13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

13Little Blue Envelopes 
by Maureen Johnson

Props needed: Two blue air-mail envelopes.
Two note with the first and second letter (p. xxx)

I was going to ask you what was the "wildest" thing you'd ever done. But that's too easy. What's the wildest thing you've ever convinced your parents to let you do?

[Hold up the envelope]

There are 13 of these. Each one is written by a Ginny's Aunt Peg, who is, by the way, dead.

[Open the envelope]

[Read the first letter]

Ginny convinces her parents to let her do it. Go solo to Europe. I know. I know: Lots of people think this is kind of unrealistic; but I can put your hands on the true story of a teenage girl who talked her parents into letting her sail around the world ALONE.

[Maiden Voyage by Tania Aebi, if anyone asks you: It's a great read.]

[Read the Second Letter]

And those, as you know, are just the first two envelopes. There are 11 more, each one giving Ginny a new command, each one taking her to a different part of the world, and each one a puzzle piece, revealing the secret truth about what happened to her Aunt Peg.

Where will the next envelope take Ginny? What will happen to her?

Pick up 13 Little Blue Envelopes, by Maureen Johnson, and let the adventure begin.

(Booktalk by Kirsten Edwards, King County Library System)



13Little Blue Envelopes 
by Maureen Johnson

 Ginny Blackstone and her Aunt Peg were mirror opposites. Ginny lived a very safe life, while Aunt Peg was a free spirit. Ginny liked to stay in the background, but being with Aunt Peg made her feel more interesting. Ginny loved Aunt Peg. That’s why her aunt’s disappearance and death were so confusing. After all Aunt Peg was only 35. But Aunt Peg had a final gift for Ginny--13 little blue envelopes and an invitation to play one final game with her. A game like the “today I live in” game they had played when Ginny was little. 

She would have to travel to Europe, and follow Aunt Peg’s rules—even though Aunt Peg seldom followed rules herself.

 But Ginny had never quite believed that Aunt Peg was dead. She was the liveliest person Ginny had ever known. In Ginny’s mind Aunt Peg was still somewhere out there. She had disappeared, for who knows what reason, and now Ginny had an invitation to go to find her.

Aunt Peg had a plan, and Ginny wanted to believe in the game and that somehow she could find Aunt Peg.

So 17-year-old Ginny who had never been outside the United States and never anywhere by herself followed Aunt Peg’s rules and flew to London. Each envelope gave Ginny a task to do before she could open the next and with each task she came closer to finding out what Aunt Peg wanted her to know and to do. 

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

(Booktalk by Tom Reynolds, Sno-Isle Regional Library System)


Last Updated: January 15, 2008