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

I loved this book as a kid.  I love this book as an adult.  It's purely delightful, and I'm so glad I revisited it.  I read it aloud to my kids this month -- my 11-yr-old had read it already, but the girls hadn't yet, so it was new to them.  We had such a great time with it -- lots of laughter and excitement.  

Mixed-up Files is about two kids on a crazy adventure of their own making.  Almost-twelve Claudia is tired of being taken for granted.  She's the oldest child, she always gets good grades, and she feels people just expect her to be good and never think she won't be.  She decides to run away from home.  But not just run away from one place -- she also wants to run TO someplace.  Namely the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.  She takes her 9-yr-old brother Jamie along because he's got more money than her other brothers and because he can be depended on to keep a secret.

Claudia and Jamie weren't very close before this.  But as they work together to hide inside the museum for several weeks, they grow to understand and appreciate each other.  Together, they try to unravel a mystery.  Did Michelangelo carve the beautiful statue of an angel that's recently been donated to the museum?  They finally realize that the statue's donor, Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, might hold the clues they need, so they seek her out.

I'd totally forgotten that this was entirely narrated by Mrs. Frankweiler!  She made me think of Helen Mirren a lot.  Same sort of no-nonsense aura that Mirren portrays so well.  

My 9-yr-old was especially into this book, as I think she identified with Claudia a lot.  I do too.  All that joy taken in planning and in executing plans -- so me.  Also, the feeling of being taken for granted because you always do what you're expected to do -- I had that a lot, growing up, and I think she does too.  I need to work on making sure she knows I very much appreciate her cheerful compliance and willingness to work hard on things.  Otherwise she might take it into her head to run away to the Smithsonian or something!

Particularly Good Bits:

Happiness is excitement that has found a settling down place, but there is always a little corner that keeps flapping around (p. 151).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It:  G.  Clean and fun and good.