Book #11- Coming of Age

13 Little Blue Envelopes
By: Maureen Johnson

Synopsis (from Barnesandnoble.com): When Ginny receives thirteen little blue envelopes and instructions to buy a plane ticket to London, she knows something exciting is going to happen. What Ginny doesn't know is that she will have the adventure of her life and it will change her in more ways than one. Life and love are waiting for her across the Atlantic, and the thirteen little blue envelopes are the key to finding them in this funny, romantic, heartbreaking novel.

So, what do I think?

Overall: I started reading this book because I am actually writing a book where the main character receives a letter telling her ot do something and I wanted to see how someone had already done it. It wasn't a book that I was dying to read, but the cover looked cute and the basis of it looked interesting. So? I actually really liked this book. I wish I could have traveled like Ginny around Europe. There were times where my motherly instincts kicked in and I couldn't believe how trusting she was of people she had never met. At 17 there is no way I would have shared hotel rooms with total strangers and gone into someones house I didn't even know. I guess I was living through dreams with Ginny.

Characters: There were a few chracters I think that could have been edited out of the book and it still would have been good. There were a few spots that I thought the characters kind of ruined some parts. I'm not going to say who, but a family, is all I will say. However, I feel some of the chracters were fantastically placed in the book like Keith and Richard. They were perfectly matched for Ginny and just what she needed to get her through this journey.

Setting: Who doesn't love a Europen adventure? I still have yet to go to London and Greece, well anywhere in Europe actually, so it was nice to see it in a book. The descriptions may not have been spot on, but I would never know because I have never seen it!! I feel that the spots she chose in each country were good choices. They all ahd meaning behind them and I liked that.

Extras: At the end of the paperback version, the author has a little Q & A session and I really liked hearing her thoughts on the book. Being an aspiring writer myself, it was nice to see that after the fourth revision she had taken out a lot of stuff that she had originally planned.

Googie's Grade: 4 out of 5 stars!!

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