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

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From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Author	E. L. Konigsburg
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Children's novel
Publisher	Atheneum Press
Publication date	1967
Media type	print (hardback & paperback), audio book
Pages	162 pages
ISBN	0-689-71181-6

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is a novel by E. L. Konigsburg that won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1968.

[edit] Plot summary

This story revolves around Claudia Kincaid, a precocious 11-year-old girl (one month away from being 12) who feels under-appreciated by her parents. She decides to run away from home just long enough to show her family what they would be missing without her. Unfortunately, she doesn't enjoy hardship or discomfort, which rules out the traditional 'running away'. To solve this problem, Claudia decides to stay at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. She persuades her younger brother Jamie to accompany her: he's quiet, but most importantly, he has a secret stash of cash, which he's accumulated by betting on and cheating at card games with his best friend, Bruce Lansing, who is in the same grade as Jamie.

Much of the early part of the novel details how Claudia and Jamie settle in at the museum: blending in with school groups on field trips during the day to learn more about the museum's exhibits, hiding in the bathroom at closing time, and emerging after the staff has gone. At night they bathe in the fountain, pick up "wishing coins", and sleep on antique beds. During their stay, they become fascinated with the newest exhibit: a beautiful statue of an angel, suspected to have been crafted by Michelangelo. They research the statue, and discover that it was sold to the museum by a Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, who lives in Farmington, Connecticut. They spend the last of their dwindling money to travel to Mrs. Frankweiler's house, where they discover the angel's secret, hidden in the voluminous and erratically organized files in Mrs. Frankweiler's office. There they find out that Michelangelo made the angel. Afterward, she sends them home in her Rolls-Royce to their worried parents and siblings.

Claudia and Jamie then realize why they had gone on the crazy trip. It was because they wanted a secret of their own to treasure and keep.

[edit] Main Characters

• Claudia Kincaid -- The main character of the book, who feels unappreciated at home and so runs away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Learning of an enchanting statue in the Metropolitan Museum of Art leads her into a mystery she can’t pull out of.
• Jamie Kincaid -- Jamie Kincaid is a lively 9-year-old younger brother to Claudia, who tends to cheat at the card game War for money. He has 24 dollars and forty-three cents, and from Claudia's point of view, he is rich. (It is important to remember that the book was written and is set in the 1960s, and that 24 dollars and forty-three cents was worth much more than it is now.)

[edit] In other media

This novel was adapted into a movie in 1973, starring Ingrid Bergman in the title role. It later became a made-for-TV film in 1995, starring Lauren Bacall in the title role.This book was also recorded as a cassette book and CD book in 1995 by Listening Library, an imprint of Random House inc.

In the television series The Simpsons, the plot was mimicked in the episodes "Smart and Smarter," in which Lisa hides in a local science museum in embarrassment at discovering her baby sister is smarter than she, and the episode "Last Tap Dance in Springfield" features Bart and Milhouse hiding out in the shopping mall for one week while ostensibly on a camping trip. The film The Royal Tenenbaums includes a scene in which characters Margot and Richie hide in a museum; in the film's DVD commentary, Wes Anderson states that this was an homage to the novel. There is also a reference to the book in The Office, when Jim Halpert mentions it to a co-worker Kevin's fiance's daughter, Abby, and asks her where she'd rather live: the Met, or the aquarium.

Rapper MC Paul Barman mentions the book in a song.

Awards
Preceded by Up a Road Slowly	Newbery Medal recipient 1968	Succeeded by The High King