Little Blue Envelope: Poetry

By Steven Sanabria

At time when my life revolted so
obscure. The simplest essence
seemed ostentacious. My personal
program had received its jeopardy
with congruent attituted in
light of what is to favor. Thank you
all for supporting our civil liberty
while coincidentaly magnifying the
sane. This book apprehends our
complexity while distinguishing your
formal plight of no end in sight.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 15, 2014
• ISBN: 9781499045741

Steven Sanabria

Emphatic although vague I recall my life. I was taught to love and respect the human kind. The bisection as it may seem to descend from sprightly scholars similar of the anagrams displayed in my character. I was despoiled of experiences in my life without euphemism. In light of the evil in every corner that awaited me. I trusted in clear relativity of my mind to the term of beigness in patriotism. This would have been difficult to comprehend, because the average persons aspirations fall short of its own implications. Pleasure of the actinism was true dedication while society failed to understand what I considered normal. I would not have change my history for all the world and in means time the love of women evaded me entirely. I learned my individualism should have to conceed in order to survive so apathy in the long road of recovery is how I enhanced the free will I parctices since the beginning of my time and will consider spending the rest embracing what is ethically moral like oxygen and water so long as the sun will shine.

Book preview

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Reviews for Little Blue Envelope

[kristelh_15 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Reason read: TIOLI challenge, ROOTI’ve had this book on my nook since 2011 and glad to finally read it. It’s a sort of quest book and definitely young adult and not even believable in my opinion (and its not fantasy). It’s looks at loss and also coming of age and she is basically a good person so all in all, its a good little story.

[librarymeg · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I knew I was really enjoying this book when a co-worker who saw me reading it said "You must like this book. You're smiling!" I realized it was true. Every time I picked it up, I ended up with a silly grin of happiness on my face. I spent last summer in London, which was part of why I picked this book up and part of why I thought I'd enjoy it. It involves a teen girl who is given instructions by letter that take her through Europe, beginning in London. I ended up enjoying it for more than that, though. For me, it was a perfect, and perfectly enjoyable, read. It had great main characters, it was funny and strange, and it captures in a fun way all the awful, terrifying wonderfulness of travel, especially travel by yourself. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone who loves travel, or who is about to go on vacation. You may end up being more adventurous for having read it.

[ctmshajo · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is a really well writen book. The book is about a girl named Ginny (short for ginger) who gets these letters from her aunt telling her to go around the world to find her true self. The wierd part about the story is her aunt died 3 months ago. Ginny meets her aunts friend who lives in London and explores England. Since her aunt was a artist all the letters bring her to one of the many arts in erope. She also travels to Italy and Greese but the letters bring her back to London to find a lost family member. I don't want to spill anymore so i will stop there. But I reccomend this book to people who like fiction with a twist and mystery!

[gpwts · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Ginny has always been a bit of a straight edge. The only person who lossened her up was her aunt. So when a letter arrived in the mail from her aunt ordering her to go to an apartment in NYC Ginny decides to follow. Even though her aunt's been dead for a couple months.This book show a wild chase that Ginny takes through all sorts of European countires while following letters from her Aunt. This book is touching and moving in ways that I didn't expect. It's not a romance novel, but there's still a touch of romance and life.

[amcreech · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A good read about a girl who is following an adventure guided by her aunt that recently passed away. 13 envelopes provide the instructions for the journey and each envelope may be opened only when the previous envelope's task has been completed. A good story of a girl who has to step out of the box of who she normally is.

[annesanse · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

13 Little Blue Envelopes was a cute book. I definitely think I'll read the sequel. It started out kind of slow, but it definitely picked up towards the end. I would have loved to have gone on an adventure like this as a teenage girl, and it was lots of fun to read about it. I wasn't crazy about the slight romance, but it didn't take away from the story.

[mickthechick · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Somehow I wasn't quite satisfied with this book. It seemed like it would be more about a girl's self-discovery as she explores Europe, but it was actually quite shallow, and I don't think she learned as much as she could have. I just couldn't really connect with it. It was still pretty entertaining, though.

[pocketmermaid · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm not exactly sure if this really earned four stars. The writing felt a little too easy. The story was a jaunt around Europe, and at times felt like a travel guide with narration. The narration was third-person, which I personally find harder to get into as opposed to first-person. The character of Ginny's deceased aunt actually had more personality than Ginny herself. So, why four stars? Because it was simplistically brilliant. And it made me cry. I now want to read absolutely everything Maureen Johnson has written.

