History Literature / FromTheMixedUpFilesOfMrsBasilEFrankweiler

* CatchPhrase: Jamie's is "Oh, boloney!" [[spoiler: Turns out to be helpful for Claudia to remember the city of ''Bologna'', Italy.]]

* EurekaMoment: Jamie's CatchPhrase [[spoiler:reminds Claudia that Bologna, Italy, had been mentioned in connection with the statue in an article she'd read.]]

''From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler'' is a 1968 novel by the children's author Creator/ELKonigsburg, who won her first UsefulNotes/NewberyMedal for it.

* TheUnfavorite: Claudia runs away from home because she feels this way. She's sick of being the oldest kid and [[ResentfulOutnumberedSibling only girl]] in the family, with all of the responsibility and none of the appreciation. She just wants to feel special.

* CoolOldLady: Mrs. Frankweiler, who is old and rich and amuses herself by setting the Metropolitan Museum of Art on a wild goose chase as to who the sculptor of the angel is, simply so she can watch the fun from afar. [[spoiler:Then she gives the invaluable secret of the statue to a twelve-year-old girl she's only met once, solely on the basis of recognizing a kindred spirit.]]

Thus begins the adventure of a lifetime for both of them. Between hiding from museum security in the bathroom in the mornings, tagging along with tour groups all day, and bathing in the museum fountain by night, Claudia becomes obsessed with a mysterious marble angel, sold to the museum for a mere $225, that may or may not be a lost Creator/MichelangeloBuonarroti.

* LongTitle: ''From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler''. Creator/ELKonigsburg is fond of such titles in general.

* TheUnfavorite: Claudia's sick of being the oldest kid in the family, with all of the responsibility and none of the appreciation. She just wants to feel special.

Thus begins the adventure of a lifetime for both of them. Between hiding from museum security in the bathroom in the mornings, tagging along with tour groups all day, and bathing in the museum fountain by night, Claudia becomes obsessed with a mysterious marble angel, sold to the museum for a mere $225, that may or may not be a lost Creator/{{Michelangelo}}.

* UnusualEuphemism: Jamie's favorite minced oath is "boloney", which gives Claudia the EurekaMoment required to solve the Michelangelo mystery.

* CatchPhrase: Jamie's is "Oy, baloney!" [[spoiler: Turns out to be helpful for Claudia to remember the city of ''Bologna'', Italy.]]

* UnusualEuphemism: Jamie's favorite minced oath is "BALONEY," which gives Claudia the EurekaMoment required to solve the Michelangelo mystery.

* TheRunaway: Claudia and Jamie

* CatchPhrase: Jamie's is "Oy, baloney!" [[spoiler: Turns out to be helpful for Claudia to remember the city of ''Bologna'', Italy]]

* SenselessViolins: Claudia and Jamie pack most of their clothes in viola and trumpet cases.

* EatTheEvidence: On the night before they leave, Claudia leaves a list of instructions for Jamie, which he is to destroy after reading. He decides to do so by eating it. On finding that it tastes like dried-up bubble gum and turns his teeth blue, he tears up the note and throws it in the trash.

* CoolOldLady: Mrs. Frankweiler, who is old and rich and amuses herself by setting the Metropolitan Museum of Art on a wild goose chase as to who the sculptor of the angel is, simply so she can watch the fun from afar. [[spoiler:Then she gives the invaluable secret of the statue to a twelve-year-old girl she's only met once solely on the basis of recognizing a kindred spirit.]]

* UnusualEuphemism: Jamie's favorite minced oath is "BALONEY", which gives Claudia the EurekaMoment required to solve the Michelangelo mystery.

* EpistolaryNovel: The entire book is a single long letter from Mrs. Frankweiler to her lawyer.

* CoolOldLady: Frankweiler, who is old and rich and amuses herself by setting the Metropolitan Museum of Art on a wild goose chase as to who the sculptor of the angel is, simply so she can watch the fun from afar. [[spoiler:Then she gives the invaluable secret of the statue to a twelve-year-old girl she's only met once solely on the basis of recognizing a kindred spirit.]]

* EccentricMillionaire: Frankweiler, who sells a [[spoiler:genuine]] Michelangelo to the Met for pocket change, then refuses to provide authentication just so that she can watch the curators squirm.
* EpistolaryNovel: The entire book is a single long letter from Frankweiler to her lawyer.

* GratuitousFrench: Frankweiler offers Claudia and Jamie a lunch of ''nouilles et fromage en casserole''... and laughs when they realize it's just macaroni and cheese.

* SayingTooMuch: Jamie accidentally reveals where they've been hiding out to Mrs Frankweiler while Claudia's upstairs in the bath. His confession skims very close to IllNeverTellYouWhatImTellingYou.

* UnusualEuphemism: Jamie's favorite minced oath is "BALONEY", which provides Claudia the EurekaMoment required to solve the Michelangelo mystery.

* FancyCamping: Claudia's reasoning for choosing the Met is that she wants to run away somewhere clean and comfortable.

* CoolOldLady: Frankweiler, who is so old and rich and lacking in fucks to give that she amuses herself by setting the Metropolitan Museum of Art on a wild goose chase simply so she can watch the fun from afar. [[spoiler:Then she gives the invaluable secret of the statue to a twelve-year-old girl she's only met once solely on the basis of recognizing a kindred spirit.]]

* BrotherSisterTeam: Claudia and Jamie
* CardSharp: How Jamie acquires all his loot.

Feeling underappreciated by her parents and the world in general, twelve-year-old Claudia Kincaid decides that the best way to teach them a lesson is to [[TheRunaway run away from home for a while]]. But the only thing Claudia hates more than being underappreciated is being uncomfortable, so she chooses to run away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity (for all those poofy Marie Antoinette beds to sleep in), dragging along her nine-year-old CardSharp brother Jamie, whose impressive life savings of $24.43[[note]]the equivalent of $185 in 2018[[/note]] ensures that they can afford to hide out in style.

Feeling underappreciated by her parents and the world in general, twelve-year-old Claudia Kincaid decides that the best way to teach them a lesson is to [[TheRunaway run away from home for awhile]]. But the only thing Claudia hates more than being underappreciated is being uncomfortable, so she chooses to run away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity (for all those poofy Marie Antoinette beds to sleep in), dragging along her nine-year-old CardSharp brother Jamie, whose impressive life savings of $24.43[[note]]the equivalent of $185 in 2018[[/note]] ensures that they can afford to hide out in style.

Feeling underappreciated by her parents and the world in general, twelve-year-old Claudia Kincaid decides that the best way to teach them a lesson is to [[TheRunaway run away from home for awhile]]. But the only thing Claudia hates more than being underappreciated is being uncomfortable, so she chooses to run away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity (for all those poofy Marie Antoinette beds to sleep in), dragging along her nine-year-old CardSharp brother Jamie, whose impressive life savings of $24.43[[note]]the equivalent of $186 in 2018[[/note]] ensures that they can afford to hide out in style.