The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Brashares, Ann. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. 2001. 294p. ISBN 0-385-72933-2. Available at FIC BRA on the library shelves.

At nearly sixteen, four friends are about to spend their first summer apart. Carmen is heading to North Carolina to spend time with her father, Al. Lena and her younger sister are heading to Greece to be with grandparents they haven’t met before. Bridget is heading to Baja California to a soccer camp. Tibby, unlike the others, is staying here working a boring summer job at the local drug store. The four have known each other since birth, as their mothers were in the same nursing group together, and they’ve always celebrated the beginning of the summer by breaking into a gym for the night.

As they gather at Carmen’s house before the break-in, the girls are sad to be apart this summer, but are all, except Tibby, looking forward to new experiences. Carmen hopes to make Tibby feel better by offering her the jeans she had bought at the vintage thrift store when she had gone shopping with Lena. Dirty and worn, the jeans end up fitting Tibby perfectly. And Bridget. And Lena. When Carmen puts them on, everyone realize that the pants are magical. With four incredibly different body types, there’s no way these pants would fit each girl so well.

That night, in the gym, they agree that the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants will share their magical find. Each week, a different girl will have the pants. They create 10 rules that regulate pants use, and they agree that the pants will be shipped around the world so that each of them get to use them for two weeks.

As they depart the next morning for a summer full of adventures, each girl is looking forward to new experiences. The pants come to play a role in each of their lives, helping them grow as individuals and learn more about themselves.