this book tells the story of claudia kincaid, an 11-year-old girl who feels unappreciated by her parents. she decides to run away from home just long enough to show her family what they would be missing without her. unfortunately, she does not enjoy hardship or discomfort, so running away has lots of problems. to solve this problem, claudia decides to stay at the metropolitan museum of art in new york city. she tells her brother jamie to accompany her: he's quiet, but most importantly, he has a secret stash of cash he's gotten by cheating at card games with his best friend, bruce.