13 Little Blue Envelopes - Maureen Johnson

I just read a FANTASTIC book. It took me less than a day to read it from cover to cover, and I just couldn't put it down.

It's called 13 Little Blue Envelopes and it's by Maureen Johnson. I've never read any of Johnson's books before, though I've certainly seen them around. I was drawn in by the cover - I know, I know, I'm bad - but in this case, it was a good decision on my part!

The story is about Ginny, a girl who just lives life day by day and doesn't take any risks. She receives a letter from her dead Aunt Peg who, years ago, ran away to Europe and only kept in touch through a series of postcards and letters. In the letter, there are 13 smaller, blue envelopes. Peg gives Ginny a challenge, of sorts: open each letter one by one. The first can be opened on the plane, but the rest can only be opened upon successful completion of the previous letter. They must be done in order. There are some rules Ginny has to follow:

* Rule #1:
You may bring only what fits in your backpack. Don't try to fake it with a purse or a carry-on.
* Rule #2:
You may not bring guidebooks, phrase books, or any kind of foreign language aid. And no journals.
* Rule #3:
You cannot bring extra money or credit/debit cards, traveler's checks, etc. I'll take care of all that.
* Rule #4:
No electronic crutches. This means no laptop, no cell phone, no music, and no camera. You can't call home or communicate with people in the U.S. by Internet or telephone. Postcards and letters are acceptable and encouraged.

And so, Ginny gets on a plane and begins the single most exciting journey of her life. As she travels from country to country, completing the letters, she meets new people and finally starts coming out of her shell.

Now, I'm not going to tell you guys exactly where she goes, or what she does there. That defeats the purpose of the book - you find out, with Ginny, the locations and tasks and have to piece together the mystery surrounding Aunt Peg, and the people she came across in her journeys.

This book is a must-read. It's not paranormal, the kind of book I most like to read, but I found myself getting more into it than most books I've read in a while. One of the best parts of this book (in my opinion) is Keith, a boy she meets early on in London and gets a bit of a crush on. Keith is funny, smart, but also a bit messed up in his own way. Johnson nailed the accent on him, too - as I read, I heard his voice talking with an accent in my head! I've read some criticisms about Keith, with people saying that they didn't like the way he acted, and thought he could have been better written. I don't think so - yes, he has flaws, but doesn't everyone? I was actually a fan of him; he wasn't perfect, and he didn't treat Ginny perfectly all the time, but guys aren't perfect. I actually think that Johnson did a good job making him feel like a real person.

The only downside to this book, really, was the inclusion of a group of Australians later on in the book. I found that they didn't really do much to push the story along, were added in very quickly, and weren't that interesting. Had Johnson spent more time developing these characters I might have liked them, but I felt like they were kind of one-dimensional (filler, in a way).

If you can get past the fact that the story is about a girl who, at 17, is allowed to go off to Europe on her own (it happens all the time here, but we finish high school while we're 17) then I highly suggest you read this one.

I'm so excited that there's going to be a sequel - it comes out April 26th! Be sure to pick this one up now and read it before the next one comes out! :)

SCORE: 9/10
IF YOU LIKE: Paper Towns (John Green), Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (Rachel Cohn)