Last Little Blue Envelope

The Last Little Blue Envelope Maureen Johnson

It's the Christmas after Ginny returned from Europe. She and Keith are still in a weird transatlantic thing. Maybe. She hasn't heard from him lately. Then Ginny gets a message from someone who has the envelope that got stolen at the end of 13 Little Blue Envelopes, so she's off to England to surprise Keith and finish the journey she began last summer. But, Oliver has other plans. He won't give Ginny the envelope. He's memorized it and if she wants it, he gets to come with her and they'll sell the artwork as soon as they get back and he gets half the cash. Keith won't let Ginny travel alone with such a f***wad and so he's in, too. With Ellis, his new girlfriend.

I'm conflicted about this book. I loved seeing Europe in winter and revisiting some of the places Ginny had gone the previous summer. It has a lot of the same feel of adventure and travelogue of the first book. BUT. The romantic subplot is just SO WRONG AND HORRIBLE that it completely ruined the book for me. There's more on my Spoiler blog, because I have to talk about the very end, so it's spoilery, and full of adult language and no astricks.

ARC Provided by... publisher at ALA

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Blargh

In case you don't live in the DC area, I would like to tell you that THE WORLD IS ENDING THIS WEEKEND! As you are probably aware, Tuesday is Inauguration Day. There will be scads of people coming in to see the festivities. Lots and lots and lots of tourists. Plus, you know, it's cold. The DC government ordered the Smithsonians to stay open all day so that the crowds and crowds of people on the mall can warm up and use the bathroom. Only, no one is sure how the people who work at the Smithsonian were supposed to get there. Last I heard, the staff of the American History Museum is having a slumber party on Monday night.

Anyway. We're thinking of walking into town, only it looks like every bridge will be closed, so who knows *how* that will happen.

Even better, there's a 30% chance of snow. This city goes into a blind panic when it starts snowing.

This is the stuff political comedies are made of.

On the other hand, it's a week away. They've promised me snow many times in the past, but as the day draws near, it always gets downgraded to rain. Phooey.

No matter what happens, taking MLK day into the mix, it's a 4 day weekend. YAY!

Anyway, books:

Suite Scarlett Maureen Johnson

Scarlett Martin's family owns a hotel. When each of the Martin children turn 15, they get one room in the hotel that they are in charge of. Scarlett was given the biggest suite in the hotel. And, that very day, a most bizarre and demanding person moves in.

Sadly, the hotel isn't doing that well. Scarlett's older brother and sister are trying to hold onto their dreams while not abandoning the family. Her younger sister is a grade A brat, but you have to be nice to her, because she used to have cancer...

And then, there's a boy.

Everyone really loved this book, so I had really high expectations going in, plus hello! Maureen Johnson! I LOVE HER!

And while this book was good, it did not live up to all that I wanted it to be, especially in the middle. Scarlett makes a lot of bone-headed moves that made me want to kick her. I mean, yes, her decisions are exactly what a 15-year-old girl would do. They were in character, but I still wanted to hurl something at her head.

Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it? Ah well.

What I Saw And How I Lied Judy Blundell

Something bad has happened. We know this, because the story is told in flashback, but we don't know what. So, as we follow Evie and her mother and step-father down to a last minute vacation to a boarded up Palm Beach, we try to figure it out.

What happened? Who's the bad guy? What are the lies Evie is telling (because, with the title, we assume there are lies, right? At least, I did.)

Palm Beach is dead and fraught with tension as we tease it out.

Evie is struggling to grow up, to be allowed to grow up. She meets a man and falls in love. (And she's a young teen, and this is a man. DANGER WILL ROBINSON!)

Blundell weaves the post-war Florida setting wonderfully but... when we finally got to the end... my thought was "Wait, what? Really?" about 2 different things.

It's been a week, and I'm still not entirely sure about how I feel about this book. Hmmmmm. Have you read it? What did you think?

Also, in her bio, for some reason, "Under a pen name, she has written many New York Times best-selling novels" really rubs me the wrong way. If you're not going to tell me what else they are, then don't bring it up! It's like going "I know a secret and you don't"

Humph.

