Posted February 10, 2019
Today in Mighty Girl history, E.L. Konigsburg -- the author of such children's classics as "From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" -- was born in 1930. A two-time winner of the prestigious Newbery Award, Konigsburg is the only author in history to be both the Newbery Medal winner and a runner-up in the same year. In 1967, she was awarded the Newbery for "From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler," and was the runner-up for her book "Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth." Nearly thirty years later, in 1997, Konigsburg won a second Newbery for her novel, "The View from Saturday."
One of her most beloved books, "From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler," tells the story of 12-year-old Claudia who decides to run away from home and brings her little brother Jamie along for the ride. She chooses the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City as their new home, but as they settle into living secretly in the museum, they fall into the middle of a mystery. The author of 20 books, reviewer Roger Sutton once described Konigsburg as “one of our brainiest writers for young people, not only in the considerable cerebral powers she brings to her books but in the intellectual demands she makes on her characters.”
from A Mighty Girl
