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Dec 17, 2009

Stephanie rated it:

OK, I'll admit it: I freakin' hate the Newbery Medal. Any time I see it on the cover of a book, I'm 98.5% sure it sucks. All of the books that have been given this "honor" seem to have been written with the intent of teaching kids some crappy history lesson. There's no magic or mystery to any of them...reading these books is akin to eating dry toast when you know damned well you could cover the bread with butter, cinnamon, and sugar. I mean, if you really want to martyr yourself, do it More...

9 comments like (38 people liked it)

Apr 18, 2011

Aldrin rated it:

For his autumnal yet incandescent family tragicomedy, The Royal Tenenbaums, Wes Anderson drew inspiration from a handful of literary works remarkably possessed of whimsy and insightful wit. Chief among these is the late J. D. Salinger’s short but utterly perceptive book, Franny and Zooey, whose title characters are members of the Glass family, the basis for the dysfunctional Tenenbaums in Anderson’s film. The eccentric director, drawing further attention to his enchantment with Salinger’s fictio More...

7 comments like (14 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Lola rated it:

I first read this book when I was 7-going-on-8. I read it, and then I read it again. Then I read it again, and kept going until, according to my personal mythology, I had read it 11 times. And then I stole my school's copy of the book. I hadn't picked it up for many years since then, but this book is woven into my neural pathways every which way, and rereading it still makes me love it more.

The Mixed-Up Files drew me in with its details and paraphernalia
(the instrument cases! More...

2 comments like (10 people liked it)

Sep 26, 2008

Jill rated it:

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

This is a delightful story for children of all ages. I'm wondering why I never discovered this book when I was a kid?

Claudia is planning to run away. She wants a different life, than that of the oldest child, with so many responsibilities. Her brother Jamie doesn't know it yet, but she has chosen him to be her companion. One reason she has chosen Jamie, is because he is good with money. C More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Jul 17, 2008

Bobby rated it:

There are certain, special books that I don't want to give up once finished. I guess to prolong the separation and perhaps to somehow physically absorb whatever magic it possesses, I'll find myself pressing my palms against the book, sandwiching it. It doesn't happen very often. But it did happen with this book.

I had never read this book growing up. But I'm so glad that I finally got around to it.

What is it that makes this book so wonderful? Let's begin with Mrs. Bas More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Apr 05, 2008

Rebecca Grace rated it:

I read this years ago as a child and just finished re-reading it with my 7-year-old son. It actually touched off a lot of interesting discussions about what has changed and what has stayed the same in the years since the book was first published in 1967 (my son piped up with all kinds of objections throughout the book, like "what about the motion detectors and the lasers around the art?"). Of course today admission is no longer free at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, no one is allowe More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 09, 2009

Jesse rated it:

My end-of-2008 nostalgia continued with this, a dear childhood favorite, and it's not particularly hard to see why--isn't hiding for a week at the Met and solving a Michelangelo-centered mystery a fantasy of every artistically-minded child? (It certainly was mine.) And in hindsight I can see how much Claudia was in myself at that age, the yearning to "grow up" ASAP, the intense desire to be seen as preternaturally special--isn't it interesting how wrapped up in the pages of a book on More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 04, 2008

The other John rated it:

This is another runaway tale, also set in New York, but that's about all it has in common with My Side of the Mountain. This is the tale of Claudia Kincaid, a kid growing up in Connecticut. She finds suburban life to be quite unbearable, what with homework and chores and all, so she decides to run away from home. Being a child accustomed to comfort, she decides to eschew the traditional lot of a runaway such as sleeping in alleys, begging for meals, and the like. Instead she decides to run away More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 24, 2009

Josiah rated it:

One of the first books from the effervescent mind of the great E.L. Konigsburg, this novel stands up as well today as it did when it was first published.
Populated by strong, independent characters as in all of the author's stories, this book follows an interesting story thread of both unique survival and a pressing mystery, as Claudia and her brother hide in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Attempting to keep one step ahead of the police and their parents is not an easy task, b More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Jul 22, 2009

Laura rated it:

I loved this as a kid and forgot all about it. I found it again while rummaging around a local bookstore during the "Squawking Matilda" book signing. (How's that for promo Lisa?) The story was as sweet as I remembered, and I learned something new too. A couple of months ago, I visited Brookgreen Gardens in SC. It is the first and only outdoor sculpture garden of it's type in the US. A truly amazing place. An illustration from the book (set in the Metropolitan Museum of Art) remi More...