[susan259 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is more than chick lit--there is character development and a sort of underlying theme of learning about yourself that goes beyond the breezy romance and travelogue that makes Johnson a stand out writer for me.

[df6b_arielb · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have to say I would never travel to a foregin country because of my aunt letters. Ginny is brave, shy, and funny. She is one of the better characters you found in some book. Maureen Johnson has become one of my favorite authors.

[soradsauce_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Despite knowing from minute conversations and twitter posts that Maureen Johnson cracks me up, I was not expecting to legitimately laugh out loud at this book. It was a fun, light read - took me two hours to rip through it, but it was thoroughly enjoyable, well written, and made me laugh as hard as I've ever laughed at a book.

[emilove_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My Thoughts:Oh, Maureen Johnson, the things you do to me! Where do I even start? The first book I ever read by Maureen was Suite Scarlett and I fell in love with her writing right then! 13 Little Blue Envelopes certainly did not disappoint. I laughed, I cried, and at times I wanted to scream.Ginny is sent on a wild goose chase by her aunt in the form of, you guessed it, 13 little blue envelopes. Each envelope has instructions telling Ginny where to go, what to do, or who to meet and rules about when and where to open the next envelope. I couldn’t put the book down, I read it in one night! I had to find out what was in the next envelope.The setting is so well described you feel like you are traveling with Ginny most of the time. I was surprised to learn that Maureen hadn’t been to all the places she sent Ginny to because it certainly seemed like she had. Talk about fantastic research!Ginny is an ordinary girl that gets an extraordinary opportunity, one I’m not sure I’d be so quick to accept. She’s very down-to-earth and level-headed for most of the book, not just a crazy teenager on a whirlwind backpacking excursion.Keith got on my nerves, a lot. He was a typical annoying guy with horrible judgment. He was absolutely perfect! That seems like a total contradiction, but if Keith had been any other type of guy, the story would not have been what it was. He HAD to be annoying. It absolutely worked.This book definitely lights the travel fire in me. I’m just itching to go on a trip like Ginny’s.The Verdict: Three words: So. Much. Fun. A definite must read for anyone who’s ever traveled or is just dying to!

[readaholic12_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Interesting coming of age tale with a twist - all the events are orchestrated by Ginny's deceased Aunt Peg. Letter by letter, Ginny is led on a treasure hunt of sorts through Europe, although many destinations yield more questions than answers. The rules of the game make this adventure unique - no maps, no friends, no baggage, no electronics - and force Ginny to rely on her instincts and those around her as she performs the tasks demanded letter by letter. A quick, enjoyable read.

[taleofnight · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

13 Little Blue Envelopes follows Ginny as she goes on this crazy journey throughout Europe. All alone. With only 13 envelopes as a guide. These envelopes were written by her crazy aunt who whisked away to Europe without telling anyone, and now she's making it up to Ginny by having her come to Europe herself. The problem is is that Ginny's aunt has been dead.First of all, I must say that if I wasn't following Johnson on Twitter, I probably wouldn't have given much thought to her books. But 13 Little Blue Envelopes premise really intrigued me, so I went ahead and gave it a go. So this is my first novel by Maureen Johnson.I've never read a book narrated like this. You weren't necessarily in the mind of the character. It was third person, and the person telling the story just... told the story. You never get a glimpse inside the main character's, Ginny, head. It seemed to be a person watching Ginny go through this experience and describing everything she encounters.There was a lot, and I mean a LOT of description to the point that you would feel like you were sitting with Ginny. I thought Johnson actually went to all of these destinations and could describe them a least enough for the book. But I was surprised to find out that she hadn't been to some of the places Ginny ends up at. But of course, with the internet I'm sure I could look places up and describe them somewhat decently.I enjoyed the story. It was... interesting. Though I didn't believe Ginny could fly to London with only 1000 dollars to pay for her flight. When I looked up plane tickets it was well over $1000, but then again, that was from St. Louis and not New York, so who knows. The story was pretty sad. Ginny was alone most of the time and she was slowly realizing and accepting the death of her aunt.Ginny does manage to find a love interest, or I guess you could call him that. I personally felt like they weren't very good for each other, but he was always there for her in the end. I think the story would have been better if it was told in first person, or maybe even third person, as long as we could get inside Ginny's head to know what she was feeling during certain events.

