13 Little Blue Envelopes is a 2005 novel by Maureen Johnson

Maureen Johnson

Maureen Johnson is an American author of young adult fiction. She has published eight young adult novels to date, including the Suite Scarlett series and The Last Little Blue Envelope. Johnson is also the founder of the political networking site .-Early life:Maureen Johnson is a graduate of the...

. A young woman embarks on a journey throughout Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 by following instructions left to her in letters from her aunt (who died unexpectedly after preparing the letters).

Plot summary

• Rule #1: You may bring only what fits in your backpack. Don't try to fake it out with a purse or a carry-on.
• Rule #2: You may not bring guidebooks, phrase books, or any kind of foreign language aid. And no journals.
• Rule #3: You cannot bring extra money or credit/debit cards, traveler's checks, etc. I'll take care of all that.
• Rule #4: No electronic crutches. This means no laptop, no cell phone, no music, and no camera. You can't call home or communicate with people in the U.S. by Internet or telephone. Postcards and letters are acceptable and encouraged.

Virginia "Ginny" Blackstone, a seventeen-year-old girl who is on summer break before her final year of high school, has received 13 blue envelope

Envelope

An envelope is a common packaging item, usually made of thin flat material. It is designed to contain a flat object, such as a letter or card....

s from her self-proclaimed "Runaway Aunt" Peg, who is now dead

Death

Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....

. Ginny is told that she is about to leave for several weeks and will travel to foreign lands. Her aunt leaves her the above four rules to follow. She is only allowed to open the next envelope once she has reached the destination or has completed the task set in the previous letter.

The envelopes lead her to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, where she meets a "starving" artist named Keith, and Aunt Peg's best friend and roommate, Richard. She realizes she has a crush on Keith, and they go to Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 to meet her aunt's guru

Guru

A guru is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom, and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others . Other forms of manifestation of this principle can include parents, school teachers, non-human objects and even one's own intellectual discipline, if the...

, artist Mari Adams. Ginny then has an argument with Keith and they part ways. She meets him again in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. Later, she encounters a rather fast Roman

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 boy and a horrible hotel in Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

, along with a very hyperactive family. Following, she goes to Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 and meets four Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n students, Emmett, Bennett, Nigel, and Carrie. Together they form the "Blue Envelope Gang" and follow the second-to-last envelope to Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

. On the way, the 12th envelope tells her she can open the last one whenever she feels ready.

While there, her backpack

Backpack

A backpack is, in its simplest form, a cloth sack carried on one's back and secured with two straps that go over the shoulders, but there can be exceptions...

 is stolen, along with the 13th envelope. She enlists Richard's help to return to England; upon arriving there Richard tells her that he and Peg were married during her final illness, which makes Richard Ginny's uncle. This last bit of information completely unsettles the already-distressed girl, who runs to Keith's house for the night. Returning to Richard's apartment the next day, she manages to discover a trove of her aunt's final paintings, in the attic of Harrods

Harrods

Harrods is an upmarket department store located in Brompton Road in Brompton, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. The Harrods brand also applies to other enterprises undertaken by the Harrods group of companies including Harrods Bank, Harrods Estates, Harrods Aviation and Air...

, a large department store in London, which her aunt used as a private art studio. The painting collection is sold at auction, and the proceeds become her inheritance

Inheritance

Inheritance is the practice of passing on property, titles, debts, rights and obligations upon the death of an individual. It has long played an important role in human societies...

. She writes a letter to her aunt, letting her know that even though she never read the 13th envelope, she knows what it said. Ginny finally makes her way back home to New Jersey, after leaving half the inheritance to Richard.

Sequel

There is also a sequel, The Last Little Blue Envelope, which is about the envelope that was stolen and she was never able to read. Ginny finds out that Keith has a new girlfriend, and she is devastated. She gets a call from London that a man who found her stolen backpack. The man, Oliver, bought her backpack during a visit to Greece, and returns most of the things from her bag except the last envelope. He tells Ginny that the last letter's challenge is a scavenger hunt to find three parts of her aunt's last masterpiece. Oliver tells Ginny he'll only give her the last letter if he gets half the profit from selling it.