Copyright 1967.
Claudia Kincaid is a young eleven year old girl who feels unappreciated by her parents. So she decides to run away. She doesn’t want to just run away but run to somewhere. Somewhere comfortable, beautiful and preferably elegant. So she chooses the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. She recruits her nine year old brother Jaime to accompany her. Jaime is the one with all the money for he cheats at cards with his friend and has a whole $24 dollars. The two successfully take the train to New York and go to the museum. They hide in the restrooms just before it closes and they have the place all to themselves. They sleep in the old beds. Bath in the fountain in the restaurant and collect change in the fountain to supplement their income. In the day they mingle with school tour groups.
The museum has a brand new exhibit that is attracting crowds. A statue of cupid that might be a work of Michelangelo. It was bought from the reclusive Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler for a bargain price of $225. Experts are still divided that this is a genuine Michelangelo sculpture. Claudia becomes obsessed with the mystery and embarks on solving it. A mystery that leads her to the Connecticut home of Mrs. Frankweiler.
This was one of those books that they read to us back in fourth or fifth grade. For some reason it came to mind and doing a quick Google search I found out the title. This was one of those books that I remember well since the premise was so fun as a kid. I mean who wouldn’t want to run away to the museum. Now some things are probably a bit dated. I don’t think with modern cameras and alarms that this could be accomplished today. This is still a charming book that is enjoyable forty some years later.
