The Name of the Star (Shades of London #1) by Maureen Johnson

Rory is from a small town in Louisiana, but she moves to London when her parents decided to teach in England for a year.  Luckily she gets a good roommate at her new school and starts figuring out the ways of the English. Less lucky is the fact that someone has started imitating the Ripper murders.  And there is no evidence of who it is despite there being cameras everywhere.  And somehow Rory has started seeing people that no one else can see.  

Annoy a Southerner, and we will drain away the moments of your life with our slow, detailed replies until you are nothing but a husk of your former self and that much closer to death.  p.25

I'm always wary of non-Southerners writing about teens (or really anyone) from Louisiana.  Sometimes it's hard to get right.  And I love Maureen Johnson so I wanted her to get it right.  But the thing about Rory is that she is less Louisianan and more Southerner and more teen than all of that.  And she is a definite fish out of water at her Wexford.  But she manages with the help of her new friends.  The thing about Rory is that she just sort of goes along, just doing what everyone tells her.  She was a little blank for a main character.  I guessing she is suppose to act as proxy for the reader and that would explain it.

But beyond Rory, the story definitely fell on the creepy side of the line.  So much so that I refused to read it before bed as I like sleeping and not dreaming of murders or imagining ghosts in the dark corners of my room.  I don't know much about Jack the Ripper so I did a little research after I started.  The background is explained but I like to know before I start.  I liked the introduction to the mystery and I liked the twist in the middle that changed the story.  It made it different.  I was actually surprised that by whodunit and thought it was set up nicely though the info dump at the end was a little too much.  The set up for the next book was unique and I'm excited to see what happens to Rory in the next book.

350 Page

The Last Little Blue Envelope (e-book) by Maureen Johnson

*Some SPOILERS for 13 Little Blue Envelopes*
Ginny never thought she'd see the last blue envelope from her summer trip to Europe at her late aunt's behest.   Then suddenly it pops up in her e-mail, well a scan of the first page anyway, with a note from the finder that the last lettter has instructions for her to find another piece of her aunt's artwork.  So Ginny packs her bag and heads back to England to complete the task from the last little blue envelope.

I was happy to learn that there was going to be a sequel for 13 Little Blue Envelopes.  I wanted to know what was in that letter even if Ginny was okay with not knowing.  Or rather she thought she knew and was okay with it.  But I somehow don't think she really knew.  But then I don't think a sequel was planned after the first book ended.  ANYWAY,  I'm happy to know what was in the envelope and I think Ginny was too.

Once again, I found Ginny to be incredibly passive though she managed to show a little more backbone at the end of the story.  So I applaud her for that.  I wanted to see more of Keith because he is so funny in the first one, but right at the start, it was easy to see that that relationship was not going to go like Ginny wanted it too.  I was irritated through most of the book by Oliver, the finder of the letters, but toward the end I felt sorry for him which is a bit amazing considering how he started out.  I liked Ellis and I was glad she wasn't made into a villain.  And the quest itself was fun.  I always enjoy a good road trip and with a sort of scavenger hunt thrown in, it was really entertaining.  I think the ending worked perfectly and I'm glad to have a definite end to Ginny's story.

Provided by NetGalley
Publish date: April 26, 2011
Publisher: Harper Collins

Hogwarts: Muggle Studies

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

Ginny received 13 blue envelopes from her deceased aunt with specific instructions on what to and what not to pack in her backpack and how to follow the instructions in one letter before opening another.  These letters lead Ginny on a trip around Europe and to the greatest adventure in her life so far.

She was standing in the airport of Copenhagen, staring at a doorway, trying to figure out if it was (a) a bathroom and (b) what kind of bathroom it was. The door merely said H.
Was she an H? Was H "hers"? It could just as easily be "his". Or "Helicopter Room: Not a Bathroom at All.

This is my second read.  I read this about when it came out around 2006 and had positive memories about it. The sequel is coming out this month and I decided to re-read this one in order to have a fresh memory about the main character and her travels. And, while I like this book and I like Ginny, it struck me on this read-through how passive Ginny is about the whole thing.  She doesn't question anything and doesn't seem to have much emotion about it.  She just goes along with whatever happens.  She does what the letters tell her to and anytime anyone suggests something, she goes along with it too.  I don't want to spoil the book, but the boy in Italy, anything Keith says, the family in Amsterdam, Ginny just goes along.  I wanted her to take some active interest in what was going on.  Maybe show a little emotion or something. 

It is a charming book and I enjoy Ginny's trips around Europe following her aunt's letters and trying to figure out her aunt's life and why she ran away from New York before she died.  The settings are beautifully written and it (kind of) makes me want to go out and visit Europe with just a backpack and a vague idea of what I'm doing.  There are some really funny scenes and a few touching moments as well.

