The Last Little Blue Envelope

April 18, 2011
In 13 Little Envelopes (2006), 17-year-old Ginny was sent on an all-expenses-paid scavenger hunt of sorts through Europe, via a series of envelopes from her late aunt. Johnson efficiently recaps the events of that book in a prologue (Ginny plans to use her European tour as fodder for her college application essay), before moving onto the plot point on which this sequel turns: the fact that Ginny never opened the final envelopeâit was stolen before she had the chance. After a mysterious e-mail shows up in Ginny's inbox with a scan of partial contents of envelope 13, Ginny returns to Europe to find out what was in the rest of the note and carry out her aunt's last assignment. Johnson's prose is as fluid and assured as ever, and extortion, heartbreak, and a host of entertaining British boys all play their parts as Ginny and friends venture from London to Paris, Amsterdam, and Dublin. Readers who, like Ginny, are on the edge of adulthood, will be drawn in by this winning mix of globe-trotting adventure and romance. Ages 12âup.