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

Written and illustrated by E. L. Konigsburg

E. L. Konigsburg E. L. = Elaine Lobl (maiden name)

Born February 10, 1930 in New York City

Died April 19, 2013 in Virginia

2 time Newbery Award Winner

1968 for The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

1997 for The View From Saturday

Only author to win the Newbery and Newbery Honor for runner-up in the same year

1968 runner-up for Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth, which was her first published book

E. L. Konigsburg Graduated from Carnegie Mellon University

with a degree in chemistry.

As a stay-at-home mom, she began writing when her three children were in school and published her first book at age 37.

Wrote 16 books for children.

Also wrote and illustrated three picture books.

Inspiration for the Book

A family picnic at Yellowstone National Park where her three children complained about insects and heat.

“I realized that if my children ever left home, they would never revert to barbarism. They would carry with them all the fussiness and tidiness of suburban life. Where could they go? Maybe they could find some way to live with caution and compulsiveness and still satisfy their need for adventure.” – E. L. Konigsburg

She concluded that her children would seek the comfort and elegance of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

The characters of Claudia and Jamie are based on her own children.

Inspiration for the Book

The fictitious Angel statute was inspired by a front page New York Times article on October 25, 1965.

It was about the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s $225 auction purchase of a plaster and stucco statute from the Renaissance era.

In the book, this became the angel statute thought to be created by Michelangelo.

Bibliography

First published in 1967

Atheneum Publishers, New York

Illustrations by E. L. Konigsburg

162 pages

ISBN: 0-689-20586-4

OCLC Number: 14359879

LC Classification: PZ7.K8352 Fr

Awards & Recognition

1968 John Newbery Medal Winner

1968 Lewis Carroll Shelf Award

1970 William Allen White Children’s Book Award

ALA Notable Children’s Book

School Library Journal One Hundred Books that Shaped the Century

School Library Journal Best of the Best

Main Characters

Almost 12 years old and a straight A student

The oldest of 4 children, she has 3 younger brothers

She plans out everything; very independent

Feels unappreciated by her family

Decides to run to “somewhere” and chooses the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Chooses her 2nd youngest brother Jamie to be her companion on her adventure because he won’t tell, is funny, and has lots of money

Claudia Kincaid

Main Characters

9 years old

Tightwad with his money, has savings of $24.68

Increases his savings by cheating at cards on the bus

Loves adventure and complications

Flattered to be the brother invited by Claudia to accompany her

Jamie Kincaid

Main Characters

82 year old eccentric widow

Narrator of the story

Auctioned off the angel statute that was purchased by the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Has a wall of filing cabinets that hold her secrets

Knows the truth about the origin of the angel statute

Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

Setting

The timeframe for the book is 1967 during the school year.

Claudia and Jamie live in Greenwich, NY.

They run away via the train to Grand Central Station in New York City.

New York City climate at this time was anti-war protests and race riots.

Claudia and Jamie hide out at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

They spend their final dollars on a bus and taxi ride to Farmington, CT to speak with Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler regarding the angel statute.

Plot Summary

The story begins at the end with Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler writing to her attorney Saxonberg in regards to changing her will. She includes an account of Claudia and Jamie’s adventure so he will understand her reasoning for the change.

The rest of the story is narrated by Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler as she retells the story of Claudia and Jamie running away to the museum and how they eventually seek her out in their search for an answer.

Plot Summary

Claudia’s story begins when she decides to run away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to teach her family a lesson in “Claudia appreciation”.

She chooses the Art Museum because she doesn’t like discomfort and wants to go someplace comfortable and beautiful.

She enlists her younger brother Jamie to accompany her.

Claudia does all the planning on the adventure while Jamie is in charge of all the financials.

Plot Summary

Once in New York City, Claudia and Jamie hide out in the museum bathrooms until closing time.

They sleep in an old 16th century bed and bathe in the fountain.

During the day, they tag along with school groups and learn about history and art.

Eventually, they discover the crowds gathering around an angel statute and their adventure changes forever.