[bookworm12_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This one was a bubblegum book for me, a few minutes of enjoyment but I didn’t get much from it. A teenager receives a packet of letters from her aunt who has just passed away. The letters take her on an adventure through Europe with new challenges at every turn. The main character just felt sort of empty and cardboard to me. She never seemed to use any common sense and seemed clueless about even the simplest things. I would've much preferred to read an entire book about her aunt's life. It reminded me a lot of Just One Day with a similar hop around Europe. I loved reading about the cities and some of her experiences, but her personality fell flat for me and so there was no heart to the story.

[brandie_14 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

13 Little Blue Envelopes was a cute, very quick read!As of this morning, I was on about page 50. I had a few hours to kill while my oldest took some co-op classes and the other two children and I sat in a church nursery.Thankfully the kids played beautifully with the toys and I was able to finish the rest of the book in about 2 hours. Of course, I was highly motivated, as the book wsa due at the library Saturday and I was passing the library on my way home today - it would be returned finished or not. And so it was returned finished.Anyway, like I said, a cute read. Very easy, very quick. Not a lot of thinking involved (which is a good type of book to read with the children under foot). It was interesting to travel around Europe with the main character - mostly because I've never done it, dream about doing it, but am far too chicken to ever really do it!A great read and in the end worth the 40 cent fine I will recieve (however, it probably wouldn't have been worth, say a 2.00 fine LOL!)

[lms8esmith · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved Ginny's adventures through the 13 little blue envelopes!! Knowing that her next destination was in the next letter from her aunt was so captivating. I especially loved Richard for his unconditional love, and Keith's quirkiness was to die for. Ginny learned a lot about herself and her aunt's seemingly secret life. I can't wait to share this with my students. :O)

[jenreidreads · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A fluffy summer teen novel. Ginny's aunt passes away before the action of the book starts, but she left a scavenger hunt for Ginny throughout Europe. Ginny learns about her favorite aunt as well as herself, and discovers love along the way, too.Re-read May 2011I changed my rating on this novel from three stars to four stars upon re-reading it. It really is a delightful book. I think I like it more now, after having followed Maureen Johnson on twitter for a while now. You can really see her in her characters - quirky and hilarious. And the ending made me tear up a bit, too. I look forward to reading the sequel!

[blu1starr12 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I've been meaning to read this book for a long time and it was a good book but I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more four or five years ago.

[jasmyn9 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ginny has a mission....a mission enclosed in 13 blue envelopes given to her by her Aunt with specific instructions on when and where she is to open each one. After much internal and parental debate, Ginny sets of on a grand adventure that begins in London. As Ginny works her way through the letters, Europe, and a steady stream of extremely helpful strangers, she begins to see her Aunt through different eyes and gains a better understanding of herself.I really liked Ginny. She was shy with strangers but outgoing once she let you into her world. As she traveled and interacted with new, and sometimes very strange, people Ginny discovered that she was capable of doing so much more than she originally thought. A journey that Ginny first thought was all about "discovering" who her Aunt was, turns into so much more.I enjoyed this book up until almost the very end. The places and people were engaging and lifelike. Even in what would normally be a mundane scene, the author managed to write in a way to bring out the excitement and anticipation that Ginny must have been feeling throughout the whole story. Now, the very end was a little different. I was all set to have things wrap up nicely and, well, end. But the story is set up for a sequel, which I didn't realize when I started. The ending wasn't cliffhanger enough to make me jump out of my seat and rush off to the library, but it was enough to leave me feeling frustrated that I couldn't just move on. Perhaps that was the point, and it's quite possible I would feel differently if I had known there was a book 2 going in.3.5/5

[ravibr14 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

13 little blue envelopes can help a 17 years old girl understand the life of her runaway Aunt. In this realistic fiction novel the protagonist is Virginia Blackstone but many people call her Ginny. The small envelopes takes ginny on an adventure around the world alone with only the 13 envelopes, the envelopes tells her where to go how to find a place to stay and friends of Aunt Peg and another instruction to do before opening the next envelope. Ginny is brave and trustworthy because she trusted throughout the envelopes by doing everything she is supposed to do. She is so brave taking on an adventure alone not knowing anyone.Some of the places her runaway Aunt went is New york, and most of Europe.There was not a boring part I was always on my toes, thinking what's going to happen next. The ending was great although it was a little predictable over all it was very good.

