The Second Summer of the Sisterhood

Brashares, Ann (2003). New York: Dell—Laurel Leaf. /ISBN-10: 0385729340/ ISBN-13: 978-0385729345

Plot
The four friends from The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants return, sharing the magical pants that fit each of their different shapes as they go through a summer of transformative experiences. Tibby goes to a summer film school at a nearby college, where her video-game playing friend, the weirdo Brian, follows her, interfering with her attempts to impress her hip new New York friends. Lena pines for Kostos, her love from the last book, even though she broke up with him herself. Carmen had yet another fit of rage at parental betrayal, this time when her mother falls in love, and Bridget visits a long-estranged grandmother incognito, healing herself in the process from the horror of her mother’s mental illness and death, and the effects of her rash behavior the summer before. Not everything has a happy ending, but the pants and the friendships survive.

Reader’s Annotation
Life as a modern teen is full of challenges, but once again the four friends from the first Travelling Pants book—Carmen, Lena, Tibby, and Bea-- share love, support, and a pair of almost magical jeans as they face the challenges of life and growing up

Critique
One might point out that the girls’ affectionate notes become a little cloying, or mention that their distinctive traits begin to be repetitiously described; one might carp about the antique disposal of the inconvenient Kostos, but really, one, who is a big devotee of the Seinfeld “No hugging; no learning” rule, might just admit that she cried four times and read the whole thing without stopping. The fundamental goodness of the four girls, who are always very hard on themselves about their shortcomings, is believable and comforting. The story of Bee’s visit to her grandmother was the best of the four storylines; Bridget’s personal transformation as she cleans out an attic stuffed with her mother’s past was well done and very satisfying to read.

About the author
There is information about Ann Brashares on the Travelling Pants entry, but also, she and her husband Jacob, who is a well-known painter in the classic style, met when she was an 18 year old freshman at Barnard, and he was a 21 year old junior at Columbia. . His father was one of her philosophy professors and when they first met, Jacob sketched her portrait. This is very romantic and leaves us wanting very much to know what pants she was wearing at the time.

Genre
Teen Chick Lit

Curriculum Ties
Just for fun

Booktalking Ideas
Is the friendship between these girls getting to be good to be true?
Which girl would you be most likely to be friends with?
What do you predict for Lena and Paul?

Reading Level/Interest Age
8th grade and up (SLJ)

Challenge Issues
Sexuality, passionate but not graphic; mild infrequent profanity

Be knowledgeable about the book and prepared to discuss it calmly. Provide complaint form per board policy; list SLJ and other reviews available at http://www.amazon.com/Second-Summer-Sisterhood-Traveling-Pants/dp/0385729340;
YALSA teen lists at: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/teenreading/teenstopten/2003teenstop.cfm

Why Included?
Read for genre assgn.

Selection Tools
Sequel to acclaimed first book

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