From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

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 $225. 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 picked this book because I fell in love with it the first time I read it in 3rd grade and I'm still in love with it. I am a bit like Claudia, I never ever saw the point of running away, especially when running to somewhere is so much more exciting.
I think one of the best things about this books that it can be used to teach so much: art apprieciation, art history, history, how to do research and what I think is an important accomplishment: living in NYC for a week on $26.35.