The Museum of Lost and Found by Leila Sales

Author:Leila Sales
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Abrams
Published: 2023-05-30T00:00:00+00:00

The girls from homeroom were the first to ask to see the museum, but many others soon followed. Word spread quickly—through Vanessa’s and Eli’s schools, through Temple Beth Elohim, through the neighborhood pick-up games of tag and kickball. So many kids wanted to visit the museum that Vanessa created an official schedule. Now, when people asked, she told them that the museum was open from two to four P.M. on Saturdays and Sundays, and for two hours after school on Wednesdays. During those times, Vanessa was there to greet guests, show them around, and answer their questions. Usually the other curators joined her.

Maria’s painting was usually the most popular part, which made sense, because it was beautiful and mysterious. Everyone who visited asked where it had come from and who made it and what it meant—so much so that Vanessa made a label for it that said in big letters WE DON’T KNOW.

Vanessa told Honore and Rosalie that they could apply to curate their own exhibit, so they did. Vanessa had assumed they’d want to do one together and was surprised when they handed in two completely different proposals. (Dan, thankfully, never bothered to put together a proper application for his idea, an exhibit on the history of boogers.)

Rosalie’s was a science and technology exhibit. She brought over a crate of wires and batteries and made a label carefully explaining how electrical circuits work. She made and hung a papier-mâché model of the solar system. She even built an interactive chute that museum visitors could send marbles down, to see how the angle of the slide affected the marble’s velocity. “I get bored at museums where all you can do is look at things,” she explained. “People should be able to do stuff, too.”

Honore put up an art exhibit. She hung her watercolors and drawings in the museum’s empty frames and wrote labels explaining her “technique” and “intent.” It made Vanessa wish all the more that they knew the truth about the Maria’s painting, whose label looked so bare next to Honore’s.

So many visitors came to the museum that Eli said they should start charging an admission fee. “Look, I have a lot of expenses.”

“Like what?” Sterling scoffed.

“Like whoopee cushions,” Eli said.

“Exactly how much money are you spending on whoopee cushions?” asked Sterling.

Eli shook his head. “You don’t even want to know.”

They settled on a two-dollar admission for everyone over the age of six, and free for anyone younger. “That way,” Vanessa reasoned, “if someone has to babysit a younger sibling, they can still come to the museum without having to buy two tickets.”

“What if people pretend to be six years old so they can get in for free?” asked Sterling.

“No one’s going to do that,” said Eli.

“Mom still has me pretend to be twelve so she can buy me a children’s ticket at the movies,” Sterling replied.

“Your mom’s a lawbreaker,” said Eli.

“Paying full price at the movies isn’t a law,” Sterling said.

“We know how old most of the people coming really are,” said Vanessa.

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