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13 Little Blue Envelopes

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Manufacturer: HarperTeen
List Price: $8.99
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Inside little blue envelope 1 are $1,000 and instructions to buy a plane ticket.

In envelope 2 are directions to a specific London flat.

The note in envelope 3 tells Ginny: Find a starving artist.

Because of envelope 4, Ginny and a playwright/thief/ bloke–about–town called Keith go to Scotland together, with somewhat disastrous–though utterly romantic–results. But will she ever see him again?

Everything about Ginny will change this summer, and it's all because of the 13 little blue envelopes.

Ages 12+

DESCRIPTION:

Binding: Paperback
EAN: 9780060541439
ISBN: 0060541431
Label: HarperTeen
Manufacturer: HarperTeen
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 352
Publication Date: 2006-10-01
Publisher: HarperTeen
Reading Level: Young Adult
Release Date: 2006-09-26
Studio: HarperTeen


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CUSTOMER REVIEWS:

Customer Rating:
Summary: Amazing Book!
Comment: New readers and long-time fans of any of Maureen Johnson's previous books will love 13 Little Blue Envelopes, a novel about 17-year-old Ginny Blackstone who receives thirteen envelopes from a family member she never expected to hear from again. The envelopes contain a series of instructions that lead her all over Europe, from England to the Netherlands, Italy, Scotland, and beyond. She meets an array of people, ranging from the interesting to the truly insane, and has a few unintended adventures along the way.

Ginny's unconventional trip through Europe is one of the most compelling travel stories I've ever read. Ginny is forced rather suddenly out of her comfort zone, and with no one familiar to fall back on, she's only able to depend on herself throughout most of the trip. One of the best things about the book is her growth as a character--as she makes her way across Europe, she also learns to better navigate her own life and the decisions she makes begin to reflect this change. When an unexpected disaster hits, Ginny will need to pull together everything and everyone she knows to complete her journey.

Customer Rating:
Summary: This is my favorite book.
Comment: This is my favorite book. I know that's kind of a weird way to start a review, but I thought I'd throw that out there first before I explain why.

"There is no frigate like a book to take us lands away," and there is no book like 13 Little Blue Envelopes to do just that. Seventeen-year-old Ginny Blackstone is quiet and reserved, except when she is with her artsy Aunt Peg. Peg's carefree and spontaneous nature allows Ginny to let go of her inhibitions and have fun. When Peg dies, Ginny receives 13 letters that she is told to open in order, and only when she has completed the task in the previous letter. The first letter instructs her to buy a plane ticket to London and lays down rules for her trip. Each letter that follows takes her somewhere else - Scotland, Rome, Corfu, Denmark, Paris - and farther along on her journey to find the Aunt Peg inside of herself.

13 Little Blue Envelopes is a wonderfully imaginative tale of adventure, grief, and love. I have read this book countless times, and every time I finish, I feel like I've taken this journey with Ginny. I've gone the places she's gone, I've met the people she's met, I've learned the lessons she's learned. Never have I been able to connect with a character so well. Never have I felt such a range of emotions throughout the course of one book. Never have I traveled so many miles without even leaving my seat.

This is truly a beautiful story.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Everyone Was Interesting Except the Main Character
Comment: This book was disappointing. Never have I encountered a character pushed by plot without experiencing any kind of growth or development. I kept wondering why people were attracted to Ginny because if she had a personality, she sure kept it hidden - the young lady never says more than 2 sentences together and I don't recall a single interesting thing she said, mostly "Uh" and "Ok". Why did Keith seek her out in France, she hardly spoke to him? And I kept waiting for one of her journeys to bring her some kind of epiphany, but it seemed like each country, she stumbled around and then couldn't get out of there fast enough. And it was rather unbelievable - as shy and quiet as she was, she thought nothing of navigating through Europe, alone - this is a daunting task for all but the most savvy traveler, and yet she hardly balked at this task. The book just didn't ring true on so many levels.

Customer Rating:
Summary: What's inside the next letter?
Comment: The book 13 Little Blue Envelopes by: Maureen Johnson is about a 17 year old girl named Ginny.
Ginny is a curious and adventurous young girl who has to accomplish many tasks that she never thought she would have to do. Ginny lives with her family in the U.S. One day Ginny was sent a package that consisted of 13 blue envelopes. The package was sent by her Aunt Peg who past away from a brain tumor.
Ginny has to open each envelope one at a time and has to accomplish everything that the envelope tells her to do. Aunt Peg is a very random person. In this book you never know what Aunt Peg is going to do next or where she is going to be living.
Aunt Peg sends Ginny to Europe and she ends up going to many different countries. Although Ginny has never been to Europe before, and it would be awesome to go there, she doesn't enjoy it that much because she is worrying about doing everything her aunt tells her to do.
This book is definitely one of my favorites. This book kept my attention the whole time and I never wanted to set the book down. I was so excited to see what Ginny was going to read in the next letter that her Aunt Peg wrote to her. This book makes you want to know what all the letters will lead up to. I recommend this book to all.


Customer Rating:
Summary: Not bad--but could have been better
Comment: It sounds like a great book, doesn't it? What a cool adventure--an average American teenager backpacking across Europe, following the unexpected instructions of her "Runaway Aunt."

Unfortunately, though, beyond that basic hook, "13 Little Blue Envelopes" falls just a little bit flat. As a travel adventure, it lacks much of sparkle and fun that you would hope for it to have, nor is there any real sense of excitement throughout the main character's journey. Mostly, the narrator just kind of stands back and regards her alien surroundings with very little enthusiasm.

The protagonist, Ginny, was generally rather bland. I'm not sure if the author meant to emphasize Ginny's role as an everywoman, but the character just seems rather dull most of the time. She lacks any real defining characteristics that I noticed. Ginny seems to have no discernible ambitions or personality quirks, other than a very generic sense of self-consciousness. At her best moments, Ginny is introspective and observant. At her worst, Ginny comes off as spoiled, bored, and obsessed with her immature, inconsiderate aunt.

This could have been a really great book, but it suffers from a generally stale narrative and characters to whom it is difficult to become emotionally attached. While Ginny's final emotional revelations do carry some resonance, they just don't pack as much punch as a character-driven novel should have.

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