Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Ages 12 and up. Best buds Tibby, Carmen, Lena and Bridget are back with their magical pair of shared jeans in Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood. Each summer brings new and difficult challenges, as the perennially separated friends discover afresh this last season before college. Tibby struggles with the idea of close friend Brian becoming her boyfriend, and their fragile relationship is soon tested by a tragedy in her immediate family. Carmen doesn’t know how to react when she finds out that her middle-aged mom is pregnant, and Bridget is unpleasantly surprised to be reunited with the boy who broke her heart two summers ago. Finally, Lena, still coming to terms with the loss of her first love, tries to convince her strict father that art school is a better career path than Greek restaurant management. But through every crisis, each girl is assured of the love and support of the created sisterhood when she pulls on the denim armor of the cherished, and by now, a bit fragrant ("Rule # 1. You must never wash the Pants.") Traveling Pants.

Full of homey platitudes about life, love and the pursuit of perfect jeans, Girls in Pants occasionally reads like a lengthy Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul entry. But often that’s precisely the kind of friendly reassurance female readers are looking for, and fans of the wildly popular series who’ve journeyed every summer with the "Septembers" will find much to laugh and cry about in this volume. --Jennifer Hubert

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up - Four friends embark on their third summer of adventures, beginning with their high school graduation. Tibby ponders the change in her relationship with a male friend who now wants to date her. She is devastated when her little sister is seriously injured after falling out a window that Tibby accidentally left open. Lena's plans to attend art school are disrupted when her conservative father discovers her sketching a nude male model during a summer class and refuses to pay the tuition. Carmen takes a job looking after Lena's cantankerous grandmother. She decides to attend college locally when she discovers that her mother and new stepfather are expecting a baby. Bridget goes to summer camp and is surprised to learn that her ex-fling is also a counselor. As in the previous books, the pants move from girl to girl weaving their special magic, but they are mentioned only briefly and it is easy to forget who has them when. The multiple story lines abruptly switch within chapters, building suspense. However, reluctant readers may miss having more solid transitions. The novel will appeal to those wanting light fare as the girls spend most of their time fretting about boys and all of their tribulations end happily. Fans will clamor for the latest in the series. The story stands alone, but references to the previous summers will attract readers to the other books. - Linda L. Plevak, Saint Mary's Hall, San Antonio, TX
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Product Details

Enter the Girls in Pants Contest [158kb PDF]

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an excerpt from Girls in Pants [683kb PDF]

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers; Later Printing edition (January 25, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385729359
• ISBN-13: 978-0385729352
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (184 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #172,438 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 3 in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a great book!, July 11, 2005

By	Tonya Speelman "Hoarder of books" (Goldendale WA) - See all my reviews

This book was so great. It dealt with the girls growing up a little and realizing what each of them has inside plus the support of each other and family, they can make it in the world.

They all are sad because they know at the end of this summer they will have to separate and make a way for themselves in the world, but are hoping to still stay close. Wish it was this way but for many of us, we know that life gets busy and friends grow apart.

This book however the girls lean on each other a bit, but are a bit more independent. They learn to rely on themselves a bit more. Like Lena, who wants to go to art college but her dad forbids it. He won't pay for her to, so now she must work to get a scholarship. Carmen must deal with her mom and David having a new baby, just as she is ready to leave for college. Tibby must deal with her siblings and what she really feels about Brian. Bee is coaching a soccer camp and must deal with the past.

It all went so fast you won't want to go to sleep until you read the last page. I do hope there is another book, but this one was the best!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Recommendation, By: Julie Shives Ü, December 11, 2005

A Kid's Review

Having recently read The Third Summer of the Sisterhood, I highly recommend this and the three before it. Actually, I mostly recommend this and the other books to mature girls because of it being about teenage girls who demonstrate how real teenage girls act. As a matter of fact, whenever one of my friends asks me what books they should read I always first mention this series. If they say they have already read it, we end up getting of topic and start talking about how great the book is.
One of the reasons why this book is so great is because of it being so real, but yet it still has the romance and fun that every girl dreams of. For instance, when one of the girls mother is getting remarried, then having to deal with that would be like a real life situation. Or, since one of the girls gets to hang out with her biggest crush the whole summer, then she gets to experience some true romance. So, although the book shows wishes coming true, it also demonstrates that not everyone and their actions are perfect.
All in all, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series are the best books that I have ever read. I'm hoping that Ann Brashares will write a fourth book, but I having a feeling that the third one will be the last.

45 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Character Growth, February 1, 2005

By	R. Chaffey "beckahi" (Chicago) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"Girls in Pants" is the third installment in Brashares' 'Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants' series. In this novel she demonstrates the fact that she knows her main characters inside and out, giving voice to the plights of teenage girls on the verge of adulthood. The third installment is a worthy addition to the prior novels.

Brashares' novels tell the story of four girlfriends, whose mothers were friends before their birth. Even though their mothers may have lost contact, the girls have remained friends through thick and thin. And they've seen and experienced enough trouble for more than double their lives. "Girls in Pants" finds them in the final summer before they embark for college, when they'll truly be apart for the first time in their lives. Once again, they pass the magical pants back and forth during the summer, always exactly when one girl needs them the most. While two of the girls face new and frightening experiences, the other two must encounter past problems and deal with the ghosts that haunt them.

Brashares crafts a good story. She has developed these characters consistently throughout all three novels, and takes their lives in different, but satisfying directions. Although an adult, she infuses their young voices with the wisdom of teenagers-on-the-cusp. Perhaps their stories are complete, but readers know that there will always be more summers for these magical pants and this diverse group of girls.