Post Holiday Whatever

Well, some big changes here at Biblio File. Well, not here at Biblio File, but in my life. After three years I am no longer a "Counterfeit Librarian, Beltway Bandit and Femme Fatale Extroidinarie" and am instead a "Coffee addict, torch singer, and librarian ninja."

2 years ago, we moved and I stopped driving 1/2 around the beltway to get to work, but I still had to do large amounts of beltway driving to get to school, but, my dears, last Sunday, I finally graduated from University of Maryland's iSchool, so I'm now a big L Librarian. The only real change this makes in my day-to-day life at this point is that I no longer have to drive 1/2 way across the metro area to get to class 2 nights a week, no more papers to write, and I have to start paying full price ALA dues. I'm already working as a children's librarian, so I'm saved a job search. Yay!

Although, I will point out that is NOT my diploma. They will mail that to me next month. That is a poster of the University of Maryland, because well... I don't know why they gave me that. But they did.

In the mean time, my family was all here for graduation/Hanukkah/Christmas but they have all gone home now and the house is quiet and I'm wondering what to do tonight, as our box of Hanukkah candles was 1 candle so there will be some sort of improvisation.

Cybils short lists are coming out next week, which has me VERY excited, because I'm on the judging committee for middle grade/YA non-fiction and I can't wait to see what's nominated.

AND! I got a most fantastic handmade book from my secret santa. (My camera's being weird, so there are no pictures.) BUT! Secret Santa! You did not tell me what blog you blog on! I would love to know! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!

In the mean time, let's talk books, ok?

First up, as it's time for such things, is

Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Writing Thank-you Notes Peggy Gifford

Moxy's back! It's after Christmas and Moxy has to write 12 Thank You notes before she can go to California to see her father, whom she hasn't seen in years. Moxy does not want to write her thank you notes and 12 seems like a huge number. Luckily, she has an amazing beyond amazing plan to churn out her thank you notes lickity split and then she will be off to Hollywood to see her dad and be discovered.

Of course, it involves her step-father's brand new photocopier that she's been forbidden to touch. And some spray paint. Of course, it doesn't go to plan and unbelievable hilarity ensues.

Even better than Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little! This has some bigger issues and a little more meat, without getting bogged down or depressing. It's still hilarious and kids (and maybe some adults) will identify with writing Thank You notes as being the most horrendous chore ever assigned. Plus, there's spray paint. You can only imagine Moxy and spray paint...

Also, I spent Christmas Eve Day and Christmas Day reading

Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances Maureen Johnson, John Green, and Lauren Myracle

Do you know how unfair it is that 98% of the country had a huge blizzard and there was a huge blizzard in my book and it was like, 65 degrees out? Frustrating doesn't even begin to cover it!

Anyway, enough of my whining about the weather. This books is three stories that all take place in the same town during the blizzard of the century. Jubilee's parents are arrested and she's shipped off to spend Christmas with her grandparents, only to have the train get stuck. She gets off, wanders into the Waffle House across the highway and meets Stuart, who takes her home. Normally she wouldn't go, but a bunch of cheerleaders ALSO got off the train with her and are also at the Waffle House.

Meanwhile, Tobin and his friends are having a James Bond-a-thon when their friend who works at Waffle House calls and says there are cheerleaders demanding Twister. So they are off into the blizzard, trying to beat other guys to bring Twister to the cheerleaders.

And then, finally, Addie messed up with her boyfriend Jeb, and he stood her up when she tried to apologize. (BUT! the reader knows Jeb. He was on the train with Jubilee and is trapped at the cheerleading Waffle House) It's the day after Christmas and she's at work at Starbucks, trying to figure out how to fix things with Jeb, how to not be so self-centered, and trying to get a pig for her best friend.

So while we have three seperate stories, they are entwined and main characters in one story become minor characters in another. Each author took a story, and I enjoyed them all. I wish I would have been at all the planning sessions for this, because that sounds like fun.

