Today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is a cute read especially for those of us who are moving around in high school. I liked it back when I was younger and I still think it is a good book.
Book Review: Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
Rating:
Title & Author: Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
Genre: Contemporary, Adventure
Release date: September 11 2001
Series: Sisterhood
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Synopsis
Carmen got the jeans at a thrift shop. They didn’t look all that great: they were worn, dirty, and speckled with bleach. On the night before she and her friends part for the summer, Carmen decides to toss them.
But Tibby says they’re great. She’d love to have them. Lena and Bridget also think they’re fabulous. Lena decides that they should all try them on. Whoever they fit best will get them.
Nobody knows why, but the pants fit everyone perfectly. Even Carmen (who never thinks she looks good in anything) thinks she looks good in the pants. Over a few bags of cheese puffs, they decide to form a sisterhood and take the vow of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants . . . the next morning, they say good-bye.
And then the journey of the pants — and the most memorable summer of their lives — begins.
I give Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares four out of five hearts because even though it is written for those readers in high school, but for a woman at the age of 29 it still holds the same useful quotes and fun as it did back then.
Ann Brashares wrote this funny and caring book. The story is full of things to support a high schooler through that difficult time in life. The four friends, Carmen, Tibby, Lena and Bridget are very different characters but they work together very well. Even though they are in the same life stage, they have such different lives and are also looking forward to very different summers. It is interesting how they deal with that.
Tibby is the only one of the friends to stay home this year, she likes making her own documentaries and works in a store this year. When a girl collapses in the story she decides to help her and the girl clings to her as if she is the girl’s life-raft. It is interesting how she deals with this much younger girl and the two form a bond that is good for both of them.
Bridget is the blond soccer bomb shell. Her story line is the most predictable of all. All are pretty predictable but this one the reader can see from miles away. She sees a hot trainer and everything that comes from that, being very cliche. But it works. I liked the end the best of this story line, it shows how much these friends care for each other.
Carmen is a Porturican girl who goes to visit her father, which turns sour fast. I do think it is nice that she eventually learns to deal with her father’s new situation and that she cares for him enough to get over herself and help him reach his happiness.
Lena was, in my eyes, the most boring story line. She goes to Greece for the summer, where she falls for a local boy, making her art and ignoring her grandparents. I felt she had the least to teach the reader of all these girls. But I did like the end of her storyline.
Overall I think Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is a great novel for girls in high school. It still holds up when the reader is older, but mostly as a reminder of all the great quotes that one should remember to live a good life, maybe even a better life.
The movie
Back in 2005 The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants was released as a movie. Carmen is played by America Ferrera, Blake Lively plays Bridget, Lena is done by Alexis Bledel and Tibby by Amber Tamblyn. Four actresses pretty popular at the time of release. I do think the casting was pretty well done.
The story lines were pretty well adapted for a book to movie adaptation, so little was left behind.
Let me know what you thought of this book and/or movie!
If you have any requests for which book I should talk about next, please let me know in the comments down below.
For now, let books enrich your life!