This must be one of the most read/revered young adult novels of my lifetime–it was published when I was a grade -schooler–but somehow I don’t think I’d ever read it. Perhaps because it’s about a girl and, as we all know, they have cooties.

It is a marvel of tone. Cast in the form of a letter to her lawyer, Mrs Frankweiler is as arch a narrator as one could ask for and more than one looks for in such books. The first half of the story is about Claudia Kincaid, an eleven-year-old who runs away from her Greenwich, CT home in search of adventure, taking her little brother, Jamie, sling, chiefly because he has the most money of her siblings. The revelation that his lucre comes from cheating another kid at War is just one example of the author’s comic touch.

The two hide away in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, joining up with class tours during the day and investigating a statue that may or may not be the work of Michelangelo at night. Claudia comes to feel that her actions would be justified if only she could prove the great artist’s authorship.

This eventually leads them to the donor, Mrs. Frankweiler herself, and it is here that the story really comes alive. The widow’s interactions with the children are delightful. Though she has no children of her own she understands these two completely and, in treating them like adults, wins their trust, maybe even love. I should have just taken a cooties shot and read it decades ago.

(Reviewed:10-Dec-24)

Grade: (A) Orrin C. Judd

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E. Konigsburg Links:

    -WIKIPEDIA: E.L. Konigsburg
    -WIKIPEDIA: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
    -FILMOGRAPHY: E. L. Konigsburg (IMDB)
    -ILLUSTRATIONS: Mixed-Up Files (Ben Mires)
    -CELEBRATION: 50 Years of Mixed-up Files (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
    -ENTRY: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg, and published by Atheneum (American Library Association)
    -COLLECTION: Konigsburg, E. L (LIbrary of Congress)
    -COLLECTION: Elaine Lobl Konigsburg Papers (University of Pittsburgh)
    -OBIT: E. L. Konigsburg, Author, Is Dead at 83 (Paul Vitello, April 22, 2013, NY Times)
    -OBIT: E.L. Konigsburg: best remembered for 'From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler' ' ( Molly Driscoll, April 22, 2013, CS Monitor)
    -TRIBUTE: From the Gloriously Eccentric Files of Mrs. E.L. Konigsburg (Katy Waldman, April 23, 2013, Slate)
    -TRIBUTE: In Memory of E.L. Konigsburg and Mrs. Frankweiler's Mixed-Up Files: This weekend brought the news that beloved children's author E.L. Konigsburg had died at the age of 83. But in our minds, the authors of our childhood favorites never grow old, nor does their writing. (Jen Doll, April 22, 2013, The Atlantic)
    -AUDIO: From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg (Jordan Barclay)
    -INTERVIEW: E.L. Konigsburg Interview Transcript (Scholastic)
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    -ESSAY: E.L. Konigsburg, Children’s Book Writer who “Dared to Disturb the Universe” (Tami Richards, April 15, 2025, Literary Ladies Guide)
    -STUDY GUIDE: Mixed-Up Files (Study.com)
    -STUDY GUIDE: Mixed-Up Files (SuperSummary)
    -STUDY GUIDE: Mixed-Up Files (TV Tropes)
    -STUDY GUIDE: Mixed-Up Files (litCharts)
    -STUDY GUIDE: Mixed-Up Files (Vocabulary.com)
    -STUDY GUIDE: Mixed-Up Files (ByrdSeed)
    -STUDY GUIDE: Mixed-Up Files (Mrs. Taylor's 5th grade class)
    -STUDY GUIDE: Mixed-Up Files (Book Clubbing)
    -STUDY GUIDE: Mixed-Up Files (Weebly)
    -STUDY GUIDE: Mixed-Up Files (Research Parent)
    -STUDY GUIDE: Mixed-Up Files (Schmoop)
    -STUDY GUIDE: Mixed-Up Files (Reading to Kids)
    -STUDY GUIDE: Mixed-Up Files (Book Rags)
    -STUDY GUIDE: Mixed-Up Files (Merriam Webster)
    -ESSAY: The Mixed-Up Kids of Mrs. E. L. Konigsburg (Marah Gubar, 6/15/24, Public Books)
    -ESSAY: What Children’s Literature Teaches Us About Money: E.L. Konigsburg’s ‘From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler’ (Nicole Dieker, May 4, 2016, The Billfold)
    -ESSAY: A Few Fun Facts About 'From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler' & Its Author (Carrie McBride, March 30, 2023, NY Public Library)
    -SPECIAL ISSUE: THe Mixed-Up Files Issue (Met Kids)
    -ESSAY: Field Trip: Visiting The Original Mixed-up Files!: Paging through the early drafts of a kid lit classic (Nick Courage, Dec 05, 2022)
    -ESSAY: “From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler,” Fifty Years Later (Jia Tolentino, Jul. 17th, 2017, The New Yorker)
    -ESSAY: A Popcorn Kernel Inspired ‘From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler’: The author divulged her classic story's origins—a single piece of popcorn—in a 2001 issue of the Met's Museum Kids magazine (Alanna Martinez, 05/19/17, NY Observer)
    -ESSAY: In Search of Items From “From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler” (Gretchen Rubin, February 4, 2020)
    -ESSAY: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is 50. Here’s how the Met celebrated (Constance Grady, Jul 24, 2017, Vox)
    -ESSAY: 17 Fun Facts About From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (Erin McCarthy, Oct 14, 2021, Mental Floss)
    -ESSAY: I Can’t Be the Only One Who Loves Automats Thanks to ‘From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler’: Years after the last Horn & Hardart closed in NYC, this beloved children’s book brought them back to life for one young reader (Erin DeJesus Oct 7, 2019, Eater)
    -REVIEW ARCHIVE: E. L. Konigsburg (Kirkus)
    -REVIEW: of From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg (Kirkus)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (Bethaney, Books and Umbrellas)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (Bookie Cookie, The Guardian)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (Sis and Chrys)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (Publishers Weekly)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (The Vince Review)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (Common Sense Media)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (The Book Bag)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (Bianca Schulze, Children’s Book Review)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (The Edge of the Precipice)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (Momo Celebrating Time to Read)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (The Sheila Variations)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (Nina Vigil, StoneSoup
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (Becki Svare, A Book Lover’s Adventures)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (Plugged In)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (Daniel Johnston, The Readers and Writers Paradise)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (Jennifer Handford)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (MuggleNet)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (Book a Week with Jen)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (Devon Trevarrow Flaherty, The Starving Artist)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (Bedtime Book Review)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (Madeleine Carlisle, TIME: The 100 Best YA Books of All Time)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (Forever Bookish)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (Publishers Weekly)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (Every Day I write the Book)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (Pining for the West)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (Novel Pairings)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (Potluck)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (Jennifer, Reel Librarians)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (Diary of an Autodidact)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (Children’s Classic Book Carousel)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (Michelle Isenhoff)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (Bustle)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (Stories & Thyme)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (Joseph D’Agnese)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (That Artsy Reader Girl)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (Literary Masters)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (Mom Read It)
    -REVIEW: of Mixed-Up Files (The Aroma of Books)

FILM:

    -FILMOGRAPHY: E. L. Konigsburg (IMDB)
    -FILMOGRAPHY: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler–TV Movie (1995) (IMDB)
    -FILMOGRAPHY: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (1973) (IMDB)

Book-related and General Links: