Monday, December 10, 2007

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares

the-sisterhood-of-the-traveling-pants.jpgThe Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares fits into the Juvenile Fiction genre and was published in 2001.  It is recommended for readers ages 14 and up.

Summary: This book is about the exciting summer adventures of four girls: Lena, Tibby, Bridget, and Carmen. It was the day before they were supposed to go their separate ways for the summer and they were in Carmen’s room. Going though Carmen’s closet they found a pair of jeans that Carmen bought months before and forgot. Miraculously they fit all four girls in spite of their differences in height and weight. They decided that these were magic pants and to make their summer pass quicker and they were each going to have the pants for two weeks and then mail them to another girl. Carmen was to spend the summer in South Carolina with her Dad, Lena in Greece with her sister and grandparents, Bridget in Baja California for soccer camp, and Tibby was staying in town working.

The four of them had known each other all their lives and this is their first summer apart. When their mother’s were pregnant they all joined a water aerobics class and then had a playgroup. Eventually the mothers went their separate ways but the girls stayed friends and did everything together.

Carmen was excited to spend a whole summer alone with her Dad but that’s not how it ended up. Her Dad had a new girlfriend and her two children that he was living with and they never had time alone. Lena ended up loving Greece and in spite of her better judgement fell in love with a local boy Kostos. Bridget enjoyed soccer camp and was able to get away from her family that stopped really being a family when he mother died. She also fell in love with her coach Eric. Tibby was quite sad about being the only one to stay home but made two new friends and ended up having the best summer.

Personal Notes: I loved this book. I just ate it up. I liked how it gave the stories of four different girls. They were each interesting in their own way and I think there was something here for every girl to love since they are all so different. There are two bits that hearing about it some people might find questionable. Bridget and Eric have sex and Lena and Kostos happen upon each other skinny-dipping but like so many other books meant for teens they don’t go into detail. It is mostly just mentioned and then they move on. It’s one of the reasons I love reading juvenile fiction, it’s exciting yet so clean.

Other reviews available:

3 Willows the sisterhood grows by Ann Brashares

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