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

by E.L. Konigsburg

she almost forgot why she was running away. But not entirely. Claudia knew that it had to do with injustice. She was the oldest child and the only girl and was subject to a lot of injustice.

Since she intended to return home after everyone had learned a lesson in Claudia appreciation, she had to save money for her return trip, too, which was like full fare one way.

Az the kids if they saw a flaw in Claudia's plan

once she made up her mind to go, she enjoyed the planning almost as much as she enjoyed spending money. Planning long and well was one of her special talents.

Whp do you know who has this tale t ?

(Flattery is as important a machine as the lever, isn’t it, Saxonberg? Give it a proper place to rest, and it can move the world.)

his money and radio were not the only reasons. Manhattan called for the courage of at least two Kincaids.

Becoming a team didn’t mean the end of their arguments. But it did mean that the arguments became a part of the adventure, became discussions not threats.

an outsider the arguments would appear to be the same because feeling like part of a team is something that happens invisibly. You might call it caring. You could even call it love.

Both Jamie and Claudia had acquired a talent for being near but never part of a group. (Some people, Saxonberg, never learn to do that all their lives, and some learn it all too well.)

but Michelangelo had humbled her, and humility was not an emotion with which she felt comfortable;

A nasty letter or a sarcastic one can make you righteously angry, but what can you do about a polite letter of rejection? Nothing, really, except cry. So she did. Jamie

“The adventure is over. Everything gets over, and nothing is ever enough. Except the part you carry with you.

Finding a secret can make everything else unimportant, you know.

Secrets are safe, and they do much to make you different. On the inside where it counts.

She had known that Angel would have the answer, but she had expected it to be a loud bang, not a quiet soaking in. Of course secrets make a difference.

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

think you should learn, of course, and some days you must learn a great deal. But you should also have days when you allow what is already in you to swell up inside of you until it touches everything. And you can feel it inside you. If you never take time out to let that happen, then you just accumulate facts, and they begin to rattle around inside of you. You can make noise with them, but never really feel anything with them. It’s hollow.”

insisted that they stay overnight. I wanted all sides of the bargain kept, and I had to get my information.

Besides I had promised them a ride home in the Rolls Royce, and I never cheat when the stakes are high.

“Because after a time having a secret and nobody knowing you have a secret is no fun. And although you don’t want others to know what the secret is, you want them to at least know you have one.”

the greatest adventure lies not in running away but in looking inside, and the greatest discovery is not in finding out who made a statue but in finding out what makes you.