1st Quarter Book Review

1st Quarter Outside Reading Book Review

Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares.
Delacorte Press, 2006 Genre: Realistic Fiction

In the book Girls in Pants: the Third Summer of the Sisterhood, four teenage girls named Tibby, Carmen, Lena and Bridget are spending their last summer together before they all go in different directions to college. Throughout the summer they have to deal with many struggles and problems. Lena has been fighting with her parents about attending art classes and wanting to go to RISD for college. They say she can go but they won’t pay. Lena is very determined to get in and she ends up getting a scholarship. Tibby is very depressed and upset with herself. After her sister’s accident of falling out the window has happened she feels it is her own fault and now she is afraid to take any chances, but she finally realizes avoiding her problems will not help her. Carmen is stressed out over her mother’s unexpected pregnancy and she feels that if she leaves for college in the fall, her family will forget about her having so much of their attention on the new baby. Bridget on the other hand has boy problems. She gets stuck working with Eric, a friend from last summer who she had wished to never see again. Not only does she have to see him all summer at soccer camp, but she has been paired with him for every activity possible. After trying her best all summer to become friends again, they end up going out in the end of the book.

“For those who may have lost track of the volatility of the teen years and the amazing, worth-celebrating resiliency of youth, these books will bring it all back.” says the books jacket.

The author Ann Brasheres has a very simple writing style. It isn’t extremely descriptive but she uses enough information so that you understand what is going on. Through the entire book the writer changes points of views between the four girls. Each talk in a different style and since each girl is going through something a little bit different from the rest, it is very interesting.
This book reminds me of the Clique books. Both series are about a group of friends and all of the problems and struggles that they go through while growing up. The only differences between the two are that the jeans aren’t in the Clique series.

“Finally, finally, at last the strange air of their encounter was dissipating. Her new relationship with him had almost eclipsed the old one. She felt like she could trust herself with him now.”(p.161)

I can really relate to this book. The book is about growing up and how you need to cherish it while you can. The characters in this book are experiencing all of the difficulties to growing up, such as leaving each other when they go away to college at the end of the summer. These four best friends have been through everything together and they are now learning how to get through things on their own.