The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Title: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Author: Ann Brashares

Publisher: Dell Books for Young Readers

Date: 2004

Number of pages: 352 pages

Reading Level: Young Adult

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Summary: Just prior to summer, 4 girls purchase a pair of pants in a local thrift store. Little did they know what this pair of pants would do to their lives, and how it would keep them interwoven in one another lives. Over the summer the Pants come to represent the support of the sisterhood, but they also lead each girl into bruising and ultimately healing confrontations with love and courage, dying and forgiveness. 

Lena finds her identity in Greece and the courage not to reject the opportunity to fall in love, regardless of a Capulet vs. Montague family misunderstanding; Bridget gets in over her head with an older camp coach while she attends a soccer camp in Mexico; Carmen finds her father ensconced with a new fiancee and family and the drama that comes with meeting and merging two families; and Tibby unwillingly takes on a film making apprentice who is dying of leukemia. Each girl's story is distinct and engrossing, told in a brightly contemporary style. Like the Pants, the reader bounces back and forth among the four unfolding adventures, and the melange is spiced with letters and witty quotes. The girls take turns with the pants. When the purpose has been fulfilled they mail the pants to the next recipient who utilizes it's magic for her benefit.

Ann Brashares has here created four captivating characters and seamlessly interwoven their stories for a young adult novel that is fresh and absorbing. The story ends with all the girls gathering at Carmen's fathers wedding, and back at home coping and reminiscing their summer experiences and complimenting the pants for the wonderful adventures they went through, and the love they did and did not find over the summer. 

My reaction: This thrilling adventure of Tibby, Lena, Carmen, and Bridget allows readers to escape reality. With the belief that a single pair of pants might fit 4 very different forms and body types of these young ladies, you can only imagine where the story will take you. You don't know who will and won't overcome their obstacle thrown their way. The text keeps you enthused and curious as to what shall happen next. I think it's a wonderful piece of art that should be shared with all young women readers.

Potential problems: Family values are strictly enforced throughout the book, but a few of the girls disregard their families advice and their own better judgement. Choices like these go without consequence in the book.

My recommendation: I have shared this book with many young ladies who are struggling to find a genre they enjoy. The way the story unfolds helps keep a student actively engaged in the story. For a middle school or young high school student seeking to find self-satisfaction and passion for the art of reading, they should pick up on of the books from the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series.