13 Little Blue Envelopes

I have absolutely no idea why I waited so long to read this book.  Foolishness.  Maureen Johnson's 13 Little Blue Envelopes (watch the trailer here) is a really fun read that I would recommend to lots of ladies out there. 

This story is a quest for self discovery as much as it is for finding out the clues of Ginny's aunt's death.  Ginny's free spirited Aunt Peg left Ginny a collection of 13 little blue envelopes to be opened in sequence after her death.  Ginny was to follow the directions enclosed in each envelope before opening the next.  The first included directions for going to London to start the adventure.

As Ginny traveled all over Europe following directions and opening envelopes, she learned about her aunt.  She discovered people who had made an impact on Peg's life, places Peg had lived, and the things that comforted Peg as she became increasingly sick.

There were times in this book that I was so jealous of Ginny.  The adventure she was on was simply amazing.  But, there were other times that I thought I would never be able to be happy following the rules Peg laid out for Ginny.  However, those rules helped the trip guide Ginny to a new understanding of herself.

One giant problem does interrupt the completion of the journey.  The last blue envelope is stolen while Ginny is in Greece.  Unexpected.  Resolution?  Thankfully, this twist allows for the second book, The Last Little Blue Envelope, which I am certainly putting on my to read list.  I've also read a couple other books by Maureen Johnson and really liked them.  You can check out those reviews here: Name of the Star and Devilish.