The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

By: Ann Brashares

Narrated by: Angela Goethals

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 they should all try them on. Whoever they fit best will get them. Nobody knows why, but the pants fit everyone perfectly. Over a few bags of cheese puffs they decide to form a sisterhood, and take the vow of The Sisterhood of Traveling Pants. The next morning, they say good-bye. And now the journey of the pants, and the most memorable summer of their lives begins.Spend another summer with the girls of the Sisterhood.©2001 Ann Brashares (P)2001 Random House, Inc., Listening Library, An Imprint Of Random House Audio Publishing Group

Critic reviews

Book Sense Book of the Year Award Winner, Children's Literature, 2002

"A clever...premise sets the course for four intertwined, compelling coming-of-age stories." (Publishers Weekly)

"[Angela Goethals'] narration is joyful and alive with nuance. As the listener, you will care deeply for the personal growth and developing humanity of these engaging young women." (AudioFile)

"Young teens will identify with one, or even all four, of these interesting, funny young women." (Booklist)

the sound seems off

Would you consider the audio edition of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants to be better than the print version?

No. the audio on this sounded like it was coming through an old fashioned radio.

Reasonably entertaining

Reasonably entertaining, though sometimes a bit too childish, but able to open to the reader a number of issues of teen-aged angst in a variety of circumstances.

Light Listening

I enjoyed this a lot -- it's light hearted, not trite and the narrator is easy to listen to

Great story

The story seemed so real and showed how each girl had a purpose for summer and life. We all have a story about a unique season.

Cute coming of age book

What did you love best about The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants?

each girl had a very different experience over there summer.

Would you recommend The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants to your friends? Why or why not?

It was too much like a fairytale. Nothing in life really ever is.

Very Enjoyable Series

I read all four "traveling pants" books and enjoyed them all. I am a 50 year old female. I doubt that men would enjoy these stories, but even at my age, the author did a brilliant job of reminding the older female reader of what it was like to be a teenager. She captured the joys and sorrows of these years, the excitement of first love, the tough decisions, the issues every teenager has with parents... all-in-all a wonderful journey of a girl's coming of age. She also brought something special to the character development of each girl, and gave them all qualities that would resonate with any woman, young or old. Great narration, and excellent writing, I would highly recommend all four of these books.

A great teen read...

I wanted to know what was in this book, as my near 13 year old expressed interest in the title. I was taken in by the story immediately, and thoroughly enjoyed it through the end. Branshares' characters were well developed, and I was able to clearly visualize each girl as she went through her 15th summer, the first one away from the fold of four best friends.
Branshares has aptly captured the hearts and minds of four very individual girls-becoming-women on the pages of this treasure.

A good read for older children

We listened to this book on a car trip. While it was a good book with an interesting premise, I think it was a bit too mature for my youngest (age 8). It was appropriate for my daughter, age 12, who enjoyed the book, as did I.

The book had lots of things going on that were fun, amusing and thought-provoking. But it also addressed juvenile death and, somewhat thinly veiled, the loss of virginity.

Excellent Story

This is an excellent story. The characters are well developed. Although they all engage in bits of fantasy (some more than others), being teenage girls, this is not a fantasy tale, despite the girls’ belief that the pants in the title are magic.

Four girls have been friends almost since birth. Now, as rising juniors in high school, they are about to spend their first summer apart. As three of them are preparing to leave town, Tibbie, the one who will have to remain at home to work, wishes for a pair of jeans that one of the other girls, Carmen, purchased earlier at a thrift shop and that she is thinking of throwing away.

Tibby tries on the jeans, and they look wonderful on her. The other girls also decide to try on the jeans, and they look wonderful on all of them, despite the fact that they all are different sizes and builds. From this, the girls conclude that the jeans are magic, and they contrive a plan for sharing them over the summer, complete with rules for the jeans and a solemn oath binding them into the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

The jeans follow Lena to Greece where she must deal with her grandparents trying to fix her up with a boy, and the mayhem that ensues when that boy comes upon her skinny-dipping in a mountain pool.

They follow Tibby as she tries to deal with working in the neighborhood drugstore and befriends a girl dying of leukemia.

They follow Carmen as she discovers the summer she thought she would be spending alone with her father turns out to be a summer with the family he plans to marry into.

And they follow Bridget as she develops a massive crush on a counselor at the soccer camp she is attending in Baja.

Not all the girls’ experiences over the summer are good. The pants can’t save them from themselves. But they all learn something and hopefully grow even from their bad experiences. And the good ones are very very good. At the very least they learn that they can survive on their own when they have to. And they learn how good it is to return to their circle of friends.

Entertaining

A fun book to listen to-keeps your attention with the changing scenes and character. Appropriate for all ages.