[pbadeer · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

As a grown man, I should feel some level of embarrassment for enjoying this teen book (a "girl" book at that), but I don't. It was a great book. The concept is simple (if hokey), a shy girl's dead aunt's last act of kindness is to provide her a series of 13 envelopes of instructions to undertake a kind of wild European tour. The obvious draw of the plot made for great reading, keeping me glued to the pages to see what the next envelope will tell her. Maybe having a pre-teen daughter helped me view this more from her perspective, and I plan on having her read it too. The adventures are relatively wholesome and serve to bring Ginny out of her shell and experience the life she sees around her.

[karafrib · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

You’re 17 and your deceased aunt has left you 13 little blue envelopes, the first of which instructs you to fly to London…alone. Would you go? Ginny did, and what followed was an international adventure in Maureen Johnson’s 13 Little Blue Envelopes. Ginny had always thought highly of her eccentric, artistic Aunt Peg. So, when she received the 13 little blue envelopes after her aunt’s death, she convinced her parents to allow her to go the on the “quest” Peg had created. Only one envelope may be opened at a time, and the task from the envelope before must have been completed before Ginny can move on to the next message from her aunt. Through the process, Ginny visits many European countries, including England, Scotland, and Greece. Along the way she meets many of the charismatic characters her aunt befriended while staying in Europe and, little by little, learns about the illness that claimed Peg’s life as well as how much her aunt truly lived. Ginny also makes some of her own European friends, one of whom is Keith, who quickly becomes the object of Ginny’s affection.Johnson fills her novel with detailed descriptions of the places Ginny visits, and hits the mark with many of the situations and relationships that occur during international travel. However, the story sometimes lags because of too much description, and often Ginny finds herself in situations that are just a little too fantastic to be plausible. This takes away from the parts of the novel that feel utterly real, and disrupts the overall flow of the story. Also, while Ginny is the narrator of this story, her character often does not feel very strong, despite her brave and independent ventures. However, it is still a fun international romp that will spark the imagination of those who have travelled, and those who dream of doing so in the future. Recommended for grades 7 and up.

[annertan · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I had to slog through to the end. Nice idea. But I would like a little more parental involvement in this.

[leigh7_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The book 13 Little Blue Envelopes is about a girl, Ginny and the mysterious letters she receives from her deceased Aunt Peg. Ginny's aunt lived in New York working temp jobs untill she realizd she had to take off to Europe, giving no explanation or warning to GInny and her family. Ginny receives only occassional letters from her aunt stating she was fine untill her family receives the news that Aunt Peg is dead. She developed cancer, leaving Ginny all alone, when her aunt had always promised she would be there for her. Litttle did Ginny know that her aunt had left an amazing journey planned for her to take throughout Europe. Ginny is now forced to be creative and spontaneous just like her aunt always was. Ginnny gets to follow in her Aunt Pegs footsteps through Europe to discover the amazing journey her aunt had to travel on her own to become the artist she always wanted to be. Ginny's as a character evolved throughout the book from a shy girl to an independent women, capable of doing things she never thought she could. Her journey through Europe showed her that it wasnt her aunt that made Ginny interesting and exciting, Ginny was always interesting in her own way, but was too shy and afraid of showing it. The 13 envelopes, left for Ginny by her Aunt Peg, opened Ginny up to a variety of experiences she never thought she would have and taught her to be independent and adventurous. This journey showed Ginny what she is really capable of on her own with a little guidance from her runaway aunt.I really enjoyed this book and all the experiences Ginny went through, although I haven't had these experiences, it is a book you can easily relate to. Ginny never got to read the last envelope because her bag was stolen, so I am looking foward to the sequel to the book The Last Little Blue Envelope. I can't wait to find out what the 13th envelope says and how the journey ends!

[indygo88 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Interesting concept for a book, but I didn't think it was executed all that well. I kept reminding myself that this was a teen read, but I've read better. The main character, Ginny, seemed a bit too ignorant too much of the time -- annoyingly so. I'm still up in the air about reading the follow-up. This wasn't impressive enough to make me "have" to read it, but I am a sucker for series books, so I may still give it a shot, mostly because I liked the storyline.

