13 Little Blue Envelopes

I finished reading 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson last night. This was definitely a fun read, definitely a girl book. I must thank my young friend Leslie L. for this book. She donated it to my classroom library at the end of the school year, and I pulled it on the last day as one to read over the summer. It's my official first book of the summer.

I might have to create a rating scale for my books, like a 1-10 with 10 being a fantastic book that I couldn't put down. I think I would rate this one about a 7.

When I read, I'm looking for several things:

1. a story that lots of kids can relate to,




2. great lines that I want to write down to remember,




3. and beautiful language that makes me say, "I wish I could write like that."

This book had some of all of this. For one, it was not a book about a mother abandoning her kids and they had to survive without her. I'm sooooo tired of books like that. However, Ginny does feel somewhat abandoned by her aunt who has passed away and left her with these 13 little blue envelopes. Fortunately, she's on a great adventure to discover more about her aunt and why she lived the way she did.

Can lots of kids relate to this? Yes, I think so. Boys probably won't care for it very much, but I do think lots of girls can relate to it. This girl travels all over Europe and she's in some dangerous situations which I think is a little bit crazy, but don't we all dream of taking off to find dreams? She's definitely on a quest! And, she feels a bit lonely quite often, and I think many of us feel that way at one time or another.

Are there great lines that I want to remember? Well, this isn't a particularly great line, but it's one that makes me think. Olivia Knapp says of her parents, "They notice everything but what's right in front of them." I like that line because it makes Ginny think and it makes me think. How often do I not pay attention to the things that I most need to see?

And beautiful language? Not especially, but there were a few lines that I thought were quite clever. Now I'm mad at myself because I didn't mark them and now I can't find them. I'll do better with my next book. Even though the language didn't bowl me over, I did love the characters. The aunt is delightful even though she's dead. And Boyfriend Keith is lots of fun and quite realistic in that he's so attractive to Ginny, but he doesn't really have too many good qualities. So typical of girls to be crazy about the one with so much baggage.

I have to recommend this book as a very good summer read. It reminds me a lot of the Ann Brasheres Traveling Pants books, and again, I must thank Leslie for turning me on to this one. It's a great addition to my bookshelf.

Have you read it? I'd love to hear your comments. And, what are you reading now? Please post a comment and let me know what types of great books are out there for kids to be reading this summer.