The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Ann Brashares

Carmen picked up the jeans at the thrift store. She bought them just because she felt she should buy something while she was in the store with her friends. Then she put them in the back of the closet. At the end of the school year, she and her three best friends were splitting for the summer. They are 15, and it is the first summer they will be apart.

On the night before three flew off, the pants come out of the closet. Tibby tries them on - they look great on her. Lena tries them on - they look great on her, too. Then Bridget takes her turn. The pants look different on her, and still great. Then Carmen grudgingly tries them on. Although all four girls have different body types, hers is the most different. But these are magic pants. They look great on her, too. So the girls make a pact - the pants will travel with them all summer. Each girl will wear them, then send them on to the next friend

The pants go with Lena to Greece first. Lena is shy, quiet, and beautiful She and her sister are visiting their grandparents. There she meets Costas, the 18-year-old boy who had been raised by the village. She distrusts him and brushes him off even while she is attracted. Then she wore the pants. That is the day she accidently makes serious trouble for Costas. She sends the pants to Tibby at home, hoping Tibby has better luck.

Tibby has to stay home this summer and work at Walman's, the drug store. On her first day she gets in trouble on the job for (accidental) theft. She also rescues a young girls who passes out in the store. Bailey, the girl, insinuates herself into Tibby's life. By the time Tibby sends the jeans to Carmen, Tibby isn't sure her summer is going to improve. Bailey is always underfoot.

Carmen is visiting her father in South Carolina. She is looking forward to the extended time alone with her dad. But he has a surprise for her. He is getting remarried in August. He lives with his fiancee and her two children. She feels out of place. She soon decides she is the invisible person and is hurt that she is insignificant. The day she wears the pants, her anger spills over. She sends them on the Bridget with a warning to be careful.

Bridget is in soccer camp in Baja, California. Her wild streak is let free. She skirts trouble and falls in lust with one of the off limits counselors. She pursues Eric. He keeps his distance. She chafes under her coach limiting her soccer play. She plays like a star. She teases and beckons Eric. The day she wears the pants, her wildness comes to a head. When she returns them to Carmen, she sends a note mentioning she hadn't listened to the warning.

This is a summer of change for all four girls. This is the summer they start to move into adulthood. Fifteen is a hard age. Each girl has troubles that weren't anticipated when she planned out her summer. This is a summer of self-discovery and growth.

This is a poignant book aimed at the young teenage girl. Yet females of all ages can identify with at least one of the four girls. We can remember some of the angst we felt at that age. If we were lucky, we had at least one close friend like these girls do. Brashares has written a short, easy to read young adult book with a lot of depth. The descriptions of the outside world is detailed at times, but for the most part, the girls and the emotions are the focus of the book. There are lessons that can be learned, those that are seen by women who are older. Perhaps some of the younger women who read this will see the lessons, too. If not, there's still a good story to enjoy.