Wow, a book post with only one book in it! I thought seeing as I’m at home nearly all the time at the moment I might try posting shorter entries more often. It might also help avoid strange juxtapositions like my last book entry.

Anyway, a great book I read this week was Maureen’s Johnson’s 13 little blue envelopes, which came out in Australia recently. The book features 17 year old Ginny, who is on a mystery tour of Europe following the directions of her flaky aunt. The notes, given in a series of envelopes, direct Ginny to a variety of people and places over the course of a month. I love this idea (why are all my aunts so normal?) even if I know that I would have hated being in a similar situation at age 17. Or at my age, now I think of it, as I am too bossy and like planning stuff myself. Anyway, one of the best aspects of this story is the way it let the setting switch around between interesting places. And travelling by yourself overseas is a perfect basis for a coming-of-age story. It was thoroughly enjoyable.

But I struck an unusual problem with the book. I am a fan of Maureen Johnson’s blog. It’s actually the reason I bought the book. But her distinctive funny voice was apparent in Ginny’s story to such an extent I kept seeing the main character as Ginny/Maureen rather than just Ginny. It probably wasn’t helped by the grief-related detachment Ginny shows in a large portion of the book. I am guessing a re-read will help me feel Ginny’s character more strongly. This might be one of the first times I’ve read an author’s blog before their book and although I like having a whole book of Maureen I hope it’s not going to be a consistent theme with other blogging authors whose books I haven’t tried yet!

Tags: books, johnson, travel, young adult