Plot Summary

Claudia and Jamie learn that the angel statute was purchased at an auction for the bargain price of $225.

It was auctioned by a Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.

Many believe that this statute is the work of Michelangelo and could be priceless.

Claudia becomes obsessed with the statute and wants to solve the mystery. She believes this will make her a heroine.

Plot Summary

Claudia and Jamie conduct research at the library to learn more about Michelangelo and the angel statute.

They discover Michelangelo’s stonemason mark is on the bottom of the statute.

They write a letter to the museum revealing what they know only to find out that the museum was already aware of this clue. The museum office tells them additional evidence is needed to prove it is, in fact, a Michelangelo.

Plot Summary

This news devastates Claudia to tears.

When Jamie suggests they go home, Claudia indicates they haven’t accomplished anything yet. She tells Jamie:

“I want to go back different. I, Claudia Kincaid, want to be different when I go back. Like being a heroine is being different.”

Plot Summary

Claudia has a “hunch” that they need to go see Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler because she would know the truth about the angel statute.

Jamie is shocked that Claudia would have a “hunch” as she plans out everything.

This moment shows that even though Claudia doesn’t believe she is different, this adventure has changed her more than she realizes.

Plot Summary

Claudia and Jamie use the last of their money to travel to see Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.

Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is aware that they are the missing children from Greenwich, NY.

When Claudia asks Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler why she sold the statute she replies:

Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler would rather sell an item cheaply than give it away.

“Because I don’t like to donate things”

Plot Summary

Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler offers up a trade to Claudia and Jamie.

She will give Claudia and Jamie one hour to search her files to find the secret of the angel statute.

In turn, Claudia and Jamie will tell Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler all about their adventure in New York.

To seal the deal, Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler will then give Claudia and Jamie a ride home in her Rolls Royce.

Plot Summary

With minutes to spare, they locate the file under Bologna, Italy, which is where Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler purchased the statute.

The file contains an old piece of paper with a sketch of the angel statute and Italian writing with Michelangelo's signature.

Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, who was secretly watching the children, appears and confirms that the statute is indeed the work of Michelangelo.

Plot Summary

When Jamie asks why Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler doesn’t sell the sketch she indicates:

Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler announces that she is going to leave the sketch to Claudia and Jamie in her will but only if they keep her secret.

She believes that Claudia is like her, and will keep the secret because the secret will make her feel different.

“I need having the secret more than I need the money.”

Plot Summary

Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler sums it up when she says about Claudia:

“Claudia doesn’t want adventure. She likes baths and feeling comfortable too much for that kind of thing. Secrets are the kind of adventure she needs. Secrets are safe, and they do much to make you different.”

Plot Summary

As for the title of the book, Jamie sums it up when he says about Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and her file cabinets:

“If all those files are secrets, and if secrets make you different on the inside, then your insides, Mrs. Frankweiler, must be the most mixed-up, the most different insides I’ve ever seen.”

Plot Summary

End the end, Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler’s chauffer returns the children to their parents in Greenwich, NY.

Another secret is revealed in that Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler’s attorney of 41 years, Saxonberg, is actually the children’s grandfather.

The children are not told this as Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler prefers to keep this secret to herself.

The children hope to visit Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler again someday. And Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler hopes that they do.

Plot Summary

Not only did Claudia change, but Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler changes in that she decides to donate her antique bed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art upon her death.

This is important because she does not like to donate things – but she figures “I ought to”.

Not only can secrets make people feel different on the inside, but human interaction can change people too.

Theme The overall theme of this book is about

discovering who you are. That doesn’t come from seeking external gratification but from looking within yourself.

It is also about children wanting to fit in but be different at the same time. Claudia tries to figure out who she is and what makes her unique and special. She believes that once she is different, she can return home. She is upset to think she has to return home when she doesn’t feel different inside.

Quote

E. L. Konigsburg sums it up when she says this book is:

“Claudia’s story about finding herself, about how the greatest adventure lies not in running away but in looking inside, and the greatest discovery is not in finding out who made a statute but in finding out what makes you.”

