18 out of 18 people found this review helpful.
Why can't a pair of these be issued to every teenage girl group?
Date of Review: Jun 23, 2003
The Bottom Line: Good for a few laughs and a few tears. This is the equivalent of a chick flick -- frivolous hours not wasted. Go ahead and indulge.
I am an avid reader who cannot understand why my children are not. I can polish off 2 novels a day if I am allowed the circumstances -- ie a deserted pool and a couple of good plots.
I found the latter in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, a book by Ann Brashares. I picked up this book at Target for $13.45, which is usually way more than I am willing to spend on a book for my kid, but I was instantly swept up by the cover art as well as the 10 Rules To Govern the use of the Traveling Pants as listed on the back cover.
This 294 page novel revolves around 4 young girls on the fringe of young-womandom, an age that I remember with a true grimace. It was difficult for me as a early teen and I immediately identified with each of the characters in one way or another.
The story revolves around 4 girls who only know each other because of a coincidental prenatal acquaintance their mothers made more than a decade earlier. The miracle of friendship is revealed repeatedly, including this idea of how chance encounters between some can result in lasting alliances for others.
A casual pair of pants unites this band of girly/women who are about to spend their first summer truly apart; and the brilliant idea of how to use these pants (that show no favoritism) to keep them connected is the basis of the story.
The pants are to be worn and adventures had while wearing them are to be recorded. At intervals, the pants are to be passed on to the next girl for her turn. While this sounds silly, it really works! The story, while it is really several stories, is woven right into the denim of the pants and is entertaining and touching. Each chapter starts off with a famous (?) quotation that is relevant to the situation and fits well.
I read this book in a few hours and was totally glued to it, and once finished, I passed it to my older sister. We both thought it was great and are looking forward to the just released sequel. My daughter -- hello! you bought this for her, remember?? -- started the book but only got to page 17 before declaring that there were too many stories to follow. She is going to start things over again because I really feel like she just wasn't into the reading groove. Since summer started I have implemented a Read or Perish program wherein a book a week and a report on said book is required. As an aside, this program seems to be working phenomenally well with both of my kiddies.
This is not Koontz, Grisham, Rule or Rice but it is light reading that is well suited for the early teen group or someone who can remember back that far and needs something to occupy their afternoon.
