In this children's classic, 12-year-old Claudia Kincaid decides to teach her parents a lesson by running away from home. After researching the matter thoroughly, she settles on the Metropolitan Museum of Art as the perfect hideaway, and drags her little brother Jamie along for the ride. What follows is an absorbing tale of their life within museum walls, as they blend in with tour groups by day, fish coins out of the fountain for lunch money, and sleep on Marie Antoinette's four-poster bed by night. Young readers will relish the street-smart Kincaids' ingenious approaches to outwitting adults, and the Met itself has much to teach, as well as a mystery to be solved. In the end, the Kincaid children learn a big lesson of their own. This smart and unique story has endured for a reason: its blend of adventure, mystery, antiquity, and kid-power make it a must for every young reader's shelf. (Aladdin, $9.99)