I first fell in love with The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares nearly a decade ago when it was originally released. As a young teen, I saw parts of myself in Bee, Lena, Tibby and Carmen (especially the last two). When the sequel, The Second Summer of the Sisterhood, was released, I dived right back into Brashares believable, yet slightly magical, world. Somewhere along the way, maybe distracted by high school and friends and other things, partially due to hardcover releases too expensive for a teenage budget and long library wait lists, I never finished the series. So when I learned that a fifth and final book in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series was about to be released, set ten years after the fourth book, I knew this was just the excuse to both rediscover, and delve into for the first time, these incredibly touching books.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is incredibly perceptive, and reading it again years later I can still remember the feelings that Brashares captures so perfectly, the longing to belong, to be loved, to trust, the angst and the anger and the changes that we go through as we grow up. Each of the characters have their own quirks, and even the secondary characters like Lena's sister Effie are rich and dimensional. Brashares switches smoothly from the life of one girl to another, and for a novel with multiple storylines there isn't one that I would consider boring or that I dreaded her returning to. Instead, I think the whole book in enchanting, and there are just enough twists and turns to keep you turning the page without making you doubt that this could happen in real life. When the sisters finally reunite after their summer apart, you end the book knowing that they have grown up a lot, and more than that, as a reader you feel like you have grown with them.

Reading a new book in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Series is like reuniting with old friends after too long apart. Luckily, now that the entire series has been released, I could immediately start on the second novel after finishing the first. Even though both were rereads, I still felt my heart drop when I realized how poorly Bee was dealing with loosing her virginity to Eric, and how Lena continued to deny her relationship with Kostos when it seemed like she had finally admitted her feelings for him. That's the truth in life too though, even when we want only good things to happen, sometimes things don't go according to plan- like Carmen feeling like her mother is starting a new life without her. Brashares takes the reader on the ups and downs in The Second Summer of the Sisterhood, and although like The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants the novel tells a complete story, it also builds on the experiences and knowledge that has been gained in the first book. Sometimes it feels like the girls haven't really learned anything in the first book, especially Lena, but then you realize that is exactly how it works, sometimes we need to be hit over the head in order to really learn the necessary lessons and Brashares provides a perfect reminder of how important those lessons are.
In The Second Summer of the Sisterhood Lena, Tibby, Carmen and Bee are a year older, but no less relateable. Even rereading the novel in my early twenties, I recognize so much of myself in these young woman and their struggles. The story is touching and funny and unpredictable, and in some cases maybe even a bit heartbreaking. With the first two books in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Series, Brashares created a world which resonated with me when I first read it, and has no less power reading it again all these years later. Simply put, there's magic in the pants but there's also magic in the girls that wear them.
Click here for Part 2 of my reviews.
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