4 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 08, 2008

Alice rated it:

A brother and sister run away in style to the Metropolitan Museum and solve the mystery of a statue's attribution.

Appropriate for ages 9-13

This Newbery award winning realistic fiction story is about a brother and sister who decide to run away, but not to just anyplace. With their meager allowance savings and a train pass, they go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. There, Claudia becomes obsessed with finding out whether a statue of an angel is really by Michelangelo More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 18, 2008

Lizzie rated it:

Oh this is the cutest thing. So silly I never read this as a kid. I can tell you exactly why I would have liked it: because I used to pretend to live at the Milwaukee Public Museum in the European Village and/or Streets of Old Milwaukee exhibits. (I, uh, thought they were kind of the same thing. They're right next to each other!) This plan, like Claudia's, also would have worked. I'm just saying.

I didn't realize that Frankweiler herself was present later in the book (that it's More...

6 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 31, 2011

Tracey rated it:

So, what exactly would be the category for lingering behind and taking up residence in the Metropolitan Museum of Art? I'll go with criminal trespass till I learn otherwise. So - when I commit criminal trespass, should I blame Thomas Hoving, or E.L. Konigsburg? I recently finished False Impressions, and just finished From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, so I'm already making plans. Enough time has gone by since the publication of the book - 1967 - that the guards must have gotte More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 11, 2008

Jayna added it

Sixth-grader Claudia Kincaid wants to run away, but doesn't want to do it the regular way. She is mad at her parents. She feels they take her for granted, because as the oldest of four children and the only girl, she's constantly saddled with household chores and babysitting. She comes up with a plan to run away to the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in New York City (where most of the story takes place) from her home in Greenwich, Connecticut. Claudia decides that her nine-year-old brother More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 13, 2010

Leah rated it:

What child doesn't dream of running away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art?

This was one of my favorite books as a child. The adventure of two kids running away to New York City and hiding in a museum was fascinating to me. In addition, they get to solve a mystery, which appealed to me even more strongly.

I agree with another reviewer who says that it was the details of the book that drew her in: packing their clothes in their instrument cases, the way they spent money, the won More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 26, 2009

Annette rated it:

I just got done reading this book to my son. I wasn't really sure if he would like it because he likes books with a lot of action in them, but he said that he would give it 4 stars!
This is what I liked about it: I liked the mystery surrounding the statue, the dialogue between Claudia and Jamie (Jamie totally cracked me up!), the whole idea of running away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art is ingenious!
There were really only two things that I didn't like about it, 1) I think that I More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Apr 28, 2008

Sarah rated it:

This was a cute kids book with a good message at the end: You only have to be a heroine to yourself.

I wasn't too fond of Saxonburg's role being in the book, but I love Mrs. Frankweiler! Jamie was comic relief and Claudia was every one of us recovering-perfectionistas. Cute story, clean book, not too adventuresome as most of the reviews indicated, although pretty irksome probably to worried parents, and a bit educational I think for everyone. A cute saying by Mrs. Frankweiler was More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 09, 2008

Ronny rated it:

beginilah ironi dari menyimpan rahasia:
Kalau kamu tahu suatu rahasia besar --dan memang cuma kamu satu2nya org di dunia yang tahu--kamu akan merasa dirimu penting sekali. Tapi benarkah? Bila sama sekali tak ada orang yg tahu akan adanya rahasia itu dan bhw kamu yg memegangnya, berarti kamu tidak dianggap penting oleh org lain. Agar orang lain melihatmu sbg orang penting, berarti kamu harus membocorkan sedikit rahasia itu agar org2 tahu bhw kamu menyimpan rahasia. Tapi kalau rahasia itu boc More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Katie rated it:

Yes this is a children's book...but it's an amazing one! I think I first read this book sometime around 3rd grade, but it was just as good as I remember. It's even better now, since I've been to the Met and know exactly what they're talking about. (I especially loved seeing how little the Met has changed...looking at the pictures of the big pyramid and saying "I saw that last week!")

