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The Dadmag Guide To Children's Books
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From the Mixed-up Files of
Mrs.Basil E. Frankweiler
(Ages 9-12)
Even the happiest kids sometimes daydream about running away. In E.L.Konigsberg's From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, a sister and brother hide out in the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a week and then visit the former owner of one of the works of art. The protagonist of the novel, twelve-year-old Claudia Kincaid, is fed up with the injustice of being the eldest and the only girl in a suburban family of four kids. She's also just plain bored. First published in 1967, most of the details hold up well; Konigsberg's choice of the art collector Mrs. Frankweiler as narrator results in some awkwardness. Claudia's desire for distinction, increasingly clear to herself, is amply rewarded in the end.
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