- An Afterward from the author

Additional Themes

Teamwork - Claudia and Jamie compliment each others strengths and weaknesses to work together to carry out Claudia’s plan.

The idea that learning is fun. Claudia and Jamie spend time learning about the museum they live in. They also research Michelangelo to learn more about the validity of the angel statute.

Interpretations

Most literary reviews focus on Claudia and her quest to be different. Many believe that E. L. Konigsburg had a knack for understanding children and their conflict to be accepted and yet feel different.

The New Yorker’s Emily Greenhouse describes it as:

“When Claudia returns to her family, it may be the same home, but Claudia herself is changed; she’s gained knowledge of the art-historical kind, and also of her individuality. She has become enriched, enlarged, somehow set apart… Konigsburg granted Claudia a perfect answer to the great childhood what-if – what if I leave behind my family, which is all that I know? The answer is that Claudia will learn to tell her own story. E. L. Konigsburg was the rare grownup who understood that…”

Interpretation

The writing style of the book is often pointed out as treating children like grown-ups by not writing down to them. The children also act responsible and very adult like with the ability to take care of themselves.

College professor Florianne L. Jimenez says of the book:

“I finally understand that techniques demonstrated how E.L. Konigsburg wrote more elegantly and obliquely than anyone should write for young adults. Perhaps that’s why she has been such a pillar in the genre – she wrote for young adults, but never wrote patronizingly, or dumbed her style down. After all, no one wants to be treated like a kid, least of all kids themselves.”

Context

E. L. Konigsburg’s books are known for:“[T]heir outsider’s perspective, their wit, and plotlines that venture fearlessly into unfamiliar epochs, fantastic scenarios and nightmarish circumstances that might have been plucked from the headlines.”

- Paul Vitello, New York Times

“[A] willingness to take young readers seriously, as people who could decipher more complicated literature than simple, straightforward tales.”

- Todd VanDererff, Newswire“That problem of wanting acceptance for being different from everyone else and wanting to be the same is a strong conflict. I can continue to write for children because the basic problem has not changed”.

- E. L. Konigsburg

Significance vs. Sentiment

This book is both significant and sentimental.

Significance lies in its timelessness – the main theme is as relevant today is it was in 1967.

Sentiment lies in its adventure – who wouldn’t want to spend the night in a museum?

The book offers its reader a powerful message of finding out who you are within yourself while offering an adventure and mystery that is both exciting and unique.

Adaptions 1973 movie titled The Hideaways starring

Ingrid Bergman as Mrs. Frankweiler

1995 television movie starring Lauren Bacall as Mrs. Frankweiler

Book Trailer

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

Click the link above to be directed to the video created by Animoto.

References Bird, E. (2012). Top 100 children’s novels #7: From the mixed-up files of Mrs.

Basil E. Frankweiler. School Library Journal. Retrieved from http://blogs.slj.com

Greenhouse, E. (2013, April 23). Postscript: E. L. Konigsburg (1930-2013). The New Yorker. Retrieved from http://www.newyorker.com/

Henderson, J. and Peck, J. (1998). The view from Saturday: A conversation with E.L. Konigsburg, winner of the 1997 newbery medal. The Reading Teacher, 51(8), 676-680.

Jimenez, F. (2013). Remembering Konigsburg’s “mixed-up files”. Rappler. Retrieved from http://www.rappler.com/

Konigsburg, E. L. (2007). From the mixed-up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. New York: Aladdin.

Marcus, L. S. (2000). Talking with authors. Publishers Weekly, 247(7), 98-101.

References

Scales, P. (2006). Talking with E.L. Konigsburg. Book Links, 15(6), 31.

Todd, L. K. (1997, July/August). E.L. Konigsburg. Horn Book Magazine, 73, 415-417.

VanDerWerff, T. (2013, April 23). R.I.P. E.L. Konigsburg, author of from the mixed-up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Newswire. Retrieved from http://www.avclub.com/

Vitello, P. (2013, April 22). E. L. Konigsburg, author, is dead at 83. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/