13 Little Blue Envelopes

Infobox Book |
name = 13 Little Blue Envelopes


image_caption = Book Cover
author = Maureen Johnson
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
genre = Novel
publisher = HarperCollins
release_date = September 2006
media_type = Print (Paperback)
pages = 317 pp
isbn = ISBN 0-06-054143-1

"13 Little Blue Envelopes" is a novel by Maureen Johnson.

Plot summary

Ginger [ [http://img.sparknotes.com/content/sparklife/sparktalk/13_Little_Blue_Excerpt2.pdf SparkNotes Exerpt] ] [ [http://www.bookbrowse.com/excerpts/index.cfm?book_number=1670 BookBrowse Excerpt] ] "Ginny" Blackstone, a seventeen year old girl, has received 13 envelopes from her self-proclaimed "Runaway Aunt" Peg, who is deceased. Ginny is told that she is about to leave for several weeks, travel to foreign lands. Her aunt leaves her four rules to follow, one of which forbids her from contacting anyone in the United States (including her parents) by any way other than postcards and letters. She is only allowed to open the next envelope once she has reached the destination or, in some cases, achieved the task set in the previous letter.

In England, she meets a "starving" artist named Keith, along with Aunt Peg's best friend, Richard. She realizes she has a crush on Keith, and they go to Scotland to meet her aunt's guru, Mari MacAdams. Ginny then has an argument with Keith and they part ways. She meets him again in Paris, though, where she discovers she's in love with him. Later, she encounters a rather fast Roman boy, a horrible hotel in Amsterdam, along with a very hyperactive family. Following, she goes to Denmark and meets four Australian students, Emmett, Bennett, Nigel, and Carrie. Together they form the "Blue Envelope Gang" and follow the second-to-last envelope to Greece. On the way, the 12th envelope tells her she can open the last one when she feels ready to.

While there, her backpack is stolen, along with the thirteenth envelope. She goes back to England with the help of Richard, who she discovers is her uncle. She runs away, and discovers her aunt's paintings at a warehouse. She sells them, and that is her inheritance. She writes a letter to her aunt, letting her know that even though she never read the 13th envelope, she found out what the last envelope said. Ginny finally makes her way back home to New Jersey.

References