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Claudia is excited because a new museum is going to be opening in Stoneybrook. There will also be an exhibit of sculptures made by one of Claudia’s favorite artists, Don Newman. Since most of the museum will be kid-friendly, Claudia decides to take [[Arnold Twins|Marilyn & Carolyn Arnold]] and [[Corrie Addison]] with her to check out the museum. After looking at some fun, hands-on kid-friendly things for the kids to enjoy in the science & music rooms, Claudia takes the girls to the Newman exhibit.
 
Claudia is excited because a new museum is going to be opening in Stoneybrook. There will also be an exhibit of sculptures made by one of Claudia’s favorite artists, Don Newman. Since most of the museum will be kid-friendly, Claudia decides to take [[Arnold Twins|Marilyn & Carolyn Arnold]] and [[Corrie Addison]] with her to check out the museum. After looking at some fun, hands-on kid-friendly things for the kids to enjoy in the science & music rooms, Claudia takes the girls to the Newman exhibit.
   
On their way there, the fire alarm goes off and Claudia takes the girls out and as they reach the exit, another alarm goes over, but it’s different from the fire alarm and it sounds to Claudia like the alarms that are attached to arts & artifacts that aren’t allowed to be touch. A guard tells everyone that some valuable coins have been stolen and that everyone will have to be searched before they can leave the museum. Claudia and the girls make it through the search and Claudia leaves the museum hoping to solve the mystery.
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On their way there, the fire alarm goes off and Claudia takes the girls out and as they reach the exit, another alarm goes off, but it’s different from the fire alarm and it sounds to Claudia like the alarms that are attached to arts & artifacts that aren’t allowed to be touched. A guard tells everyone that some valuable coins have been stolen and that everyone will have to be searched before they can leave the museum. Claudia and the girls make it through the search and Claudia leaves the museum hoping to solve the mystery.
   
 
The next day at the BSC meeting, the girls talk about the robbery. They go over everything that happened to Claudia and the kids & they decide to go back to the museum as a group the next day to stake the place out in order to figure out where the thief might have stashed the coins. Mallory thinks that they’re still in the museum somewhere since everybody was searched and the coins weren’t found. Claudia thinks that the coins might’ve been dropped into the donation box, but it’s not possible because the box is emptied every night. Claudia also thinks that the coins might’ve been hidden with some souvenir coins from the museum gift shop, but they aren’t because the souvenir coins are made from chocolate.
 
The next day at the BSC meeting, the girls talk about the robbery. They go over everything that happened to Claudia and the kids & they decide to go back to the museum as a group the next day to stake the place out in order to figure out where the thief might have stashed the coins. Mallory thinks that they’re still in the museum somewhere since everybody was searched and the coins weren’t found. Claudia thinks that the coins might’ve been dropped into the donation box, but it’s not possible because the box is emptied every night. Claudia also thinks that the coins might’ve been hidden with some souvenir coins from the museum gift shop, but they aren’t because the souvenir coins are made from chocolate.

Revision as of 00:39, 4 December 2021

Claudia and the Mystery at the Museum is the eleventh book in The Baby-Sitter's Club Mystery series.

Back Cover

Claudia can't wait for the new museum in Stoneybrook to open They're featuring an exhibit of her favorite sculptor.

But while Claudia's visiting the museum, someone steals some priceless coins! And later when she's looking at the sculptures, Claudia is sure that one of them is a fake.

Burglaries, forgeries—something nasty is going on in little Stoneybrook. But Claudia and the BSC are on the case!

Main Plot

Claudia is excited because a new museum is going to be opening in Stoneybrook. There will also be an exhibit of sculptures made by one of Claudia’s favorite artists, Don Newman. Since most of the museum will be kid-friendly, Claudia decides to take Marilyn & Carolyn Arnold and Corrie Addison with her to check out the museum. After looking at some fun, hands-on kid-friendly things for the kids to enjoy in the science & music rooms, Claudia takes the girls to the Newman exhibit.

On their way there, the fire alarm goes off and Claudia takes the girls out and as they reach the exit, another alarm goes off, but it’s different from the fire alarm and it sounds to Claudia like the alarms that are attached to arts & artifacts that aren’t allowed to be touched. A guard tells everyone that some valuable coins have been stolen and that everyone will have to be searched before they can leave the museum. Claudia and the girls make it through the search and Claudia leaves the museum hoping to solve the mystery.

The next day at the BSC meeting, the girls talk about the robbery. They go over everything that happened to Claudia and the kids & they decide to go back to the museum as a group the next day to stake the place out in order to figure out where the thief might have stashed the coins. Mallory thinks that they’re still in the museum somewhere since everybody was searched and the coins weren’t found. Claudia thinks that the coins might’ve been dropped into the donation box, but it’s not possible because the box is emptied every night. Claudia also thinks that the coins might’ve been hidden with some souvenir coins from the museum gift shop, but they aren’t because the souvenir coins are made from chocolate.

Jessi thinks that the thief threw the coins into the fountain, but they aren’t there. Stacey & Claudia decide to stay and they take a look at the Don Newman sculptures. Since Newman likes his art to be interactive, the museum actually welcomes visitors to touch his pieces. Claudia and Stacey touch just about all of the pieces, but when Claudia comes to one of her favorite pieces, she gets suspicious. She had touched it before in New York and it feels different than it did that time. Claudia thinks it’s a fake and they go over to the curator, Mr. Snipes’ office to talk to him, but he’s mean to the girls which makes Claudia more suspicious. She takes a copy of Mr. Snipes’ resume off his desk when nobody’s looking in order to find out more about him.

