About six years ago, I fell in love with a book--hard.
Sarah and I sped through it like madwomen; I got my first blurb on the Indie Next List for it; and then it came out and we sold it. And sold it. And sold it. We handsold that sucker to every teen girl and teen girl's mom that walked through the door, and over the years, we've continued to handsell it (first together, and now apart...sniff). That book was THIRTEEN LITTLE BLUE ENVELOPES by Maureen Johnson, and it remains one of my favorite YA novels ever.
So when the ARC of THE LAST LITTLE BLUE ENVELOPE showed up in the box from my Harper rep, my heart sank more than a little. TLBE was fine on its own. I didn't need to know what had happened to Ginny. I was fine with her story being finished (or unfinished, whatever). Couldn't anyone leave well enough alone? Why did everything have to have a sequel? One would be better off asking, "Why didn't you just trust Maureen?" Turns out finishing Ginny's story is a good thing. Turns out I'm pretty darn happy to have the sequel in the world.
I don't want to say much, because if you haven't read TLBE, you should read that first. You absolutely have to read it first. If you've read it, you can sleep soundly knowing that our Ginny is back and better than ever. There's a new, strange boy in her life (not by her choice), and he's the one who pushes her out on her new adventure. There's an old boy, too, causing problems. There's a possible new friend and a whole new series of trips to take. Turns out you open up THE LAST LITTLE BLUE ENVELOPE and it's like opening the door to an old friend. Thanks, Maureen, for the sequel I didn't know I wanted until I had it.
