Running Away

When I was a young teenager, I read the most marvelous book. It was about a young girl who, with her brother, ran away from their home in Connecticut to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. The book detailed how they remained undiscovered for over a week, coming and going and tripping over a great mystery while secreted away themselves.

Over the years, I’ve often thought of the book but could never remember its name.

In September, Roger and took a brief honeymoon weekend in Portland, Maine. I’d always wanted to visit that city’s art museum, so that rainy Sunday we enjoyed the jazz brunch and post-impressionists exhibit. After we’d checked out a good deal of the museum (top notch), we spent a leisurely two hours in the museum gift shop.

Wonderful merchandise, and lo and behold I rediscovered “From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.” I was surprised to learn it had been a A. John Newbery Award winner when it was published in 1967. This was the 35th anniversary edition.

I snatched it up thinking it would be great to share with another young bookworm down the line, but I couldn’t resist dipping into it when we got home.

Two bed-time reads later, I’d devoured it again and was just as pleased and satisfied as the first time around. Although I have no interest in running away as an adult, the sense of adventure and creative industry is just as keen.

Highly recommended for 10-13 year olds. Keep in mind, though, there are timeless messages included for us all:

“Becoming a team didn’t mean the end of arguments. But it did mean the arguments became a part of the adventure, became discussion not theats. To an outsider, the arguments would appear the same because feeling like a part of a team is something that happens invisibly. You might call it caring. You could even call it love.”

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