In this now-classic children's book, two siblings run away from home and live for a while in a famous cultural institution. While there, they encounter a mystery, which they are eventually able to solve by visiting someone whose name appears in the book's title. What is the book, where do the children hide out, and what is the mystery?

Dragonkin

The book is "The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankwiler". I don't remember the name of the museium where the sibs are living, but I do remember that it was a museium. The mystery is whether or not a statue in the museium was a Michelangelo. Apr 21 06, 4:38 PM

lanfranco

Nice, Dragon, nine-tenths of a yay -- though the actual title of the book is "From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler," by E.L. Konigsburg. Can anyone come up with the museum? Apr 21 06, 4:44 PM

bcr_chaps_76

The only thing I remember from this book is bologna. Apr 21 06, 4:47 PM

lanfranco

Good memory, bcr. Bologna is important. Apr 21 06, 4:48 PM

wdwfla

They hide out in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The mystery is if Michelangelo created the statue. Apr 21 06, 5:01 PM

lanfranco

And an extra yay for you, wdwfla! I've been trying to get my hands on a first-edition of this book, published back in the 60's, with no luck so far. But I strongly recommend it. You'll have to read it to understand why, exactly, Bologna is so significant. Apr 21 06, 5:06 PM