I'm currently at the beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama, reading a book a day and getting enough sun to last me three years in England. And today, I'm rereading 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson. Not counting Harry Potter (because that just wouldn't be fair), it's my favorite book. It's one of those books that just has snuggled so far into my imagination that it's become a part of my subconscious. I figure if I'm creating a full account of my time studying in England, I should tell you all about this book. Besides, I'm on vacation, at perfect ease, and in a blogging mood.
I love Maureen Johnson. I love her in the I-once-went-to-two-of-her-book-signings-in-one-day kind of way. I love her in the I-made-a-twitter-account-just-so-I-could-follow-her kind of way. I love her in the I-have-a-shrine-to-her-in-the-back-of-my-closet (but not really) kind of way. I can't remember which of her books I read first, because I'd read and reread three of them before I realized they were by the same person, but 13 Little Blue Envelopes was one of my early favorites.
The book is about Ginny Blackstone, who is sent on a crazy trip to Europe by her recently deceased aunt via (what else?) 13 Little Blue Envelopes. Each envelope contains a letter with an instruction--a task. The next envelope cannot be completed until each task is finished.Ginny finds herself in a half-dozen countries having strange and marvelous adventures, few of which she's certain won't kill her. Along the way, Ginny finds out where the Queen buys her panties, meets a gorgeous kilt-wearing English boy, spends the night on a park bench in Paris, and discovers she's not as boring as she originally thought.
The story is one of love and family, adventure and self-discovery, and travel. The book had everything I loved in it and I identified greatly with Ginny. She was awkward and nervous and up for it all anyway. Each time I reread it I discover more and more little things that feel more at home in the shadowy corners of my soul than stamped onto a piece of paper.
The pages of my copy are yellowed and bent. The front cover curls. The spine is ragged and its words unreadable. I've read the book too many times to count. At its heart? A recommendation. Julia, it calls with the rustle of a turning page, go to Europe! Look at this world waiting for you too discover! Julia! Have you heard about this? The streets of Rome are just there waiting to be walked on. Won't you walk on them? With Ginny there, it entered my imagination and felt, for the first time ever, attainable.
This book wasn't about a rich from New York with a genius I.Q. whose school hooked her up with a program to travel to Europe (a book I read) or a rich, fashionable girl from L.A. who won tons of journalism competitions in high school and won an internship at a top magazine in London (also a book I read). This book was about an ordinary girl. An ordinary girl on an extraordinary adventure. And not because her aunt told her to go out and do amazing things. She did, but that's not the point. Ginny had the adventure because she went out and took chances, no matter how crazy or scary or pointless they seemed. Now, I've decided to go off and take my own chances.
I'm not saying this book is the only reason I decided to study in England next year nor am I saying it's a major one. It is, however, at some level, a level so deep in my subconscious that I can't actually gauge how influential of one it is, a reason.
Plus, it's a great book. A really great book with one of the best sequels I've ever read. Excluding, of course, Harry Potter.
Regards,
Julia
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