Almost-twelve-year-old Claudia Kincaid lives a life of injustice as the oldest child and only girl in her family, as well as the one to do all the work of the household, and no one appreciates that she is so unjustly treated. So, very meticulously, Claudia plans to run away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art with her second youngest brother Jamie - who was not only adventurous, but rich. They are satisfied with hiding in the museum until they meet a mysterious carved angel, and become consumed with a desire to know who is its maker. This leads them on an extensive search until at last they find themselves penniless on the doorstep of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, not knowing what they will find within.
Morality
Weak. The children lie and do things they know are wrong, and they are never corrected for it. Jamie gambles (and cheats), Claudia uses flattery to get what she wants and calls her little brother a brat, and they both do other things (such as stealing a newspaper) as well.
Spiritual Content
There are a few mentions of God and they pray the Lord's Prayer once. The story does not seem to be written from a Christian worldview.
Violence
None.
Drug and Alcohol Content
Claudia talks about people tricking little kids into becoming dope addicts.
Sexual Content
See the Crude or Profane Language or Behavior category.
Crude or Profane Language or Content
Underwear is mentioned several times. The children hide in the bathrooms in the museum. It is described how Claudia gets dressed. Renaissance paintings of naked women are mentioned. They take a bath in the restaurant fountain at night (there is a vague illustration of this). The children and narrator use some slang, most of which I didn't recognize so I don't know if it was bad.
Conclusion
While I do not like this book for the reasons stated above, I have to admit that Claudia and Jamie really are delightful characters, their escape from home was brilliantly planned, Mrs. B. E. F.'s comments which are inserted throughout the story are highly amusing, and I strongly appreciated Jamie's concern about expenses. I do not recommend allowing younger children to read it.
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