The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is a great book about four girls going through the ups and downs of their first summer apart. This book was written by Amy Brashares. The four girls, Carmen, Lena, Tibby, and Bridget, are spending their summers in different places. Some with their fathers, one in Greece, one in Mexico, or one staying home in Washington D.C. But before summer starts a simple pair of pants draws them closer together. The pants surprisingly fit all of them, who each have different shapes and sizes. The four girls then share the pants throughout the summer to bring them whatever they can. It could be love or it could be drama.
The main characters in this story are Carmen, Lena, Tibby, and Bridget. Another character is Bailey. Carmen is the writer. She is a Latino girl who lives with her single mother. During the summer, she planned to spend it with her father. But surprisingly, his new fiancée and her kids interfere with all their plans. Lena is the artist. She is so beautiful and has a beautiful body, but she tries to hide it from everyone. Lena spent her summer in Greece with her grandparents, where she meets Kostos, in a much unexpected manner. Tibby is the film maker. She is more serious, but sarcastic. Tibby is going to spend her summer at home, making a documentary. Bridget is the soccer player. She would be at a soccer camp in Mexico for her summer. Bridget has gorgeous hair and is a very outgoing person. When she goes to the camp, she meets a boy named Eric, who would make her trip worthwhile, she hopes. Then there is Bailey. Bailey is a 12 year old girl with a great outlook on life. The one thing she worries about is time.
The conflict varies between girls in this book. The conflict for Carmen would be man vs. himself. This would be the conflict because she has to deal with her emotions when she finds out that her summer with her dad will also be with his fiancée and her kids as well. Her dad hadn't told her about it so she was hurt. The conflicts for Lena are man vs. man and man vs. himself. These are the conflicts because she is fighting with her family and their friends because a close friend saw her naked. The conflict of man vs. himself would be because she has to fight herself to get the courage up to tell her family the truth. The conflict for Tibby would be man vs. himself. This conflict is right for Tibby because she has to keep her emotions straight while working on her documentary, while knowing one of her best friends could die. The conflicts for Bridget are man vs. man and man vs. himself. These are the conflicts because she has to play soccer and she gets in a few fights with Eric. The other conflict is that she has to try to get Eric but when she starts having problems, she doesn't have a mom to run to. The conflict for Bailey is man vs. time. This conflict is unusual but it is because Bailey has a bad case of leukemia and could die from it.
In this book, every girl has their drama and their happiness. For Carmen, she had the joy of being with her dad. Her drama was while thinking she had her dad all to herself for the whole summer, her dad had brought home a surprise fiancée with two kids. Instead of her summer with dad, she got a summer full of wedding plans. Then one day, she gets so fed up with it, she runs away. Then later that night, she comes back home to find no one cares that she left. They are all sitting happily at the table, eating without her. She got so mad, she threw a rock into the window then took a train home. After a few weeks, she called her dad and ratted him out for not telling her about his fiancée and leaving them in the first place. In the end, she went to the wedding and stood up next to the bride.
For Lena, she had her happiness and drama as well. Her joy was painting and partying with her family. One day, she found an amazing spot to paint. So she sat there and painted until it got so hot she had to jump in the little pond. The problem was she didn't have a bathing suit. So since no one was around she jumped in naked. All of the sudden, Kostos, a boy who her grandmother thought she should marry, appeared in the bushes, right as she got out, and saw her naked. She ran home after crying as she told her grandparents, while they went down the street to the house where Kostos lived with his grandparents. Then she listened to them fight and fight. Lena had felt terrible after that because she made it a bigger deal than it was. Then after she expresses her feelings to her family, and apologizes to Kostos, they find that they are attracted to each other and start a relationship.
For Tibby, she had a lot of joy, until she lost it. One day, while working at Wallmans for her job, she sees a little girl pass out and calls 911. The next day, the girl comes over to thank her. That girl, was Bailey. Bailey wanted to help Tibby with her documentary after she got to know her. Then Tibby finds out that she has leukemia. Soon, Bailey ends up in the hospital. When Tibby goes to visit her, she brings the Pants. Tibby then realized how lucky she was and how good a friend that Bailey was. That night, Tibby got a phone call saying that Bailey didn't make it. But when she died, she was smiling. Then, Tibby erased her whole documentary and made it about one thing and one thing only. Bailey.
Bridget also had her joy and drama. She had her joy at soccer camp in Baja…with a guy named Eric. Unfortunately he was a coach. Coaches were off limits. Bridget tried so hard to get Eric to notice her, but a few times she went too far. Then, Eric made it clear to her that he just wanted to be friends. Bridget got so down that she gave up soccer and left the camp. Soon enough, she was lying around at home, with Tibby, and wishing her mom was there to help her. She kept wishing that her mom hadn't made such a bad choice and stayed with her to be with her instead of taking her life away. But soon after, the girls came home and they helped her through it.
I loved this book. It was emotional, funny, dramatic, and the girls could relate to anyone in our grade. I would recommend this book to anyone from sixth to tenth grade. The book had strengths like once I put it down I wanted to pick it up again. I didn't want to stop reading it. I really didn't see any weaknesses in the writing. I would recommend this book because so many people can relate to the characters.
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