Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood

In my opinion, while “Girls in Pants” is the weakest out of the four, I don’t think it’s a bad book. It feels more like a filler to set up for the grand finale. There’s a strong sense of how hard long-term separation is going to be on the girls, and a lot of the story revolves around home and family. I wasn’t fond of having Carmen tout Valia around for a whole summer, on top of her dealing with her mother’s pregnancy, but it strengthened her character beyond “teenager with family issues.” The biggest misstep, though, was re-establishing Bridget’s relationship with Eric. Her breakdown and fallout at the end of the first book really hooked me, so having everything be okay now that Bridget’s of legal age bugged me. show more (If they had come to terms with what happened and left it at that, I would be fine with him showing up again.) Again, not a horrible book, but feels more like a place-holder. show less

This series by Ann Brashares starts out very strong and falls off a cliff in the last book. The first two are well-realized, strongly plotted explorations of adolescence from various viewpoints. The last is inexplicable and maddening. Brashares seemed, like Alcott, tempted to have an earthquake swallow the girls so she might be finished with them and move on. I'll be interested to read her next book, now that she's put away the pants.

This third installment in the Travelling Pants series (and most likely the last) is touching, warm, witty and satisfying. The four lifelong friends go through a final summer together after graduation, their last time together before going off to their separate colleges in the fall. During this time Carmen, Tibby, Lena and Bee each go through their own life-altering experiences and decisions, all falling back on the others and the Pants for love and support. Much of the soul-searching is over relationships with boys, but it doesn't come off as a story where the girls can't be happy unless they land the boy of their dreams. It's more like, trying to decide what kind of person is them at their best, and figuring out how to become that show more person. Once that happens, relationships and the rest of life's bubble and boil seems to fall naturally into place (sometimes with a lot of effort). And that's a very good lesson for any book, particularly one directed at teen-age girls, to impart. show less

I expected reading these books to be like eating a whole pint of ice cream - and they were. But they were more like my favorite $6 Haagen Dazs Belgian chocolate shake than the crappy $2 version from Braum's. Once I tell you this is young adult fiction aimed at girls, you'll be able to guess the broad outlines of the plot: a diverse but closely knit group of friends confront summer jobs, first kisses, boyfriend angst and parental strife during their first summer away from home. With a storyline like this, you can't really call the book original or fresh. You can, however, appreciate the nuanced and thoughtful way it addresses its themes. What separates it from other works in the same genre is the outstanding cast of characters. While so show more many books aimed at women (teenage or otherwise) try to create feminist icons or charmingly confused heroines a la Bridget Jones, author Ann Brashares contents herself with 4 appealingly realistic young ladies: spunky Carmen whose fiery temper leads to trouble; cynical Tibby, at constant war with her reclusive and judgmental nature; beautiful but self-conscious Lena who expresses herself best through art; and Bridget, my favorite, a talented athlete whose hormones and headstrong nature get her in over her head.

In my opinion, books 1 and 2 are equally good. Teenage girls will find a lot to identify with; older women will no doubt recognize their past selves in at least one of the young main characters. For people of any age, I would recommend either of these books over your typical, cliched "chick lit." Regrettably, by book 3, the charm has worn off. As in the other books, this one is told in a series of short vignettes that alternate between the characters' point of view. In this installment, however, the scenes shift so quickly that I could rarely get into them. You might think this would make for a fast moving plot, but the story develops so slowly that I sometimes wanted to skim. Most frustrating, the character development is unbalanced. Bridget and her angsty relationship with a fellow soccer coach are featured prominently, but her character barely changes throughout the book. Lena's struggle to become an artist and Carmen's conflict with her newly-wed mother are better done but lack the nuance of the previous books. Tibby's changing relationship with her best male friend is promising, but only merits 1 or 2 scenes in the book's 338 pages. There's only one more book left in the series and I'll probably read it. But not until it comes out in paperback. show less

The sisterhood of the Traveling Pants graduates from high school and spends their last summer before college learning about life and themselves.

This book is from Tibby's point of view.

So I am reading the third book, and again Carmen is killing me, she just spoiled everything. I just finished and I am really happy for Carmen's choice on Win and Williams, and for Tibby and Brain, and Bee and Erik and Lena for once doing what she is good at. But I don't want the series to end.

I said I'd read the whole series, and I am. In this one, the girls are out of high school and facing their last summer before heading off to college. Again, real life issues are handled in varying ways. The book is really fine, and I probably should give it more stars, but I didn't. I really like these characters, and I'm starting to understand them a bit better. The only problem is that they are all too privileged and too perfect at times. I want to see more flaws!

At least the girls had stories that varied from the first two books. Even if a couple were obviously self-inflicted teen angst. But it was a good story nonetheless.