The Second Summer of the Sisterhood

Carmen, Tibby, Lena, and Bridget are back for another summer wearing "The Pants." Carmen continues to be a brat. I think she is supposed to be seen as the fiery Puerto Rican. In The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants she threw a rock through a window because she was mad at her dad for having a girlfriend and starting a new family. In Second Summer of the Traveling Pants it's her mom's happiness she can't bear to witness.
Tibby's situation was a little more believable. Away at college and desperate forget a friend who died of leukemia, she shuns her old life and adopts the crappy attitudes of a couple of loner kids in her class. This, I know a little something about. Sadly, I am guilty of changing my personality to impress new show more people.
Bridget is away in Alabama, working for her estranged grandmother and trying to escape an unfortunate event in The sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Gram thinks Bridget is a lonely girl named Gilda and with Bridget's weight gain and dyed hair Grandma is easily fooled.
Lena has the simplest yet most complicated story. After leaving Greece she couldn't stand to be away from Kostos so she broke up with him. Doesn't make sense, but that's perfect teenage logic for you. Who hasn't done something dramatic thinking it was the only choice? Kostos accepts the breakup until he sees Lena and professes his undying love for her...until something else happens.
All four girls have moments when The Pants don't work for them. The magic just isn't there and they have to rely on growing up to see the solution. the real magic happens when they begin to see their mothers as human beings. show less

Lena, Carmen, Bridget and Tibby...4 girls I have come to cherish and call my Best Friends. This book has satisfied me more than many other books have. The pain, the heartbreak, the friendship and love within the story make this a wonderful coming of age book for young girls. Somehow, Ann Brashares manages to stun her readers once more through her writing.

The boys in the book bring mixed emotion with each appearance. Brian remains loyal to Tibby as always. Alex is a troublemaker who Tibby should have got rid of sooner. Porter is just filler, adding more craziness to Carmen's already hectic life. Billy & his feelings for Bridget toss a little extra fun into the mix. Kostos continues to make us love and hate him as Lena does.

I often find show more myself sitting on my bed, and as I read-I react. When the Sisterhood is happy so am I. When things turn bad, I feel a deep-longing for the sun to stop hiding and break through the clouds once more. Through each girls' pain & heartbreak, I feel my eyes blur and the tears begin to fall.

After meeting Carmen, Bridget, Tibby & Lena in the first book, I felt an attachment to them. Now, after completing the second book in the series, I feel a bond. A connection between characters and reader has been developed. When I began reading this book, I took it to school. On the first day, one friend told me that I was wasting my time on it. She said it wasn't as good as the first and was therefore pointless for anyone to read...I couldn't bring myself to believe it. I kept reading and I have found that many people do not feel the connection I do.

The Sisterhood continues to be one of my favorite series. Hopefully, each following novel will prove just as wonderful as the first 2. I have faith that I will not be disappointed. I hope other readers will be prepared with an open mind and an open heart, ready to welcome Tibby, Lena, Carmen and Bridget into THEIR hearts as I've let them come into mine. =) 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

Pretty good easy teen novel. Not as good as the first one, which I read in a day and came close to crying like a little girl, but still an enjoyable read. I didn't find myself as invested in the storylines as I did in the first one, which took away from my rating a bit. Oddly enough, the storyline I did care most about was Bridget, who I really didn't like in the first book. (I was most caught up in Tibby and Carmen the first time around). Lena's story, again, didn't thrill me.

If you like the first one I imagine you'll probably like this one, but don't be expecting it to be as good. Still, a simple fun read and enjoyable enough for me to recommend it.

I'm doing my best to try to clear some of my shelves as I am downsizing, so I figured I might as well pick up some of the more "popular" books as I go. Why not? Throw in some of the books more people have read and get a feel for where I'm at. Bonus marks if it's from my youth so I can try to travel back in time and enjoy the nostalgia!

I figured going further in this series wasn't a bad thing. I was glued to the first book and absolutely loved it (with full intentions of watching the movie too because why not go full Briar's youth and nostalgia trip for it?). I picked this book up and was kind of sad that it didn't live up to the first book. The first three quarters of the book was rather dull for me, but the ending pulled me back in. I show more will work on finishing up this series since I happen to have the last two books in print form on my shelves, but it's not one I'll be jumping to right away.

This series is great because you're going to relate to somewhere. As a young woman, I can totally see the parts of me in these characters. I can also see how they've grown and where they need to grow. It's a unique read that really brings me back to when I was young and read books with young girls like me. It was an insane and amazing feeling back then so I can respect what these books do and who they are for. I'm not the audience, obviously, but it was still nice to take a trip back in time and see what I was missing.

For now, the rating is low. The other books might pick up (and I sure hope they do) but since this book didn't pull me in that well and I wanted to put it down too many times to count... It's low. It's still an amazing book and I truly recommend this series to young readers. You'll fall in love with these characters and find people you relate to. Honestly, it's a great series. An emotional series with some heart break, but also lots of love too.

Two out of five stars. show less

The Second Summer of the Sisterhood continues the story of four best friends who share a magical pair of jeans that connects them no matter where they go. In this book, each girl faces new challenges—love, family struggles, and questions about who they want to become. What I liked most is how the story balances lighthearted summer adventures with emotional, real-life problems that teens can relate to. The friendship between the girls feels strong and genuine, and it shows how important it is to have people who stick by you through change. Readers who enjoyed the first book will find even more heart, laughter, and bittersweet moments in this sequel.

This is the sequel to "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants", of which I have so far only seen the movie (fine and touching). It is the story of four girls, best friends since their near simultaneous births, who shared a pair of pants which somehow altered to fit each of their much different bodies. They made a pact to share the pants each summer, and let them rest the remainder of the year so as to gather their magic for the coming summer. This fantasy bit is perfectly believable and seamlessly (heh heh) integrated into the story of the four girls themselves: Carmen, who must deal with her mother's first relationship since her divorce and her own first date; Tibby, a burgeoning filmmaker who is still reeling inside from the death of show more her friend Bailey the previous summer; Bridget, who has journeyed to her estranged grandmother's home years after the suicide of her mother, to try to regain her roots with both women; and Lena, who must try to deal with the aftermath of her first love, a young man she met the previous summer in Greece while visiting her grandparents. The book is simply and poignantly written, witty and real, filled with moments that touched my heart and funnybone at once. This is what my son would call "chick lit", and I hope that someday he'll learn how limiting such labels can be. show less