The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

I really enjoyed The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and I am very curious and excited to see whether the movie is as good as the novel. I love to read ‘teen’ novels because of their inspiration and creativity, and the Traveling Pants does not disappoint in either category.

Four best friends find themselves going separate ways one summer. They have been extremely close since birth, when their mothers did everything together. It’s been some time since their mothers have been close, but the girls have a terrific bond and they are dreading being apart for an entire summer. Ann Brasheres delicately portrays the strength of the heartfelt friendships of four individual girls, while they experience independence for the first time.

Lena is a beautiful young woman with olive skin and jet black hair. She is on her way to Greece for the summer to visit her grandparents and her family ‘back home.’ She is nervous about leaving her friends, and she really doesn’t know her family in Greece. Carmen, dark skinned as she is half Puerto-Rican, has plans to visit her father during the summer. She lives with her mother all year long and she is anxious about leaving her friends, but excited to spend ‘alone time’ with her father. Tibby is the eldest of three children. Her younger siblings are much younger and she feels like a built-in-babysitter. She gets a job at home working in a pharmacy, and she is the only sticking around town. Bridget is a beautiful, tall blonde with a severe ‘Type A’ personality. Boys flock all around her and she is headed off to soccer camp for the summer.

The girls are so anxious about their first-time separation. This is where the traveling pants come in! Carmen finds an old pair of jeans at a Salvation Army and stuffs them in her closet. The girls get together before their separate summers, and they discover that the pants fit EVERY ONE OF THEM perfectly in some shape or form. They are magic pants. The girls decide to share them during the summer, mailing them to each other on their given turns. A set of rules comes to play for the pants. For instance, there is a ‘no washing ever’ rule. My favourite rule is the one about not letting a boy take the pants off, but it’s ok to take the pants off yourself in the presence of a boy!

The summer progresses and each of the girls have unique experiences with and without the pants. Miraculously, while the form a sort of independence, they also grow closer together.

The characters in this book are very rich and colourful. The reader’s heart goes out to each of them, and we share their experiences whole heartedly. We go through a very rough divorce and remarriage. We find true love, only to have it turn into hurt and pain. We meet a young girl who suffers from incurable cancer. Each character touches us, and their friendship brings the story completely together. I can’t remember when I enjoyed a book more, and I would recommend this to any young girl or any adult. The sequels to this book are equally as good, and like I said, I am hoping the movie will be like the novel.

5 and a half stars. No wonder it’s such a best seller.