From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler Youth Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

"I'm glad you asked about homesickness, Jamie. Somehow, I feel older now. But of course, that's mostly because I've been the oldest child forever. And I'm extremely well adjusted." (5.125)

There's a sense of growing up with the whole museum escapade; Claudia has always been the oldest child, but with their escape from home, she feels like she's become more adult. The well-adjusted thing though… we'll have to wait and see about that.

Quote #5

Ages ago, in time well outside the mastaba, they had heard these names—in a classroom, on a school bus […] (7.35)

Talk about dramatic! Even though it's only been a few days since they were on the same bus, Claudia and Jamie feel light years older than the kids in the museum. They are so above it all now that they've lived through (or around) centuries of knowledge.

Quote #6

Claudia was prepared to be the discoverer of great truths, Greenwich's own heroine of the statue- and only twelve years old. (8.32)

Claudia and Jamie are pretty aware of their ages, but they don't let it hold them back. Just because they're young and regarded as small children doesn't mean they can't be heroes, right? It just means that they can be prodigy heroes.