I liked all three stories. I can rank them in order of which I liked them, but I won't because I did really like all of them and think they worked really well together to make up the whole.

I'm working on my end-of-the-year retrospective--which books were my favorites, how much I read, and what I should try and read next year.

Poetry Friday + a review or two

La la la la la... last week, I was talking about how the daffodils were out along the Potomac. The ones in my yard have certainly gotten taller, and my next door neighbor's are out!

Just yesterday, a friend of mine in Ohio was complaining because her car is still buried under a mountain of snow and ice. I went to the university library in a long sleeved shirt and no coat and everything just smelled green and of spring. I'm also reminded of Daffodil Lament by the cranberries off of No Need to Argue (that's the album that had Zombie on it) I'm going to have that in my head all day now... I have decided to leave you forever, I have decided to take things from here... and the daffodils look lovely today, ay, ay ay, and the daffodils look lovely today, ay, ay, ay...) Anyway, HERE'S A DAFFODIL POEM!



I WANDERED lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
--William Wordsworth

I love how Thursday's grandma gets trapped in this poem during the various Thursday Next books.

Jama Rattigan has the roundup and is asking for our favorite Dylan lyric. I love to refrain from It Ain't Me, Babe

But it ain't me, babe,
No, no, no, it ain't me, babe,
It ain't me you're lookin' for, babe.

I love how sure he is of himself while telling someone, I'm just not what you're looking for and I never will be! I like how the "babe" is pretty sarcastic, especially in the last line. (Also, I like the line telling her to "walk away from my window") Plus, it's just fun to sing, especially the "no no no" bit.

Anyway, for some book reviews because I need to turn these back in...

The Bermudez Triangle Maureen Johnson

Nina, Avery, and Mel have been best friends since forever. Then, the summer before senior year, Nina goes off to pre-college camp and falls in love with Steve. Avery and Mel fall in love too, but with each other. Well, Mel falls in love, Avery might just be... exploring.

When Nina returns, she's suddenly the third wheel whenever she's with her friends, and when things start to break down when Avery realizes that, while she likes Mel, she's not a lesbian, or even bi, Nina gets caught in the middle.

This is an excellent look at what happens when you date your best friend, and how that changes everything around you. Especially if your best friend is the same gender you are.

I loved Johnson's characters and where they drove me up a wall, I think their actions and reactions were spot-on.

Also, it's been banned! Because girls can't make out with each other! (And really, that's all they do. Make out.)

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Sherman Alexie

On his first day of high school, Junior breaks his math teacher's nose. He wasn't mad at his teacher, but when he saw that his textbook was the same one his mother had 30 years ago (the same copy, even) he just gets fed up with everything that sucks about being poor. So he threw the book and it hit the math teacher.

In the aftermath, Junior decides to transfer high schools-- to the one in town, the one outside the reservation. No one from the reservation high school goes to college. They just stay on the reservation and drink to forget how poor they are. Junior needs out.

Now, he's seen as a traitor by his tribe and school's not much better, because no one likes a scrawny little Indian kid.

This is a tragic book-- life on the reservation is hard and Junior loses a lot of important people before the story is done.

That said, it's hysterical. Junior's voice is angry and bitter, but funny. He's a cartoonist, so there is a lot of art included in the short chapters that helps tell the story. Alexie really explores reservation life, as well as outsiders perceptions of it, both good and bad. He has a really good handle on what American poverty entails. In a tale that could be mired down in self-pity, Alexie has a character that knows how hard is life is, but also sees a future that could be different, without going to far to the other side to be overly schmaltzy. Plus, there isn't nearly enough fiction about contemporary Native life.

More YA than you can shake a stick at

Hello my lovelies! Who knew that people besides Dana actually read this thing?

Anyway, I'm serving on the Young Adult Notable Book Discussion Committee this year, and I have a reading list of around 60 books I need to read by the 25th. I don't think I'll get them all in, but hopefully quite a few! (Luckily, 10 of them are ones I recommended, so I've already read those!) Plus, y'all know I love YA books, so there's a few in here that I've just been reading because, apparently, I never grew up. Or when I was a YA I was too big for my britches and read SERIOUS ADULT LITERATURE and am going back and catching up. Or something. Anway, y'all just want to know about the books!

