Girls in Pants (Sisterhood #3)
Author: Ann Brashares
Published: 2005
On Goodreads
My Rating: 
Rated G for growth into who you can be, gain in what you could have, and gumption for chasing that which you want most.
Our shared childhood is ending. Maybe we’ll never live at home again. Maybe we’ll never all live in the same place again. We’re headed off to start our real lives.
The pants came to them when they were in need when they were spending their first summer apart. Now, two years later, the girls have just graduated high school and are preparing to leave for college. Each of them carries their own worries and steps up to new challenges that have them stepping out of their comfort zones.
Tibby must confront her own guilt about an accident she believed she caused. Lena fights for her future in art while her father is against it. Bridget encounters an old flame that still burns like a wildfire. Carmen faces tough choices in choosing colleges and finds an unexpected kinship with Lena’s grandmother, Valia.
Sisterhood Reviews
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
The Second Summer of the Sisterhood
Still as grand as the previous books and yanks at those heartstrings of mine. From wrangling with loss and guilt and heartbreak to success, maturity, and love. Among all of it there the outline of uncertainty that’s faced in everyday life. Lena and Bridget won the arcs in this book. Lena really climbed out of her box by standing up against her father for the school she really wanted to attend. Meanwhile, Bridget was confronted by the fates as they pushed Eric back into her gravitational pull. Her maturity was tested as well as her emotions that were still very alive for him.
Speaking of Eric—FREAKING YES! I was hoping he’d re-emerge and I’m so glad he did. Nobody else is on Bridget’s level. While I was so proud of Bridget, I was the teensiest hopeful he would realize she’s the one. And the way he came to her aid when her bunkmates were being trash? Ugh, what a great guy. My heart beats for these two…and for Tibby and Brian. Two non-toxic relationships that should be gushed over more often.
And speaking of guys, I’m kind of hoping Carmen has finally found somebody to match her ferocity in this Win character. As she was facing off against becoming a sibling and leaving home for college, Win was caught in the crossfire. A sweet lad, but he came off a little wishy-washy. While he seems adorable for a first love, I worry he can’t make the distance with Carmen. The girl is bursting with life and is always getting into something. So…we’ll see how he does. LOL.
Brashares keeps that coming-of-age journey alive and fresh. There’s always something to learn from and gain no matter your age. I love that Brashares really dug into that. It’s one of the many reasons I’ve loved reading this series so far. The magic isn’t solely within the pants but within each of the girls.
Though Brashares tackles many difficult topics, she does it with the heart in mind and with class. I can take appreciation in the authors that have heart-ripping arcs because life is pain. But, I love Brashares because it doesn’t have to be just pain. There’s so much more than that. There’s understanding and the kind of care that is eye-opening.
Overall
This series just keeps getting better and better. The emotions get me every time. I’ve laughed, nearly cried, oozed, giggled like a dumbass, and more great stuff. This has been a beautiful ride, a dream. I’m still recommending it and even more than I already have before.
Quotables:
“She could do this. She could. It wasn’t that hard. She loved him, maybe so, but she also loved being with him. She could be happy with just that. She didn’t need anything more.” (Bridget, p. 160)
“Sometimes trust felt like the worst gift in the world.” (Carmen, p. 175)
“The beautiful thing about getting someone to tell you what was wrong was that you could tell them something to make it a little better.” (p. 194)
“Growing up is for crap, but it’s better than the alternative.” (Margaret, p. 207)
“It was a miracle how when you looked hard enough, when you really sought out information, there was so much to see, even in a person’s tiniest gesture. There was so much feeling, such a dazzling array of things that your words, at least Lena’s words, could never say. There were thousands of images and memories and ideas, if you just let them come. There was the whole history of human experience somewhere contained in each of the bits, the most universal in the most specific, if you could only see it. It was like poetry. Well, she had never really found poetry in poetry, to be truthful. But she imagined this was what poetry might be like for someone who understood it and loved it.” (Lena, 209)
“As a child, you were taught to see the world in geometric shapes and primary colors. It was as if the adults needed to equip you with more accomplishments. Then you had to spend the rest of your life unlearning them.” (p. 252)
More to come soon…
-K.
Song Today? Ode To My Family by The Cranberries.
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Thoughts? Let’s chat in the comments below!
The Scarlet Reader 
Reading those quotes just made me so nostalgic. This is the series that made me fall in love with reading!
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I’ve loved each book more and more. I can’t believe it took me this long to read them.
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