The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants — Ann Brashares

Friends, Great understanding, love, passion and a pair of pants is what defines The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. This is a story of four friends, how they spent their summer away from each other and what their experiences were.

Overview

The book revolves around four friends:

Lena: the beautiful one who was shy and kept to herself.

Tibby: the one who tried to shun away people by being difficult or indifferent to them but to friends, she was the one that friends turned to.

Carmen: the one acting as a string tying all the friends together.

Bridget: the one with wings and unnatural energy and determination.

Carmen had a pair of second-hand pants that she had never worn. The night before all were going to different places during summer, all the friends tried the pants and though having different body structures, the pants fit magically on all of them. They decided to take turns with the pants and enjoy the magic and hence the traveling pants came to existence.

The traveling pants started its’ journey with Lena who was going to Greece with her sister Effie to visit her grandparents. One day, Lena arrives at a wonderful pond and goes skinny dipping there. After a while, she saw Kostos (the boy her grandma admired) there and thought that he was stalking her. What follows is a fight between families and a regretful Lena and a distant Kostos.

Tibby while working at the Wallman’s back at home is utterly bored and accidentally meets Bailey, a twelve-year-old with Leukaemia. Tibby wanted to shoot a documentary and it somehow got settled that Bailey was to assist her despite Tibby’s protests. Nothing significant happened for Tibby in the pants. She started bonding with Bailey.

Carmen was to spend summer with her father but she comes to know that he has moved in with a lady Lydia with two teenage kids. She is disturbed by this and does something that is very unlike Carmen while wearing the pants.

Bridget is in Baja at a soccer camp and is infatuated to one of the coaches Eric. She flirts outrageously and even goes out of the way in a practice match to impress him. She has an intimate moment with Eric while wearing the pants which she regrets later.

However, in the second round pants do its magic for everybody except Bridget who had Lena by her side and didn’t need the magic of the pants.

I liked

Bailey, I loved her character. The spirit, courage, and defiance to accept any sympathy for her illness were just awe-inspiring.

The silent but sweet relation of Lena and her Bapi(grandpa) and the resemblance between them are just lovely and kind of cute.

Paul, Lydia’s son was unusual but I liked the weirdness and his attitude towards Carmen.

I didn’t like

The method of writing when the girls are trying the pants and also where they are sympathizing with Tibby get a bit boring and unreal.

The ritual of sisterhood with pants in between and hand-holding was a no-no for me. There’s nothing wrong in that but thanks to Dan Brown’s novels, I freak out when it comes to sisterhood/ brotherhood and weird rituals and all.

Bottom Line

I enjoyed reading the book and any teenager who believes in friendship and love would like it too. But, of course, it's up to you.

Do things that make you happy within the confines of the legal system. — Ellen DeGeneres