[shellyquade · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'm glad I read this novel. It was full of adventure, but in a realistic way. The main character was kind of annoying, but she began to grow on me, and was likeable by the end of the book.The story deals with the protagonist's relationship with her aunt, and self-realization. If you're not averse to reading young adult fiction, I suggest giving this book a try.

[princess0starr · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Back in 2008, when I had hit a bout of reader’s/writer’s block, I asked one of my online friends for reading suggestions. She mentioned Maureen Johnson. “…the chick from Rent?” I asked. But seeing as I was working on a road trip story at the time, I skipped off to the bookstore and picked up 13 Little Blue Envelopes.

Compared to Key to the Golden Firebird or Bermudez Triangle, 13 Little Blue Envelopes doesn’t seem like it would have the same sort of emotional depth as Johnson’s earlier works. And yes, it’s a much lighter read than those two, BUT you do get to see Ginny dealing with her aunt’s disappearance and death and what that holds for Ginny’s future. One of the parts that I actually really like about this book is the scene wherein Ginny explains her aunt’s game to Love Interest Keith, who promptly replies “That’s a bit crap, isn’t it?” It’s a nice touch of the reality, that while the envelopes are supposed to send Ginny on this whirlwind journey to experience life (!), Ginny is still hurt and abandoned by Aunt Peg, and there’s still not even an explanation to every single detail.

This is also what I want from a travelogue book. Most of the locations Ginny goes to does hit all of the big touristy spots, but I love the disjointed, weird feeling she has as she moves from country to country. I like that the whole concept of Europe being big and bright and full of languages and weird but sometimes tasty food. While Ginny’s time in Great Britain takes up the majority of the book, I do like that she does still feel out-of-place and while there’s some familiarity, it’s very foreign and different. And in concurrence with the notes, I like that not everything goes right, and Ginny is left wondering what she was supposed to learn from her dead ends. I also like that while most of the people she’s supposed to meet are mainly there to impart worldly wisdom, I like that she connects more with the ones she just happens on, like Keith and the Australian students. (The Knapps are just…weird. Well, the parents, at least.)

Speaking of Keith, oh, I do love a man in a kilt. He’s someone who feels like Peg should have sent him to impart wisdom in Ginny, but he’s not, and yet, still has his own bits of advice of life and living. Mostly involving what not to do. I also like that he does mention that it’s more of infatuation he has with Ginny (something which comes into play in the sequel), but he worries about her in a very Keith-like manner.

I do like Ginny. She is a bit bland and too suburban (if there’s one thing I dislike, it’s Peg’s extremely artistic viewpoint of suburbia), but I like that she does grow throughout her journey. There’s a nice moment near the end when she mentions that she doesn’t want to open the last envelope, not just yet, and you get the sense that she doesn’t want her journey to end, that she just wants to keep traveling with her new friends for just a little while longer. I would have liked to have seen more of connection with her life back home in the States, but aside from mentions of her mother and her best friend Miriam, we really don’t get to see who Ginny is when she’s not tromping across Europe. And while I do like that she’s not snarky and constantly throwing out one-liners, there are moments where it does feel a little bland and Ginny does come across as too typical American touristy.

Aside from the slightly rushed resolution, I really don’t have too many complaints about this book. (Actually, my biggest issue with the cover copy synopsis. Yeah, there’s a romance, but it’s really not the main plot.) It’s a very solid coming-of-age travelogue that’s also very funny and has an engaging storyline, with a relatable heroine who’s not so bland and passive that anyone can project themselves onto her. As introductions to authors go, this is a good book to get started on.

[aperrigo_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ginny's beloved, free-spirited aunt dies in London, and leaves Ginny an unusual bequest--a trip to Europe! Of course this trip must follow Aunt Peg's rather strict rules--she must go alone, she can take only what she can pack into a backpack, etc. Once the reader sets aside the improbability of this premise (Ginny is a not-very-confident 17-year-old whose parents would be unlikely to allow her to undertake such a quest) the story is good fun. Ginny experiences all the ups and downs of adolescence--falling in love, solving the mystery of her aunt's final years, insecurity at being alone in a country where she doesn't speak the language, etc. The story moves as quickly as Ginny does--a good, light read!

[zerra_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The idea of the book seemed promising, however i was expecting a more in-depth 'lesson to be learned' from following her aunt's path. So I was rather miffed that the ending seemed bare, as if all the efforts were just random.