When I reviewed The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs on Amazon, I was torn on how many stars to give this book. On one hand, this tale of too much mother-love, taxidermy and eugenic theory is extremely well written and oddly compelling.

On the other hand, it is so well written that it's exteremly creepy to a point where reading it just made my skin crawl.

Ivy's always enjoyed spending time in the local pharmacy run by the Rumbaugh twins, but that fateful Easter Sunday when she stumbles across their dead mother, stuffed and mounted in the basement near her play area, everything changes. That is when she is drawn into a long-running family curse of mother-love. From then on, she switches between worrying about the inevitable death of her own mother and how this curse is effecting her life and if there is any possible escape.

A dark, creepy tale that's done so well that it should probably be saved for older readers.

One really well-written, and yet light and fun, book is Maureen Johnson's 13 Little Blue Envelopes. Let's just say, that when I started reading this one night and didn't go to bed until I stopped. I just couldn't put it down. At the time, my friend Jack (a real, live British person!) was visiting. Jack was impressed I read the whole thing in one evening but I said it was really good. He looked a bit wary, as, let's face it, it's a bit of a chick book. BUT! Twenty minutes later I turn around and he's a few chapters into the thing! He was saddened when I said it was overdue so I had to return it right away but then he went to the bookstore to look for it! So how's that for a recomendation?

Yes, but Jennie, what's it about? Ok-- So, Ginny's favorite aunt has just died. When she does, Ginny gets a package with 13 little blue envelopes, all numbered. The first one contains rules for the journey and enough money for a plane ticket to London. She's not allowed a camera, a guide book, or a journal. She's just given an ATM card and an address. Once she completes that part, she's given a new task to complete, which usually involves going to a different city in Europe. Engaging, well-written, and really fun and moving all at the same time, I highly recomend this to anyone over the age of 13... and, apparently, it's not just for girls!

I was so dissapointed when I read Search of the Moon King's Daughter by Linda Holeman. It was one of the sample booktalks in The Booktalker's Bible: How to Talk About the Books You Love to Any Audience and... let's just say it was booktalked a little too well.

Emmaline lives a lovely life as a shopkeeper's daughter in a village in Northern England in the 1830s. Then, her father dies and her family (including her deaf, mute brother) is cruelly turned out into the cold when the new shopkeeper comes to town. They move to Manchester (oh! cruel city!) where she and her Mom (who's always been a bit of a drunk and a slut) have to work in the mills. When her mom crushes her hand in an accident, she becomes addicted to opium and sell's Emmaline's little brother to a chimney sweep in London. So, Emmaline goes down to London to find him...

BECAUSE LIFE IN DICKENSIAN ENGLAND WASN'T HARD ENOUGH, WE NEED TO ADD ALL THE MELODRAMA WE CAN!

UGH. Seriously? I mean, what else can go wrong in these lives? Although meticously researched, it wasn't well-written enough for me actually care.

In Chinese Cinderella: The True Story of an Unwanted Daughter by Adeline Yen Mah, Adeline recounts the story of her childhood, first being unloved by her older siblings, then being absolutely despised by her evil, cruel stepmother. (Seriously, she shipped her off the Tianjin to be killed in the Communist invasion.) I have no idea why this woman was so cruel, and I'm hoping that her other, more adult, biography, Falling Leaves: The Memoir of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter will answer some of those questions.

Although her story does get bogged down quite frequently by lengthy explanations of the Chinese language, it is well-told. I also wonder if these explanations will not seem so tedious to people who didn't spend their undergrad years immersed in the subject. This is also a noteworthy book because although it covers the later-half of the twentieth century (a rather turbulant time in Chinese history) it does not focus on the Communist Revolution or the Cultural Revolution, both of these being far removed from her experience. A good recomendation for both Sino-philes and others.