Great Children's Literature

EJ and I recently finished reading "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler". It was written more than 40 years ago and won the Newbery Medal in 1967. The description from Amazon.com: "When suburban Claudia Kincaid decides to run away, she knows she doesn't just want to run from somewhere she wants to run to somewhere--to a place that is comfortable, beautiful, and preferably elegant. She chooses the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Knowing that her younger brother, Jamie, has money and thus can help her with the serious cash flow problem she invites him along. Once settled into the museum, Claudia and Jamie find themselves caught up in the mystery of an angel statue that the museum purchased at an auction for a bargain price of $250. The statue is possibly an early work of the Renaissance master Michelangelo, and therefore worth millions. Is it? Or isn't it? Claudia is determined to find out. This quest leads Claudia to Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, the remarkable old woman who sold the statue and to some equally remarkable discoveries about herself.

I ordered this book for EJ a few months ago from the Scholastic book order at her school. She didn't think it looked interesting, but once we started it, we were addicted. What I found amazing about the book was that it's about two kids who runaway to the museum for a week, but the backstory of how the parents must be frantic in searching for them never comes into the book. If the book were a recent one, that would be the focus of the story!

Anyway, she asked if I could find some other books by this author, so today I picked up "The View From Saturday" and "Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth" to read while we're on vacation next week.

Last week, we started "Steal Away Home" by Lois Ruby. EJ really likes historical fiction, and this one is a page-turner. From Amazon: "Dana, 12, is helping her parents to restore an old house in Kansas as a bed-and-breakfast when she discovers a boarded-up room containing a human skeleton. With it, she finds the diary of Millicent Weaver, a Quaker and early resident of the house. She learns that the house was a stop on the Underground Railroad, and that runaway slaves were taken there by a former slave, Lizbet Charles. Of course, Miz Lizbet is Dana's skeleton, and the cause of her death at the age of 25 is finally revealed at the end of the novel. The story is told in alternating chapters, shifting between the present and 1856, when the events involving the long-dead young woman took place."

We're really enjoying this one, and we learned today that it has a sequel! EJ really enjoys learning about all aspects of American history, and this one tied in well with some of the American Girl Addy stories. We've also read several books from the Dear America series, including one called "So Far From Home" about a young girl who comes to America from Ireland and works in the textile mills in nearby Lowell, MA. There is a textile museum there that EJ would like to visit now that she's read the book. These are great books, as they're written in diary style through the eyes of the main character. Santa brought several of these books, and we still have a few more to read!