13 Little Blue Envelopes

I absolutely loved this book. I'm currently reading the sequel, and I can't get enough. It has lovable characters and a moving plot, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a good adventure book

I've been a reader of Maureen Johnson's blog for awhile now, but hadn't gotten to any of her books yet. On the insistence of others, I broke down and ordered 13 Little Blue Envelopes - Wow! I wish I'd picked this up sooner! The plot itself is interesting, with the added bonus of being much different from most of the YA books on the shelves right now. Throughout the book, Johnson throws surprises and great chances for character development at the protagonist, Ginny, who shows fabulous arc through the book. Not only does she have travel opportunities that will leave readers wanting to hop on the next Trans-Atlantic, but her writing is fresh enough to keep the pages flying by as well. Johnson is well known for being one of the most accessible, entertaining YA writers in the field right now. She definitely doesn't disappoint with Little Blue Envelopes - her concise, realistic prose and eye for charming, absurd details makes this a definite keeper. If you're looking for a fun, surprisingly moving book...this is the one for you!

This was by far one of the best books I have read this year. Totally in my top five.( And I read constantly! This is a very high rating!) The plot to this book was beyond the "teen" genre. Usually if a book is in the teen genre it has a very predictable plot and characters (you know what I mean) This book was a suprisingly mature and thoughtful story. I loved the letter formatt and plan on using the book as a travel aid for a trip in the future ( I would love to go to Europe!!) This book was a really great, and fun read, that had a really good moral: find yourself and have fun doing it, and don't forget to do something spontanious every once in a while.

Seventeen-year-old Ginny is living a rather normal, quiet life in New Jersey until a letter arrives from her quirky Aunt Peg. The letter contains a thousand dollars in cash and instructions: get a passport, book a one-way flight to London, then go to an address in New York to pick up a package before heading to the airport. Aunt Peg also lists specific rules: Take only what fits in a backpack. Leave credit cards, money, camera, cell phone, and laptop at home, and have no contact by electronic means from Europe with anyone in America. It seems unbelievable that Ginny would agree to these terms, but she does and is soon on her way to London with the New York package that contains twelve more letters of instruction. Letter #2, which she is told to open on the plane, sends her to a flat in London where a man named Richard seems to be expecting her. Richard's answer to Peg's riddle "What did you sell the queen?" provides the password to an ATM account for Ginny that will fund her many adventures. Letter #3 instructs Ginny to give a charitable donation to an artist. After a few false starts Ginny stumbles upon a strange little play entitled "Starbucks: The Musical" and buys all the tickets to every performance. She becomes involved with the play's strange producer/director/star, Keith, who accompanies her to Edinburgh, Scotland where Letter #4 sends her. The next two envelopes guide Ginny on to Rome to statues of the vestal virgins. Ginny is adopted by a noisy, over-organized American family touring Holland and spends five days with them. Her backpack and everything she owns, except her passport and ATM card, are stolen in Greece. Sometimes Ginny runs into dead ends as she tries to follow the instructions in the letters. She often gets lost and has to retrace her steps. At times she is tired, dirty and homesick; that's when she curses the letters and even Aunt Peg. Still, Ginny continues on her amazing journey, propelled by the letters, to a surprising conclusion. 13 LITTLE BLUE ENVELOPES is a very interesting book, full of realistic details of faraway places. Anyone who has the soul of an adventurer or is an armchair traveler will be swept away on a grand adventure in Europe with Ginny. --- Reviewed by Carole Turner

The book is about a girl named Ginny who is given a posthumous letter from her Aunt. This letter instructs her to go pick up a package and inside are 13 blue letters. In each letter are instructions that take her to different places in Europe and help her have a European adventure. In order to open the next letter she must complete instructions in the previous and her adventure starts in London. The book was a great read for me, because I live in Europe. It was great to have her insight on certain cities that I had been to but not the places where she went. Also what was entertaining was what her aunt instructed her to do. Each one of theses endeavors brought about new challenges and each of these challenges were meet with extreme courage by the heroine(who is shy). But my favorite part of the book was her aunt. Although she was dead, you could tell that this was someone you wanted to know. As you go through the story you admmire her more and more, or at least i did. I hope you thoroughly enjoy it like i did!