The Museum of Lost and Found by Leila Sales begins with a lost friendship that drifted away without fanfare and a found abandoned museum that has signs saying POSTED: NO TRESPASSING and DEMOLITION PENDING. Vanessa began to notice that Bailey no longer answered her phone messages right away and even then with only brief responses. Then came the day that Bailey no longer saved her place at their table in the cafeteria. Finding the old museum about the same time gives her an idea of how to preserve the remnants of their friendship with artifacts and memories. If she can do this well, maybe she can get back what she has lost.
Eli adds a museum display with a tribute to his dog Einstein, and eventually her brother Sterling adds his baseball collection. They make a list of rules for the museum with one important rule that it must be kept secret from adults. Adding to the plot of this typical middle-grade story is an unusual piece of art found in the old museum. The painting is of two girls that looked nothing like Vanessa and Bailey, yet seemed to have the same kind of friendship that she has lost.
Vanessa also deals with waiting for the next call from her military dad which may or may not come when she feels like talking and her seemingly unbreakable habit of picking at the skin around her fingernails until they are sore. Eventually, she will find the part she played herself in the collapse of her friendship with Bailey.
The book is an accurate picture of the angst of middle grade wrapped in a good mystery as the story of the painting is solved.