Tuesday, November 30, 2010

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares

This is the story about how a pair of pants kept four best friends, Carmen, Briget, Lena, and Tibby, together while they were apart. They have been best friends all their lives. Their mothers met while they were pregnant with them at an aerobics class for pregnant ladies. The four mothers became very close while they were pregnant. The four girls were all born in the month of September so they have been best firends since birth. After the girls were born their mothers grew apart but the girls became closer.

Carmen bought a pair of jeans at a thrift store and the pants magically fit all four girl perfectly. The pair of pants brought out the best features in the four gilrs. No pair of pants have fit the girls like these did.

This summer was the first summer they would ever be apart and they had the idea of sharing the pants between the four of them. They all met eachother at Gilda's, the aerobics place where thier mothers met, to dicuss the rules and procedure for the pants. Each girl would have the pants for no more than a week and then pass on the pants and a letter talking about all their experiences in the pants to the next girl. They made ten rules the girls must follow while wearing the pants.

Lena was the first one to have the pants during the summer. Her and her sister Effie spent their summer in Greece visting their grandparents. Her friends call Lena "the beauty." Lena is not very into boys but her grandmother insisted on her meeting a boy named Kostos. She had no intention of meeting Kostos because she did not want to deal with any drama but when she finally ran into Kostos, her feelings changed. The pants gave Lena trust and she soon realized that the only person she could not trust was herself.

Tibby stayed home for the summer and believed she was living a depressing life. Tibby's freinds think of her as "the rebel." She had to stay home because she had a job at a place called Wallmans. While Tibby was home she was working on a documentary about the lameness of her hometown. One day at work she met a girl named Bailey. When Tibby first met her she thought of Bailey as one of those annoying girls who talked too much but she soon developed a close relationship with her. Bailey was very interseted in Tibby's life and helped her with the documentary she was making. One day Bailey's mother told Tibby that Bailey had a disease called leukemia. Tibby did not think anything of it at first but when Bailey suddenly stoped showing up at Tibby's house to work on the documentary, Tibby began to get scared. She soon found out that Bailey has been spending all her time at the hospital. When Tibby went to visit Bailey, she brought the pants hoping they would work their magic on Bailey. When Tibby first met Bailey she did not think anything of it but it turned out that Bailey taught Tibby many things about time and living your life.

Carmen's parents were divorced and she wanted to spend her summer with her dad. She did not know what her friends thought of her so she just thought of her self as "the Puerto Rican." When her dad picked her up at the airport she was expecting to go home to the apartment he used to live in but when he pulled into the driveway of this perfect house, she had so many questions. It turned out that her dad, Al, had a fiance he was soon going to marry named Lydia. Lydia had two kids, Krista and Paul. Carmen did not like her dads new family because she thought they did not like her. They were too proper and perfect for Carmen to handle. They were nothing like Carmen. She was tan and built and Krista, Paul, and Lydia were small and blonde. She became very upset because she thought her dad did not want Carmen in his life and forgot all about the life he used to have with Carmen's mother. She was so upset she did not want yo go to his wedding. The pants gave Carmen the courage she needed.

Bridget's mother died a few years before and she continued to live with her dad and brother, Perry. Her father was not very concerned with Bridget's life because she spent most of her time at her friend's houses. Bridget's friends thought of her as "the athlete." She spent her summer at a soccer camp in Baja California. She made many friends at camp and she had the biggest crush on one of the soccer coaches named Eric. She knew she could not have Eric but that only made her want him more. She tried so hard for him to notice her and did anything she could to get attention. She snuck out of her cabin every night hoping he would follow her.

At the end of the summer right before school started, they met again at Gilda's. They did not really talk about what they did during their summer but how the pants brought them together even though they were apart. The theme of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is that friendship is important and someone could rely on it in every aspect of their life.

1. Who do you think needed the pants the most and why?

2. Who do you think had the most memorable summer and why?

8 comments:

Josie D 7/8 said...

1. I think Tibby needed the pants the most. She needed them most because she was not looking at life in a good way, she was depressed. The pants helped Tibby looked at life in a better way.

2. Carmen had the most memorable summer because she met her new family for the first time and learned to accept them.

Sydney M 7-8 said...

2. I think that Tibby had a very rmemorable summer. Even though she was depressed and stayed at home she really learned something about herself and life. With her friend, Bailey was sick she realized how important life is. It gave her a different perspective and I think she became more optimisitc in a way.

Ashley B. 1-2 said...

1. I think Tibby needed them the most especially after finding Bailey in the hopital. Even though the pants didnt work with Bailey, they gave Tibby the courage to go to her during that hard time.

AnaleeL7-8 said...

2. I think Carmen had the most memerable summer because she spent it with her Dad. I think this is so important because she had to go through several struggles that will always impact her life.

Garret Edward Patrick Graehling 1/2 said...

Im glad Carmen got to spend the summer with her dad and i agree with Analee when she says it was memerable

Anonymous said...

1.I think that Carmen had the most memorable summer because she got to meet her dad's new family, learned to except them, and also got to be in her dad's wedding.

2. I also believe Tibby had the most memorable summer because she met a new friend that helped her understand life in a more positive way. Even though Bailey was in the hospital for a lot of the time, Tibby still spent every minute of her time visiting her.

Hannah J. 7-8 said...

1.I tink Carmen needed the pants the most because she was always a little insecure about herself. especially since she was in a new situation with her dad and trying to figure out who he was she defintely needed the backup and confidence booster.
2.i think lena had the most memorable summer because she got to go experience a new culture and meet new people

Morgan O 7-8 said...

2) I think Tibby had the most memorable summer because Baily was able to teach her things she may have never figured out on her own. She also remembered how it was to be young again and see through a child's eyes and having an epiphany such as that is something a person can never forget.