****Brashares, Ann. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. 2001. 294p. Delacorte Press.

Ages: 12 to adult

News: The fourth in the series comes out January 9, 2007.

Fourteen year old Carmen, Lena, Bee, and Tibby are about to spend their first summer apart from each other.   They’ve been friends since before birth when their moms were all in the same prenatal aerobics class.

A pair of jeans that “magically” seems to fit all of them, despite their different body types, helps each one have their own adventure and keep in touch at the same time. As the jeans are sent between the girls on their first summer apart, new adventures, challenges, disappointments, loss, and romance happen. 

Each story judged alone is enjoyable and compelling, inter-cut together it’s one pleasure-filled read. Join beautiful reserved Lena in Greece, impulsive athletic Bee at soccer camp, fiery good-hearted Carmen at her dad’s in South Carolina, and funky artistic Tibby stuck at home in Bethesda, Maryland working retail, you’ll be glad you did.

Parental Notes: a non-graphic sex scene with consequences presented in first book.

****Brashares, Ann. The Second Summer of the Sisterhood. 2003. 373p. Delacorte Press.

****Brashares, Ann. Girls in Pants. The Third Summer of the Sisterhood. 2005. 338p. Delacorte   Press.

If you like the first book, you’ll enjoy the sequels.   Both are equally good in quality and continue the adventures of the denim clad four.  

Parental Notes: Make out scenes of increasing intensity as the girls’ age.

PS: Yes, my Bethesda, kind of.   Brashares throws in a few familiar street names, but really this Bethesda seems more like any suburb USA than my specific town. Probably best for the story.

PPS: The movie comes close to the fun of the book.   Bee, Carmen, and Tibby are well cast by Blake Lively, America Ferrera, and Amber Tamblyn and their stories are played out almost exactly as the book.   Lena, played by Alexis Bledel (of Gilmore Girls) is slightly miscast, in my opinion, and while her story comes to the same conclusion, it’s different from the book.   Also fans of her Lena’s sister will notice Effie’s absence.