The next day, the girls get together at Claudia’s house to talk about the mystery. Even though Claudia threw away Mr. Snipes’ resume in the trash without looking at it, after the girls & Logan start talking about how creepy Mr. Snipes seemed, Claudia shows it to them. They go over to the library to do some research on the museums that were listed on the document. They discover that all but one of the museums listed had a robbery during Mr. Snipes’ time there.

Claudia realizes that she got a pretty good look at the broken glass case right after the robbery and there was glass all over the inside of it. If the glass had been broken before the robbery occurred, there would’ve been blank spaces where the coins had been which makes Claudia realize that the person who stole the coins must’ve had a key to the case making it an inside job.

Claudia is still convinced that the Newman sculpture is a fake, so after getting Newman’s phone number from information, she calls him at home. Newman tells Claudia that the sculpture probably felt different to her because he built little hiding places and secret compartments into a lot of his work so he could hide surprises in there for his kids. Claudia loves that idea, but less than a year had passed between her two viewings of the piece & Newman definitely hadn’t hidden anything in there during that time. Newman invites Claudia & her parents to a formal party at the museum the following night in honor of the end of his exhibit so they can check the sculpture out together.

During the party, Claudia tells Newman about how suspicious she has been of Mr. Snipes. They decide to follow Mr. Snipes after they notice him leaving the party, but all he does is go into his office. Then they head to the room where the sculpture is displayed, but they find out it’s been moved to a storage room already. Claudia and Newman head to the storage room, but they hide when they hear somebody coming which is the janitor. They watch as the janitor reaches inside the sculpture and pulls out the missing coins.

When the janitor turns to leave, he notices that he’s being watched and tries to make a break for it, but Newman tackles him. Somebody else, who turns out to be a Federal agent tackles Newman. It is discovered that the custodian wasn’t really a custodian: he was a thief who had been planning to take the coins since the museum first opened. He was planning on selling them to a museum in Switzerland & retire on the proceeds of the sale, but the museum had been tipped off in advance that might be vulnerable to theft which is where Mr. Snipes entered the picture. Mr. Snipes specializes in preventing robberies which is why he was brought to Stoneybrook to work at their museum. Claudia gets a write-up in the newspaper for her role in the case and she is made an honorary trustee of the museum.

Sub Plot

Claire Pike has decided that she wants to be in show business. She gets a video made of herself singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" at Washington Mall and even sends the video to an agent, but it gets rejected. After a talk with Jessi about what it's really like being in show business, Claire decides that she doesn't want to be in it anymore.

Characters in this book

Claudia's Family

BSC Members

Kids

Adults

Places in this book

Pop Culture and Real Life References

  • "On the Good Ship Lollipop" from the 1934 film Bright Eyes
  • The Oscars
  • The show Star Search
  • The Academy Awards
  • Rosanne
  • Judy Garland
  • Annie
  • The Wizard of Oz
  • Ghostbusters
  • Michael Jackson
  • A Star is Born
  • The New York Times
  • Nancy Drew

Continuity and Inconsistencies

Trivia

  • Claudia shows a knowledge of art history and art appreciation making references to Van Gogh, Henry Moore, Noguchi, and Giacometti who are real artists. Her knowledge surprises Janine Kishi in the first chapter.
  • There’s foreshadowing to Mallory getting mono when she feels more tired then usual throughout the book.
  • Janine taught herself to read before she went to kindergarten.
  • This is the first appearance of the Stoneybrook Museum.
  • Shopping is a big event in the Pike family.
  • Last Halloween Margo was a clown.
  • Rosie meets Margo and Claire for the first time.
  • Claudia wears one of Mimi's kimonos to the event.
  • John Kishi has friends at the event at the end of the book.
  • Claudia gets in the newspaper.


Mystery Books
#1 Stacey and the Missing Ring | #2 Beware, Dawn! | #3 Mallory and the Ghost Cat | #4 Kristy and the Missing Child | #5 Mary Anne and the Secret in the Attic | #6 The Mystery at Claudia's House | #7 Dawn and the Disappearing Dogs | #8 Jessi and the Jewel Thieves | #9 Kristy and the Haunted Mansion | #10 Stacey and the Mystery Money | #11 Claudia and the Mystery at the Museum | #12 Dawn and the Surfer Ghost | #13 Mary Anne and the Library Mystery | #14 Stacey and the Mystery at the Mall | #15 Kristy and the Vampires | #16 Claudia and the Clue in the Photograph | #17 Dawn and the Halloween Mystery | #18 Stacey and the Mystery at the Empty House | #19 Kristy and the Missing Fortune | #20 Mary Anne and the Zoo Mystery | #21 Claudia and the Recipe for Danger | #22 Stacey and the Haunted Masquerade | #23 Abby and the Secret Society | #24 Mary Anne and the Silent Witness | #25 Kristy and the Middle School Vandal | #26 Dawn Schafer, Undercover Baby-sitter | #27 Claudia and the Lighthouse Ghost | #28 Abby and the Mystery Baby | #29 Stacey and the Fashion Victim | #30 Kristy and the Mystery Train | #31 Mary Anne and the Music Box Secret | #32 Claudia and the Mystery in the Painting | #33 Stacey and the Stolen Hearts | #34 Mary Anne and the Haunted Bookstore | #35 Abby and the Notorious Neighbor | #36 Kristy and the Cat Burglar
Super Mysteries
#1 Baby-sitters' Haunted House | #2 Baby-sitters Beware | #3 Baby-sitters' Fright Night | #4 Baby-sitters' Christmas Chiller
Other Series
Baby-Sitters Club | Super Special | Portrait Collection | Readers' Request | Baby-sitters Club: Friends Forever | California Diaries | Baby-Sitters Little Sister | The Kids in Ms. Colman's Class