Part 2
New York at last — and the first battle of the trip is over money. Jamie, self-appointed treasurer, refuses to spend a cent on fares, so the two walk some forty blocks to the museum while Claudia grumbles at every corner. Inside, they scout their new home like professionals: at closing time they vanish by standing on the toilets in the restroom stalls, because guards checking for stragglers only look for feet. When the great building finally falls dark and silent, they come out to claim a bedroom fit for royalty — a grand antique canopy bed from the sixteenth century, one said to have seen a famous murder long ago (a detail Jamie finds delicious). Two tired, squabbling runaways climb in — and somewhere between the arguing and the whispering, they become a team.
| Section | What you will practice |
|---|---|
| Vocabulary | Words of money and hiding: treasurer, budget, expense, luxury, patrol, vanish… |
| Literary Elements | Mood, suspense, and conflict that builds a team |
| Cross-Curricular | What a treasurer really does, and how a museum settles down for the night |
| Ch. | What happens |
|---|---|
| 3a | Forty Blocks — treasurer Jamie refuses all fares; Claudia walks, and grumbles, to Fifth Avenue. |
| 3b | The Vanishing Trick — at closing time, feet up on the toilets; the guards’ sweep finds nobody. |
| 3c | A Royal Bedroom — a sixteenth-century canopy bed, complete with a deliciously grisly legend. |
| 3d | Partners — first night in the dark museum; the squabbling pair starts to feel like a team. |
ⓘ The vocabulary words in this list are selected to help you understand and complete this workbook. Some may not appear verbatim in the original novel.
- The two walk the long blocks to the museum.
- At closing time they hide with their feet up in the stalls.
- The guards’ closing sweep finds no one.
- Jamie guards the budget and rules out a bus ride.
- They claim the antique canopy bed for the night.
Think back over the day. A treasurer who will not spend five cents marches his sister forty blocks; she grumbles but walks. At closing time the two stand on toilets, silent, while keys jingle past the stall doors. By midnight they are whispering under a carved canopy in a museum that believes itself empty. Every problem met a plan — his plans saved money, hers saved style — and the partnership held.
Every group that handles shared money needs a treasurer: someone responsible for recording the funds and protecting the group’s plan. A treasurer tracks what comes in and what goes out rather than simply guarding a box of cash. The central tool is a budget, a written plan that assigns limited money to purposes before it is spent. Income adds to the available amount, while expenses reduce it; the difference shows whether the plan is sustainable. Recording each purchase against the budget lets members see whether enough remains for later needs.
A workable budget ranks needs instead of treating every request equally. A necessity, such as food, shelter, or an unavoidable fare, directly supports safety or the group’s goal; a luxury adds comfort or pleasure but is not essential. Choosing one luxury also creates an opportunity cost, because the same money cannot fund something else. Treasurers may seem unpopular when protecting the shared goal requires declining an attractive request. In these chapters the refusals about fares and conveniences preserve the runaways’ limited cash; the larger lesson is not that spending is wrong, but that each expense must serve the plan.
This writing task is optional and is not part of your auto-graded score. The feedback below checks only the basics — length, spelling, and grammar — not whether your ideas are right or wrong. It is meant for classroom discussion and creative practice, so feel free to use your imagination!
Writing Task — Part 2 “Treasurer for a Week”
Imagine your class hands you twenty-five dollars and makes you treasurer for a week-long class project. Write your budget story: what the money must cover, the one luxury someone begs for, and whether you say yes or no — and how it turns out. Write at least 40 words.
No right or wrong — close the screen and tell someone nearby what happened in this part. Can’t find anyone? Tell yourself out loud. The moment you teach it, you truly understand it.
Part 2 Complete!
You finished Chapter 3 of From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.
Here are your auto-graded results:
The best last step is to teach it. In your own words, explain what happened — retell a favorite scene, teach a character’s big choice, or sum up the main idea for a parent, friend, or classmate. When you can teach it clearly, you truly own it.
Independent study guide by Garden Heights. Not affiliated with or endorsed by E.L. Konigsburg. Contains original analysis only; no text from the novel is reproduced. Reference text: This workbook follows E.L. Konigsburg’s classic text (the standard Puffin edition sold worldwide). Revised 2023 UK editions change some wording and may not match the vocabulary studied here.