Brashares, Ann. (2003). The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. New York: Random House Children's Press. 320 pages.

Grade Range: 6-12

Genre: contemporary fiction

Summary and Critique

Four long-time friends, Tibby, Carmen, Lena, and Bridget, are preparing to part ways for the summer for the first time, but before they separate they find an old pair of jeans that Carmen got from a thrift shop. They are amazed when they realize that, despite being physically very different, somehow the pants fits all of them perfectly. The girls vow to share these unique jeans and share with each other their experiences while wearing the jeans. Carmen is going to visit her dad in South Carolina, Bridget is going to soccer camp in Baja, California, Lena is going with her sister Effie to Greece, and Tibby will be staying home working at Wallman's. All girls discover and encounter many hardships during their summer. Carmen by surprise comes into her fathers new life as he plans to marry and struggles with not fitting in to her new all blonde family. Bridget falls madly in love with one of the coaches at camp and loses her virginity, later realizing she is too young for him. Tibby befriends twelve-year old Bailey during her summer at home and for the first time confronts death as Bailey succumbs to leukemia. Lena lets her guard down and experiences her first love with Kostos. Despite their physical distance and personal hardships, the girls continue to provide emotional support for one another.

Brashares does an amazing job of addressing many issues teenagers currently experience, as well as portraying four characters with four completely different cultural and personal backgrounds, which allows it to have a wide range of appeal. It is a definite must read for teenage girls.

Awards

Amazon.com's Best of 2001

Themes/Topics

Families

Friends and Enemies

Love, Sex, and Romance

Author Information

Ann Brashares was raised in Chevy Chase, Maryland. After graduating from Barnard College with a degree in philosophy, she worked as an editor and eventually a writer. Currently, Brashares resides in Brooklyn with her husband and children.

For more information on Ann Brashares:

http://www.bookbrowse.com/index.cfm?page=author&authorID=691 Biographical information about the author

http://www.powells.com/authors/brashares.html Interview with the author about her first novel

Media Connections

Movies

Brian's Song (1972) A professional football player, Gale Sayers, befriends a dying cancer patient, Brian Piccolo.

The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002) A playwright discovers the history behind her mother's erratic behavior and dysfunctional parenting.

Ten Tiny Love Stories (2001) An interview with ten women about love, relationships, and dating.

Television

My So-Called Life (1994) This critically acclaimed TV Series explores the trials and tribulations of a suburban teenager in the 1990s.

Online Resources

http://www.teenreads.com/authors/talk-brashares-ann.asp Interview with the author

http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/familyworks/teen-05.html (Urban programs resources network that has articles relating to Teens and their view on friendships and family

http://www.genaustin.org/public/ The Girls Empowerment Network. Provides a variety of information for teenage girls as well as a forum for teenage girls to discuss various issues.

http://www.self-esteem-nase.org/ National Association for Self-Esteem. Provides information about self-esteem as well as activities and resources for building self-esteem

Related Texts

Canfeld, Jack; Kirberger, Kimberly; Hansen, Mark Victor. (2002). Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul on Love and Friendship. Deerfield Beach, Fla: Health Communications. 300pp. Various stories about love and friendship during the teenage years.

Brashares, Anne. (2003). The Second Summer of the Sisterhood. New York: Delacorte. 373pp. In this sequel to The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, the girls discover the difficulties in maintaining love and friendship.

Nicolson, Georgia. (2000). Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging. New York: Harper Collins. 247pp. This comedic coming of age story depicts the life of a teenage girl maturing into an adult in contemporary England.

Sones, Sonya. (2001). What My Mother Doesn't Know. New York: Simon and Schuster. 259pp. A teenage girl experiences a series of crushes while searching for her soul mate.

Ketchum, Liza. (1992). Allergic to My Family. New York: Holiday House. 150pp. Tired of being ignored by her family, nine-year old Rosie strives to gain the recognition she desires.

Grollman, Earl. (1993). Straight Talk About Death for Teenagers: How to Cope with Losing Someone You Love. Boston: Beacon Press. 146pp. Advice for teenagers on dealing with death and grief.

Teaching Ideas

(1) "An Advice Columnist" Students are asked to function as newspaper advice columnists and provide thoughtful and sensitive responses to a troubled writer (in this case, the characters in this story: Tibby, Carmen, Bridget or Lena). [Summarized/adapted from "If You Want My Advice" by Thomas McCann in Classroom Notes Plus. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, December 1991.]

(2) "Recipe for a Character" Here students select a character from the literary work they are reading. They list their character traits as they appear in the novel. Then students determine a list of events that they believe helped shape the character, and the students write about that character in recipe format.

[Summarized/adapted from "Character Casseroles and Creative Literary Responses" by Warren Bowe in Classroom Notes Plus. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, August 2002.]

(3) "An the Award Goes to…" Students create a computer presentation of an awards ceremony choosing from several categories such as best novel, best leading character, best supporting character. Then they get to create the awards out of any material they would like, and the students had to dress in black and white for the formal occasion!.

[Summarized/adapted from "A Novel Academy Awards Ceremony" by Beverly Marin in Classroom Notes Plus. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, April 2000.]

(Review written by Mina Kugler and edited by Jennifer Moore)