of Michaelangelo. So the kids make it their mission to find out if Michaelangelo actually sculpted it.

They ended up at Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler's house, as she is the one who sold the sculpture to the museum. They find out the truth and end up going home. Yes, I ruined the end. Sue me. For me, this was less about how the book ends than the adventures that the kids went on. Reading this brought back a lot of memories.