For years, Nora has listened to her grandmother Sylvia, a fashion designer, reminisce about her frequent trips to Paris and dreamed about seeing the City of Light herself. Her grandmother promised to take her for her twelfth birthday, but a tragic car accident takes it all away til Nora finds three plane tickets and a treasure map of Paris, including seven sealed envelopes, among her grandmother's things. While Nora grieves for her grandmother, taking the trip seems the best way to honor her. It takes some pleading to get her mom on board, since she and Sylvia had a rocky relationship and Nora has always resented her for this, but she eventually agrees. Once in Paris, Nora tries to do the treasure hunt on her own, but it turns out that she can't complete it without her mother. The bittersweet circumstances of the Paris trip are offset by strong elements of wish fulfillment, including gowns and a fancy fashion show. This is a sweet, reassuring contemporary read about handling grief and reconnecting with family.

Before twelve-year-old Nora's grandmother passed away, she created a Paris treasure hunt--with a very special surprise at the end--for Nora and her mom to complete together. Nora comes across as a little bratty at times and the writing is overladen with metaphors, but vivid descriptions of Paris (and its many culinary delights) make this a worthwhile read.

Gr 5-7 Nora has always loved Paris. During her weekly visits with her beloved grandmother Sylvia, they discuss the best shops, foods, shopping, and sightseeing in the City of Light. Just months before their first trip together for Nora's 12th birthday, Sylvia is hit by a car and dies. While cleaning up her home, Nora discovers a trunk with a locked box, three plane tickets to Paris and a treasure hunt-seven sealed envelopes addressed to Nora and a map of Paris with six pink dots. After some convincing, Nora's mother, Faye, long estranged from Sylvia, agrees to the trip. On their first day in Paris, Nora secretly embarks on the treasure hunt. At the first location she is dismayed to discover that she can not receive the treasure without her mother. After encountering the same circumstance at several other places, she comes clean and reveals the truth to her mother. A light and frothy Parisian adventure with hints of emotional heft. Nora's grief and connection with her mother are dealt with deftly and tied up neatly by the end. This quick read will appeal to Francophiles and reluctant readers alike. Kefira Phillipe, Nichols Middle School, Evanston, IL

Twelve-year-old Nora wants to go to Paris more than anything in the world. Her grandmother, Sylvia, is a fashion designer who makes frequent trips to Paris and has been regaling Nora with stories about the City of Lights for years. Now the time has come, and Grandma Sylvia has agreed that Nora can come with her on her next trip. But just two months before the trip is scheduled, Grandma is hit by a car and dies. In cleaning out her grandmother's apartment, Nora finds a packet addressed to her. In it are three things: a map of Paris, seven small envelopes banded together with the label "Nora's Paris Adventuresto be opened ONLY by Nora and ONLY while in Paris!" and three airline tickets to Paris. Nora keeps the envelopes a secret from her mother, who was estranged from Grandma Sylvia, but she nevertheless manages to convince her mother to take advantage of the tickets and go, along with Nora's brother, to Paris. There Nora follows the instructions in the envelopes, makes some new friends, discovers some important things about her mother, and copes with her own grief over missing her grandmother.This is a sweet story, a sort of 13 Little Blue Envelopes (HarperCollins, 2005/VOYA October 2005) for the younger set.Sarah Flowers.