paperback, 176 pages
Published May 31, 2003 by Gardners Books.
A sweet story about two kids that run away and spend a week sleeping at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Quite dated now, but the innocence and sense of adventure is quite charming.
Listened to audiobook on commute.
I'm not sure how this book escaped my notice when I was a kid, but it did. It's a gem.
At first I wasn't sure I would like it. The main character is pompous and superior and I got tired of her grammar nitpicking. But I was utterly charmed by the relationship that blossoms between Claudia and her brother, and it eventually becomes clear that Claudia's pomposity is as much a hindrance to her creativity and intelligence as it is inspired by them--neither inherently good or bad. It's an interesting and rather sophisticated position for a children's book to take. And there's an entertaining mystery to keep it speeding right along.
It's also an entertaining time capsule. Imagine eating a meal in NYC for less than 50 cents... And imagine a world where security is so lax that kids can live in the metropolitan museum …
Listened to audiobook on commute.
I'm not sure how this book escaped my notice when I was a kid, but it did. It's a gem.
At first I wasn't sure I would like it. The main character is pompous and superior and I got tired of her grammar nitpicking. But I was utterly charmed by the relationship that blossoms between Claudia and her brother, and it eventually becomes clear that Claudia's pomposity is as much a hindrance to her creativity and intelligence as it is inspired by them--neither inherently good or bad. It's an interesting and rather sophisticated position for a children's book to take. And there's an entertaining mystery to keep it speeding right along.
It's also an entertaining time capsule. Imagine eating a meal in NYC for less than 50 cents... And imagine a world where security is so lax that kids can live in the metropolitan museum of art without anyone noticing--no CCTV, no alarms, no army of security staff to catch them.
I wasn't thrilled with Mrs. Frankweiler's skepticism re. the scientific process and willful hoarding of historical documents that, in my view, belong to the world. At 31, I can step back and recognize that her viewpoint is a consequence of wealth and privilege. But I don't think I could have made that connection at 10, and it makes me a little uncomfortable to think I probably would have romanticized her and the fortress of secret files that is essentially a shrine to selfishness.
