The Last Little Blue Envelope, by Maureen Johnson
Ginny gets a mysterious email with an attached scan of the first two pages of the last letter — the thirteenth letter that she had never been able to read, because it had been in her backpack and someone had stolen her backpack. The sender instructs her to meet him in England so that he can verify she is the right Ginny and then she can get the letter back. Little does she know that when she leaves New Jersey for London, she will find herself following her aunt’s instructions and the blackmailing sender’s instructions!
“What if I said no?” she asked.
“Then I go home,” he said.
“And the letter?”
“Remains lost. Your choice.”
Just like with the first book, 13 Little Blue Envelopes, The Last Little Blue Envelope was fun and made me feel like I went on my own adventure. I read it in under twenty-four hours, and when it was over, I desperately wanted more. I really liked that, while reading, I felt like I could actually see what Maureen Johnson described in London, Paris, Belgium, Amsterdam, and Ireland. I also felt like I could easily do the traveling that Ginny does myself, rather than being intimidated by the idea of it.
I didn’t like that the novel was so short, only 280 pages. It left things so open that there could be a sequel, but who knows? Ginny definitely has more exciting adventures ahead of her, but we may never know what university in England is like for her, and I’m not cool with that. For the most part, open ended endings satisfy me, if they feel appropriate to the story. For example, The Dark Tower leaves the series open enough so that Stephen King could write an eighth book — which he is, but it doesn’t follow the seventh — but also so that we know that Roland is damned to his fate, and there really aren’t that many questions left unanswered. (I know, I know; Stephen King said there are many questions still not answered, but for argument’s sake, let’s pretend that he didn’t just recently decided to write and publish an eighth book.)
I also didn’t like that Ginny’s parents are almost virtually nonexistent. There are never times when she calls them or they call her, and she never even discusses leaving for England with them. I’m sure these things actually happened, but that small tidbit made this story that much less realistic for me. I’m almost twenty-three, and my parents would still at least like to hear from me once in a while if I went overseas. Ginny calls her uncle in England to check in, but never her parents. It would make perfect sense if she wasn’t close to them, or she didn’t live with them in New Jersey, but nothing like that is even hinted at. I just find it odd.
My favorite character in The Last Little Blue Envelope was Oliver, even though we aren’t supposed to like him. I had a feeling that there was something more going on, that he wasn’t just some blackmailing scam artist, but I still tried hard to hate him when I realized I was “falling for” his character.
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Harper Teen
Pages: 280
Release Date: April 26th, 2011
List Price: $16.99
Price Paid: $8.71
If Oliver tried to blackmail you, would you go along with him to get the letter back, or would you just walk away? I think I wouldn’t have gone along with him, mostly because I’m skeptical of people like that and would think he had even worse intentions. I probably would have gotten in touch with my uncle, who is a police officer, and would have gone from there. I’m more of a take action kind of girl. Still, I guess I would have missed out on the adventure, so maybe I should learn to reign myself in a little and not jump to conclusions! (Interestingly, my answer to this question really describes my personality to a T!)
