Review: The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson

Tags: YA, contemporary, Europe, art

Summary

Ginny thought it was all over—that the last blue envelope containing the last letter from her dead artist aunt Peg, stolen along with her backpack when she was in Greece, was lost forever. But then a mysterious boy named Oliver contacts her, saying that he has her letters. Turns out that the last letter contains one final task for Ginny to complete, and Oliver insists that he wants Ginny to split the profits from this last piece of artwork with him. After all, he is the one who has the letter. How can she disagree?

To her shock, Keith—and his new girlfriend, Ellis—insist on tagging along for this one last intercontinental adventure. Over the course of one Christmas break, Ginny, along with old and new friends, retraces her footsteps and discovers the ultimate lesson that Aunt Peg wishes to remind her of.

Review

I’ll be honest: I was one of those readers that was very happy with how 13 Little Blue Envelopes ended, and never thought to ask for a sequel. Nervously I began this sequel to one of my favorite books of all time, and happily I can say that TLLBE lived up to my expectations for a Maureen Johnson novel.

I was a little skeptical of how different Aunt Peg’s thirteenth letter was from her previous twelve (in terms of length and vision), but it was insightful nevertheless. THE LAST LITTLE BLUE ENVELOPE focuses less, I think, on the excitement of a cross-Europe adventure and more on character development. All the characters, while not particularly deep, are still very likable, even if you feel like the situation should call for us to hate them.

THE LAST LITTLE BLUE ENVELOPE lightheartedly inspires us to question the permanence of adolescent emotions. Oftentimes YA novels make us believe that their happy endings will last forever: Ginny’s second adventure beautifully illustrates how things can change unexpectedly but still wonderfully. And that’s all I want to say so that I don’t spoil anything!

My final thoughts? Worth reading if you loved the first book (and if you haven’t read that yet, you should). It takes on a different tone than 13 Little Blue Envelopes, but is still unexpectedly delightful, and will have you clamoring for a third book.

Cover discussion: I'm not really a fan. That girl is just not Ginny for me, and the posing is soooooo... posed!

HarperTeen / April 26, 2011 / Hardcover / 304pp. / $16.99

For e-review from NetGalley and HarperCollins.

Re-review: 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

Tags: YA, contemporary, traveling, art, Europe

Summary

Review

In light of the recent publication of 13LBE's sequel, The Last Little Blue Envelope (review to come soon), I seized the opportunity to read one of my favorite books from when I was younger. This is my third time reading 13 LITTLE BLUE ENVELOPES: the first two times I read it, I read it in one night, staying up past 3am to finish it. Yes, this included my first reread of the book. I still couldn't put it down.

What makes 13 LITTLE BLUE ENVELOPES so compelling that I couldn't put it down even during rereads? It is probably due in large part to its spectacular premise. 13 LITTLE BLUE ENVELOPES takes you on a literal adventure across Europe, traveling the sort of paths you've always wished you could take. It will leave you wishing you had a cool artist aunt, too (although Aunt Peg was dead in the book, so you probably don't want that to happen to your own aunt), to send you on a crazy trip across Europe with a handful of letters.

More than that, however, I think that Maureen Johnson has a splendid way of narrating that will ring with readers. She clearly channels the voice of a teenager in her writing: if, for example, Ginny sees a cool sight on her travels, she will only describe it to the extent of her vocabulary, and then fill in the rest of the narration with something along the lines of "that light-blue pointed thingy." You can practically see Ginny--and Maureen Johnson--narrating this with tongue firmly in cheek, though, which saves the narration from sounding "dumb" and instead makes it sound delightfully, relatably real.

If you haven't read 13 LITTLE BLUE ENVELOPES, now is a great time to pick it up, with its sequel so readily at hand. There is a good reason why it's still in print five years after its initial publication: it is exciting, heartwarming, funny, and full of wonder. It is truly one of the "YA classics" of our time.

Cover discussion: I am so not a fan of this updated cover. I definitely liked the last one better, even if it is also very stock photo-y. It's the one that got me to pick up the book in the first place, after all.

HarperCollins / Sept. 2006 (reprint) / Paperback / 317pp. / $8.99

Personal copy.