Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 came out today - in movie form. I hope to see it this weekend. I thought in keeping with the spirit, I'd try to think back and talk about the books a bit. The first book is pretty clear in my head, probably because I've seen the 1st movie recently. I remember thinking it was a great book. It was one of those friendship books that I've always wanted. I have good friends - great friends - but usually one on one. I have my high school friend, my college friend, my work friends, my old work friends. They don't fit together into a nice little group. I always wanted that. Even in high school and college where I was a part of a big group of friends, I didn't trust that they were my friends. I only latched onto one or two that I could really count on.

That being said, I love the idea that four girls, who are completely different in personality, interests, and ambition, can be that close. The pants were such a minor thing in the books. It kept the girls in contact but they didn't really need them. The pants were like Dumbo's feather and Dorothy's shoes. It gave them strength that was in them all along. I have no idea when I read the first two books because they were pre-journal. Here's the blurb's on the 3rd and 4th book:

Jan. 5, 2006: Third Summer of the Sisterhood, "Great! Touching!"

Mar. 26, 2007: Forever in Blue, The 4th Summer of the Sisterhood, "Great book. The girls are all grown up in many ways. Not a book for young readers. I hope it's not the last."

As you can see, I grew more wordy in my two years of journaling. Not much but more than in Jan of 2006.

From what I understand the 2nd movie is actually a compilation of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th books. It will be interesting to see how it is put together. Oh. . . One more thing. Just because the books are classified as Young Adult, don't let it keep you from reading. It doesn't matter if your 15 or 95, these books will have something for you. The same is true of so many young adult books. Read them anyway. You won't regret it.

4 comments:

uncute tomboy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
uncute tomboy said...

(sorry--I messed up first comment, so deleted it ><)

I've always read 'young adult' books, even way past whatever age they think that is. Two of my favorite authors are Charles deLint and Neil Gaiman. I'm just a 45 year old girl. =p I've never read the first book, though--only saw the movie. I was wondering if you could tell me if Brian McBrian's character was meant to be Asian specifically--because from comments about the book--I didn't think he was. I thought Leonardo Nam got the part because he impressed the casting directors, not because the character was Asian also.

Susan said...

I don't think that Brian McBrian was specifically Asian in the book. I remember being slightly surprised when I saw the first movie because I pictured someone different. He does fit the character though and I thought he did a great job!

uncute tomboy said...

Thanks for replying so fast! I appreciate it. I kind of thought that was what it was. He's a good actor.