13 Little Blue Envelopes (Little Blue Envelopes #1)

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson is the story of a kind of scavenger hunt through Europe.

Ginny always loved spending time with her aunt Peg. Peg was the fun one who never settled down, an artist who lived in NYC's East Village and invented the best games.

Ginny receives instructions from her aunt to go to NYC and pick up a packet of letters, buy a plane ticket to London and follow her instructions. After convincing her parents to let her go, Ginny is off on a letter-guided adventure. Each letter has instructions and tells her what she has to accomplish before she can open the next one.

Johnson's plot takes readers abroad and highlights some of Europe's highlights and quirks. A fun tale of travel and discovery.

Johnson, Maureen. (2005). 13 Little Blue Envelopes. New York: HarperCollins.

The Bermudez Triangle

The Bermudez Triangle is a great book. I first heard about the book because a school board in Bartlesville, Oklahoma voted to ban it from the school. When they voted no member of the board had read the book. How responsible is that?

Here is the book…

It is about three friends – Nina, Avery, and Melanie – who have known each other most of their lives. The book begins during the summer before their senior year of high school.

Nina is going away for most of the summer to attend a program at Stanford. This will be the first time since they were eleven that the three of them have been apart. While she is in California, she meets a guy. Steve. Too bad he lives in Oregon and she lives in New York.

Mel and Avery stay home and get jobs at a restaurant. They also fall in love over the summer, with each other.

How will Nina react to find out the triangle has become one couple and her? How will their friendship change over the course of their senior year?

The book is being challenged due to kissing - a girl kissing a girl. That's it. Nothing beyond kissing is mentioned. Have you read some of the straight YA fiction? This is nothing to be censored over. Think of those poor kids who are trapped in Oklahoma while questioning their sexuality!

Read it and then send a letter to the school board telling them to put it back on the shelf! Mrs. Janet Vernon, Executive Director of Secondary Instruction Dr. Richard Rosenberger, Executive Director of Human Resources Mr. Chuck McCauley, Principal of Bartlesville High School.

Johnson, Maureen. (2004). The Bermudez Triangle. New York: Razorbill.