From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

Konigsburg, E.L. From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Aladdin Paperbacks, 1972 (c. 1967). Paperback $5.50, ISBN 0-689-71181-6.

What’s it about?

Twelve-year-old Claudia and her younger brother Jamie run away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art where they encounter a beautiful statue of an angel that may or may not have been sculpted by Michelangelo. Jamie and Claudia are determined to solve the mystery of the angel’s creator, and uncover more than they bargained for.

Find out more:

Twelve-year-old Claudia Kincaid feels unappreciated and tired of her ordinary existence, and sets out to run away and teach her family a little lesson. She is a creature of comfort, however, so the place she runs away to must be beautiful and comfortable. The Metropolitan Museum of Art fits the bill. She needs money to pull this off successfully, and invites her nine-year-old, penny-pinching brother Jamie along. The two have fun evading the guards, finding places to sleep undiscovered, and blending in with school groups. When a gorgeous statue of an angel appears at the museum, enveloped in mystery, the Claudia decides that her new mission is to find out if the sculpture is indeed the work of Michelangelo. Their detective work eventually leads them to the doorstep of the uber-wealthy elderly Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, the woman who sold the statue to the museum for a measly $225 dollars. The two uncover the secrets of the statue by telling the secret-loving woman their own secrets of how they managed to evade discovery at the museum.

Although this book is a light-hearted mystery, it is also a work of art. Konigsburg’ has crafted believable characters who behave believably in a rather implausible situation. This makes this story all the funnier. Jamie has the best lines: when he is nearly discovered by a guard when he’s hiding in the men’s room, the startled guard asks “Where did you come from?” Jamie responds: “Mother always said I came from Heaven.” This book is extremely funny, but it has a deeper undertone that sets it apart from other amusing adventure stories. Claudia’s deep need to escape the prosaic is not a typical reason that a child runs away. Mrs.Frankweiler is not a typical art collector, either. She treasures the secrets and stories behind each piece more than the monetary value. There are also some poignant moments. Mrs. Frankweiler, in exchange for the children’s secrets about their adventure, bequeaths Michelangelo’s signed sketch of the angel. On their ride home, the two children decide that Mrs. Frankweiler (who confesses to the children that she’d always wanted to be a mother) will be their secret grandmother.

There is an amazing twist to Konigsberg’s classic mystery. In 1995, a professor noticed a statue of a cupid in the courtyard of the French Embassy’s cultural services building, which is on Fifth Avenue. She became convinced that this was actually a Michelangelo sculpture.  She investigated the statue and announced that it was indeed an early work by Michelangelo. Konigsberg’s fans were stunned, and wondered if she’d known about this statue all along. She didn’t, but this story adds a new and special twist to this timeless novel.    

Genre: Mystery, Adventure, Humor

Reading Level: 5^th grade

Interest level: Grades 4-6

Read-alikes:

Balliet’s Chasing Vermeer and The Wright 3

Raskin’s Westing Game

Subjects: Runaways, Museums, Sibling Relationships, Art of the Renaissance

Awards:

Newbery Medal (1968)

ALA Notable Book

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