The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants
By Ann Brashares
290 pages
4/5

I actually read this book a few weeks ago, but never felt like posting on it yet. I don't know why, but I loved the book. It was written like one story, turned into four, and then into one again. It's like, you read a few paragraphs on one person, and then something exciting happens, and the next paragraph is about somebody else. Which makes you want to keep reading until you find out what happened next to one of them. But all four of them had interesting summers. Problem is, I didn't really know where the climax was. It wasn't evident. But it was still good.

The main characters, who are best friends forever, are Lena, Tibby, Carmen, and Bridget. Their mothers met at some pregnancy yoga class, and continued to hang out after, so all their birthdays are really close.
Carmen innocently buys a pair of jeans from a thrift store, and she wasn't serious about it.. she didn't even try them on. Completely accidentally, they find out that the pair of pants, magically, fits all of them perfectly and looks really good on each of them. Mind you, all four of them are different shapes and sizes. This happens the day before their first summer apart as best friends. They had spent every summer together the years before, but this year, everyone was at a different place.

Tibby is the one that stays at home, with a part time job at Wallmans. She thought this would be the most boring summer of her life, but it turns out to be an emotional roalercoaster ride for her. While she's putting up a deodorant display, she hears a thonk on the ground. Her name was Bailey. She looked at Bailey's wallet to see if she had an address written in it, but she didn't find one. After she was brought to the hospital, Tibby realized she still had the wallet. She went to return it, and Bailey wasn't pleased. She thought Tibby had stolen her money or something. They get to know eachother, though, and Bailey apparently has a horrible disease - leukemia. At the age of 12. I wonder if the Pants did any good to her?

Lena is in Greece with her younger sister. Where her grandmother lives. Her grandma is totally trying to set Lena up with this handsome boy, Kostos. But she didn't come to Greece for relationships. Even though Kostos showed obvious interest in her, she just did what she wanted to do - paint. Lena sat outside for hours every day, painting the scene in front of her. But Kostos was being extremely nice and inviting. Well, until their grandfathers get into a fight because of something Lena said about Kostos. Not a pretty scene. Can this summer turn around for Lena?

Bridget is at a sports camp. Or soccer camp. I forget which one. And one of the instructors is soo hot. He's older, but who cares? Even though he's totally off- imits cuz he's an instructor. He likes Bridget too. But things just never work out the way Bridget wants them to. It's not anyone's fault, though. Bridget tries hard to impress him, but she has to face the truth - they can't get anywhere.

Carmen is super-hyped about visiting her father. Her parents are divorced, so she doesn't see her dad much. This time is super special because it is the first time that she ever visited him. It was normally the other way around. When she gets there, she is surprised. He is living ina new house. Well, no big deal. He's acting kinda different. Um.. no big deal? BUT ... he has a new fiance. Yes. That's a big deal. They are about to get married, just in a few weeks. Carmen doesn't see herself as a part of the family. They are all so different from her. Carmen doesn't fit in, mentally or physically. She can't keep up. She hates her father's new family

My teacher lent me this whole series (surprise??) but I haven't gotten to the second one yet. I'm reading millions of books in between. I loved this book. The Pants part was obviously unreal but it made the story interesting.

--Jessica--
--54--
can be published in a teen newsletter =)