Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Title: Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Author: Ann Brashares
Publisher: Random House Childrens Books
ISBN: 0385729332

Recommended for Grades 9-12
Genre: Fiction-Chick Lit

Reader’s Annotation:
Four girls, one pair of pants, one magical summer.

Plot Summary:
Lena Kaligaris, Tibby Rollins, Bridget Vreeland, and Carmen Lowell are four best friends with a lot in common, but not their size. When the four of them all try on the same pair of pants and it fits all of them, they know there is something special about these pants. As each of them leave for their separate summer vacations, they promise to keep in touch by sending letters and passing the pants from one girl to the next. As each girl gets the pants, something special happens to them. Each learns something about themselves and their lives. Lena learns about love with her first boyfriend, who is a member of an enemy family. Tibby learns about death as she befriends a dying girl. Carmen must learn that her parents' divorce is final and that her father is moving on with his life as she spends the summer with his new family. Bridget finds herself involved with an older coach at soccer camp. The narration follows the girl who has the pants and jumps from storyline to storyline.

Evaluation:
Each girl must learn to cope with issues that many teens face in their real lives. Their friendship helps to bind them together and makes them stronger. Their friendship provides a positive examples for young girls.

Notes:
There are three other books in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Series:
The Second Summer of the Sisterhood
Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood
Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood.

In 2005 Warner Brothers released a film adaptation of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.