Saturday, March 13, 2010

13 Little Blue Envelopes

One of the greatest gifts I receive as a teacher is being educated by my students.  At the end of third quarter, each of my students gave a book talk of their independent reading novel.  Elizabeth shared the story of 13 Little Blue Envelopes.  I was so intrigued by the story, I asked to borrow the book.  I'm glad I did!  It was a very easy and quite enjoyable read.

The story is simple.  Ginny's aunt has died and given her $1000 and the instructions to get a passport and buy a plane ticket to New York.  Sent to their favorite greasy-spoon Chinese restaurant, Ginny receives a large envelope full of tiny blue envelopes.   Each envelope contains instructions to an adventure.

Each adventure sends Ginny across Europe.  Along the way she meets a variety of people each connected to her aunt's life in some way:  Richard, Mari -- the artist, Ortensia the Italian inn keeper, Piet, a guard at a Copenhagen museum.  Along the way Ginny learns about her elusive aunt, but more importantly, about herself.

This novel is a wonderful mixture of a coming-of-age story, teenage romance and adventure.  Definitely a fun read!

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