Summary of the book:

This is an adventurous story that begins with two young children, who
are brother and sister. They plot to run away from home to the Metropolitan
Museum of Art in New York City. Even though they work together, Claudia,
who is the oldest of the siblings, is the leader of their mission. Jamie, who is
the older brother, is in charge of the finances, since he provided the money
for their trip. Jamie is tight with the money but Claudia wants to use it on
everything and this is number one cause of their arguments. Once they get
to New York City and the museum they come up with a plan to sneak back into
the museum when it closes and the guard wont check their bags. They stay
in the most elegant bed and start to have an everyday routine. When they
discover the Angel, said to be Michelangelos sculpture, they have a whole
new purpose of being there. The children want to uncover all they can about
the sculpture, and figure out if it really was the work of Michelangelo. All
during this story there is a woman named Basil E. Frankweiler, giving details
about what is happening to her lawyer, who we find out the identity of at the
end of the story. When the children realize its time to leave the museum,
instead of going home they decide to go see Mrs. Frankweiler, who was the
original owner of the sculpture to see if she could give them details about it.
She did and the children discovered more than they could have imagined.
They made a deal that she would leave them the sketch of the sculpture
which was proof that Michelangelo was the artist that made it for their
story of their journey. Finally at the end of the story we discover that her
lawyer, Saxonburg is actually their grandfather.

About the author:

E.L. kONIGSBURG

Elaine Lobl Konigsburg

was an American author who
was born on February 10, 1930,
and she died on April 19, 2013.
She was born in New York City,
moved to Ohio for a short while
and grew up mostly in small
towns in Pennsylvania. She went
to college at Carnegie Mellon University and while she was there she
developed an interest in chemistry. As a result she became a
chemist. During this time she worked in a laboratory, married a
psychologist named David and eventually graduated from the
University of Pittsburg. After college she taught science at a
private school and had three children. She waited until all three
children were out of school before she started writing. Konigsburg
would say that she got all of her ideas from people that she knew,
the things that happened to those people, the places that she had
been, and the things that had happened to her and also from the
things that she had read. She won a Newbery Medal for the book
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler in 1968. She
then went on to write The View From Saturday, which she also won a
Newbery Medal for in 1997. E.L. Konigsburg is and will always be a
well-respected author and known for always giving children a good
story filled with adventure.

Name:_______________
Date:____________
From the mixed- up files
Of mrs. Basil e. frankweiler
Before Reading the Book:
Reading Strategy: Having Expectations About a Book

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is a famous book.

Even though you havent read it, you may already have heard about it from
your teacher, your parents (who may have loved it when they were kids!), or
your friends. What have you heard? How does that make you feel about
reading the book? What do you imagine reading the book will be like? What
do you imagine will happen in it? Its important to know that some of your
expectations will be met and others will not.
Writing in Your Literature Response Journal
A. Write about one of these topics in your journal. Circle the topic that you
chose.
1. Consider the title of this book. What does it make you think about and
why?
Based upon the title, what are your expectations about the book?
2. Describe as carefully as you can a painting, a photograph, or a piece of
sculpture that has captured your attention. You may have fallen in love
with it or you may not like it at all, but for some reason you cant stop
thinking about it. Where did you first see it? What were your first
thoughts about it? What were your questions? What do you think about it
now?
3. Imagine you have been chosen to join a team of explorers. What special
skills, abilities, or interests do you have that made them decide to take
you? Write about some of the exceptional things you have done or are
good at. Do any of your skills or abilities ever get you in trouble? Perhaps,
for instance, you are good at asking questions. How could that be both an
asset and a problem?
B. What were your predictions, questions, observations, and connections