I had heard so many great things about this book before reading it, and Maureen Johnson did not disappoint. This book is a great travel/adventure story with a bit of romance and a scavenger-hunt feel to it, which includes international travel. Virginia "Ginny" receives 13 little blue envelopes from her Aunt Peg, who had vanished months ago and just recently passed away. Ginny learns a lot more about her "runaway aunt" through the travel instructions and challenges posed to Ginny within each of the 13 envelopes. For some students, this book could be challenging because background knowledge is required to understand the geography of where Ginny is traveling. With that said, the vivid descriptions took me right back to London, Rome, and Greece. I also loved the portion of the book when Ginny was in Copenhagen. I recommend this book for advanced 7th grade readers, definitely 8th graders and maybe even freshmen. I give this book 4 out of 5 stars!
Normally, I struggle to find fantasy books that I like, but this won me over. Lizze Rose and Parsefall are two orphans who become assistants to evil puppeteer Grisini. They suspect that Grisini is trouble, but when wealthy, young Clara disappears after Grisini performs at her birthday party, Lizzie and Parsefall are more than suspicious. Their search for Clara leads them to discover just how evil Grisini can be, and takes them on an adventure to an enchanted castle in Scotland--little do they know that they were lured there by Grisini and a powerful witch named Cassandra. Will they find Clara and escape the castle?
I recommend this book to readers who like fantasy, magic, adventure, mystery, and historical settings. 5 out of 5 stars!