I think Claudia was one of my heros when I was a kid...I just didn't really realize it. More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 08, 2007

Andrea rated it:

While technically a re-read, I haven’t read it in, say, 12-ish years? I was watching Night at the Museum with some friends and realized that the movie reminded me of that great book I read as a kid about the brother and sister who ran away and slept in the Met Museum in NYC, which completely fascinated me when I was growing up, though I never had any real inclination to run away. Anyway, the book was fun to read, and brought back lots of memories of reading it for the first time - it makes me wa More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 04, 2012

Needleroozer rated it:

I just reread this book not too long ago.

A brother and sister run away from home and SQUAT the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. They sleep in beds on display and bathe in a big fountain at night after everyone has gone home and the guard is in another part of the building. Then they solve a mystery!

This book is set in the 70s or maybe even the 60s. Unfortunately, any kids trying to squat the musuem today would be observed on "security" cameras in More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 09, 2009

Nikki rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Dec 30, 2008

TheKBSeries rated it:

Alright, here we go with another book from my past that was forced down my throat by the bare hands of an english teacher. I hated this book so much that I decided to just not read it and struggle my way through that time of the year.

After arriving to school the morning after i decided that, i panicked! The current chapter that was to be discussed abruptly fell into the lesson plans of the teacher that morning and i began to panick. I glanced around at the obedient students who pluc More...

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Jan 26, 2012

Nicole rated it:

From the mixed up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg, is an interesting, mind grabbing, can’t stop reading book. When Claudia wants to get her parent’s attention and tell them there being unfair, she decides to run away. Not the old fashioned kind of running away; no, she wants to go to an elegant, comfortable, and interesting place, to a place that will make her feel important. So, she and her brother Jamie packed their trumpet cases and ran away to the Metropolitan M More...

1 comment like

Jan 15, 2012

Jayne rated it:

The story follows the adventures of eleven-year old Claudia Kincaid and her nine-year-old brother Jamie, as they run away from home to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Claudia believes she is not appreciated at home and as a result appeals to her brother to help finance the cost of running away. Each chapter reveals how they live in the museum without being caught by security whilst commenting on the wonderful artefacts that surround them. They soon become entranced by one artefa More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 03, 2012

Emily rated it:

I joined the challenge to read Newbery Medal and Honor winners this year. From the Mixed Up Files was my first read from the lists this year. I believe I may have read this book back in elementary school but definitely did not remember much about it. I am so glad I chose to revisit it.

Claudia is tired of being Claudia. She wants to be different. She wants to feel important. Because of this, she devises a plan to runaway. Claudia doesn't want to runaway to any old place. She wants to More...

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Nov 28, 2011

Nicole rated it:

This book was first introduced to me in third grade, when my teacher read it as a whole class read aloud and ever since then it has been at the top of my list. The idea of a young girl and her younger brother running away from home and living in the Metropolitan Museum of Art is a very far-fetched, but also very enticing idea, especially for young readers. They ran away because Claudia, who is 11, did not feel appreciated by her parents. This is a feeling that every child, especially in a large More...

0 comments like

Nov 20, 2011

Sara rated it:

I read this when I was younger (just once) and now I was motivated to pick it up again after reading Brian Selznick's Wonderstruck, which was full of allusions to this quiet little novel. As a child I loved From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E. Frankweiler and I love it still, but for different reasons. I remember identifying with Claudia's feelings of self importance as a child (who didn't have those feelings growing up?) and the sense of fun in running away, but now as an adult I adore the d More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 19, 2011

Renee.turner26 rated it:

This book is amazing! I randomly picked it up at the public library, and read the back.
When suburban Claudia Kincaid decides to run away, she knows she doesn’t just want to run from somewhere, she wants to run to somewhere — to a place that is comfortable, beautiful, and, preferably, elegant. She chooses the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
These words are beautifully written (and beautifully sounding), and they grabbed me. I went home and and for the rest of the day kept More...

0 comments like

Nov 06, 2011

lprater rated it:

Part of Literature Unit:

Running away from home with her brother Jake, Claudia finds a strange comfort taking up residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her and her brother manage to blend into school groups, find food like peanut butter crackers from a vending machine and discover a wonderful piece of art work. The story unfolds as the two spend time learn more about this recent bargain acquisition for the museum and begin researching this angel, supposedly created by the famo More...

0 comments like