Summer time is almost here! It has been a long, long, long winter, but we finally have some nice weather and (hopefully) some time off to enjoy it! Whether it is summer vacation for teens or a few days off for librarians, I think everyone is looking forward to this summer.
One of the best things about summer is the chance to get away for a few days or even longer if you are lucky. I always like to travel to Moraine State Park and enjoy the beach and a picnic. It’s one of my favorite places to go. Another place I love to visit is Cook Forest, where you can go hiking, rent a cabin, and go canoeing or fishing.
If you can’t get away or can’t get away anyplace far, you can always escape somewhere through a good book. Some of my favorite books explore travelling and visiting new places. These are a great way to travel to new places without leaving your house or spending a cent!
13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson is one of my favorite books despite the super girly looking cover! It is about a 17 year old girl named Ginny whose free spirited artist aunt Peg passes away and leaves her an unusual gift of a plane ticket to London and 13 blue envelopes with different clues in them. Each envelope can only be opened when Ginny reaches a new destination in Europe. Ginny gets to visit lots of cool places all over Europe and she meets lots of interesting people. This is a great book for anyone who has ever wanted to visit some of the fascinating locations of Europe!
The Name of the Star is another book by Maureen Johnson (who you might be able to tell is one of my favorite writers). This one is also about travel, but it is a lot different than 13 Little Blue Envelopes. In this book, Rory Devereaux moves to London with her parents and has to attend an English boarding school that is totally different than her regular American high school. The first part of the book is all about the difficulties Rory has while trying to fit in and adapting to living in England. She has to learn how to play field hockey, eat new foods, and deal with the cold and damp weather. But then just as she’s getting used to everything, she becomes the target of a serial killer who is re-enacting the Jack the Ripper murders! This is both an exciting mystery and a great travel tale about the city of London.
Not primarily a travel story at all, but John Green‘s The Fault in our Stars does involve travel! It is the story of Hazel Lancaster, a 16 year old who meets Augustus Waters at a therapy session for cancer survivors. The two get close and fall in love as they deal with the strong emotional issues they are both dealing with. But Augustus does arrange for Hazel to travel to Amsterdam to meet her favorite author. It’s a great book that happens to have a bit of travel in it.
