This book is so much fun. It’s like an international scavenger hunt. Peg’s first set of instructions tells Ginny to buy a plane ticket. Once in her new location, it seems like each succeeding envelope tells Ginny to travel to a new country, and it’s a great way for the reader to experience Europe. Yes, some of the instructions and the adventures seem a little far fetched, but that’s why this is fiction.

There will, of course, be people wanting to know why Ginny follows the instructions at all, why not just open up everything all at once? Ginny’s the kind of girl who always seems to play by the rules. She’s shy, doesn’t like to get in trouble, and she has this intense admiration for her Aunt Peg, who is, essentially, her opposite. Each of Peg’s tasks allows her to grow a little bit more. Even though Ginny is essentially following a journey Peg took already, she definitely makes it her own. The stories she has from her adventure (seeing “Starbucks! The Musical, a sketchy guy in Italy, a graveyard in Paris, being conscripted into another family’s vacation, etc.) are most definitely all her own.

Definitely a quick and fun read that still deals with some serious topics, like loss and independence. Maureen Johnson knows how to write these “issues” though in a way that doesn’t bog you down; she just makes you want to keep reading. I’ve heard rumors that she’s working on a follow up to this book as well, but I think this novel works great as a stand alone story. She wraps up enough of the story lines, but leaves others open ended at the same time. The novel definitely provides the reader with closure while still allowing you to speculate on a few things. Fantastically well done.