Maureen Johnson is offering a free download for 13 Little Blue Envelopes from April 12 - April 25th.  Check the links here for your favorite e-reader version.
Kindle Edition
NookBook
Sony Reader Store
iBookStore


Hogwarts: Muggle Studies

BBAW Forgotten Treasure: The Bermudez Triangle & The Dust of 100 Dogs

Today's BBAW post is about a book that I feel should get more attention.  I had to think about this long and hard because there are many many books that I feel are worthy of Hunger Games like attention.  So in the end, I'm picking two because I just couldn't decide.






The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson

I love Maureen Johnson and her books.  The first book I read by her was 13 Little Blue Envelopes which I loved so much that I had to read the rest of her books.  And so I began picking them up one by one.  They are all pretty great but the one that made the biggest impression was The Bermudez Triangle.  I think it is safe to say it was the first YA book I'd read that dealt with GLBT issues and I found it to be very well done and very realistic.  I liked the dynamic between the girls and how the one who was left out's feelings were not glossed over or made petty.  And how the girls managed to survive what could have been the end of their friendship.  It is a funny and insightful book and I highly recommend it, especially for someone's first foray into GLBT fiction.

The Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S. King

I read this about a year ago and it had stuck with me ever since.  It truly was one of the best books I read last year.  I think it was the pirates.  I loved Emer and how she went from being a sweet girl to a ruthless pirate.  I loved the whole incarnation idea and the sections about Emer's lives as different dogs.  I loved Saffron and how she has these insane memories of being the pirate Emer and her quest to find Emer's buried treasure  Even the cover is awesome.  All the elements of this book added up to winner.

Scarlett Fever

 After a very odd and heartbreaking summer, it's time for Scarlett to go back to school.  But complications arise with Mrs. Amberson's new client and her older brother Scarlett is assigned to watch.  Adding to that is Spencer's new job and Lola's personal life, all of which is stressing Scarlett out.

New start or not, there was a line to be drawn, and that line was singing musicals to yourself as serious psychological motivation.  p. 13

While this was a thoroughly enjoyable and very Maureen Johnson book, let me say upfront that I don't care for either Max or Eric and I hope that Scarlett doesn't end up with either.  Much like the love triangle from The Hunger Games is unnecessary so is the one set up for Scarlett.  Maybe that is just me, but I don't like either one of the boys and Scarlett has no real reason to either.  But then she's a teenager.  Crazy things happen when you are a teenager.

Beyond that, I liked this sequel to Suite Scarlett.  It was sweet and funny and I always like the family dynamic among the Martins.  They are a great, very real family.  Spencer is, of course, my favorite sibling of Scarlett's.  He is just so awesome and he and Scarlett are a great team.  I was glad there was less Marlene and more Lola though.  And there was just the right amount of Mrs. Amberson.  She still reminds me of Auntie Mame though.

I'm not entirely sure of where the storyline of this series is going.  The first one dealt with Scarlett meeting Eric and Hamlet and all.  Scarlett Fever had more to do with Scarlett at school and working with Mrs. Amberson and moving the characters around.  But I have no idea where any of this is going.  Hopefully somewhere interesting.


Hogwarts: Muggle Studies
Library
YA

Teaser Tuesdays - Scarlett Fever

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!
Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

"It was useless for Scarlett to try to explain that this was her fate. Outrageous fortune. Hamlet had made some good points after all."

p.24 Scarlett Fever Maureen Johnson

Suite Scarlett - Audio

Scarlett Martin was not going to have a good summer anyway. But her family's hotel is broke and now Scarlett is stuck working there. And on her 15th birthday Scarlett receives the Empire Suite and a permanent guest, Mrs. Amberson.
Meanwhile, Scarlett's brother, Spencer, is trying to get his acting career going so he can avoid culinary school. When Mrs. Amberson gets involved in Spencer's new play, the summer gets a whole lot more interesting. Can Mrs. Amberson save Spencer and Scarlett?


I've read Suite Scarlett before and enjoyed it. Scarlett is a nice girl who really loves her brother and wants to help him. When she gets involved with Eric from her brother's play, she doesn't quite know how to handle that relationship and Eric doesn't make it easy for her. I saw a lot of Eric and Scarlett's relationship when I was in college so it definitely felt real. And Mrs. Amberson was such an Auntie Mame character, I expected her to say "Life's a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death." But I enjoyed that as much as I've always loved Auntie Mame. In a way, this book reminds me of an old film, an Auntie Mame or Bringing Up Baby, but for some reason Good News comes to mind (haven't seen it? you should).

Lately I've been listening to a lot of books I've read before. Sometimes outside narration changes a book. Sometimes the narrator are so bad that they ruin the book. Jeannie Stith is the narrator of Suite Scarlett. She does a good job. Some of her inflections were strange and I though she needed to speed up Mrs. Amberson's speech pattern. But her voice is pleasant and clear so it was okay by me.