Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is a young adult (YA) bildungsroman published in 2001 by Ann Brashares. It is the first in the eponymous series of five best-selling novels, two of which were adapted into feature films. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants follow Carmen, Lena, Bridget, and Tibby, four teenage girls who share an inseparable bond and a pair of “magical” pants that fit each of them perfectly. During their first summer apart, the girls are anchored by their friendship as they undergo the turbulent process of growing up and experience love and loss.

This guide refers to the digital version of the 2001 Delacorte Press edition.

Content Warning: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants discusses terminal illness and death, mental health crises, and familial conflicts. These topics are handled with appropriate sensitivity for young readers.

Plot Summary

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants opens on four best friends: Carmen Lowell, Lena Kaligaris, Bridget Vreeland, and Tabitha “Tibby” Rollins, as they prepare for their first-ever summer apart. Carmen narrates in the first person, explaining the significance of their friendship. The girls live in Bethesda, Maryland, and have been inseparable since birth after their mothers met in a prenatal aerobics class. Carmen briefly summarizes each girl’s defining characteristics; Lena is beautiful, Bridget athletic, and Tibby rebellious. Carmen is unsure where she herself fits into the group.

In Carmen’s room, the girls try on a pair of blue jeans she bought from a local thrift shop. The pants fit each of them perfectly despite their different heights and body types. They conclude that the pants must possess magical powers and decide to share them over the course of the summer. Carmen is going to South Carolina to visit her father Al, Bridget to Baja California to attend soccer camp, and Lena to Oia, Greece, to visit her grandparents. Only Tibby will stay in Bethesda to work at Wallman’s, a local drugstore.

The girls break into the gym where their mothers first met and conduct a ceremony to honor their friendship. They dub Carmen’s jeans “the Traveling Pants” (18) and themselves “Sisters of the Pants” (19). They plan to send the pants to one another over the course of the summer. Each girl will have the pants for a total of two weeks and will keep track of any significant experiences they have while wearing them.

After arriving at their destinations, Carmen, Tibby, Lena, and Bridget face challenges from their new environments. Carmen, who was looking forward to a summer spent alone with her father, is blindsided by the news that he is getting remarried. She takes an instant dislike to her father’s fiancé Lydia and her children, Krista and Paul. All three are blonde and waifish, and Carmen, who is Puerto Rican American, feels out of place. Unable to tell her father how she feels, she instead lashes out at Lydia, Krista, and Paul. Upon finding them eating dinner without her one night, she heaves a rock through the kitchen window before fleeing back to Bethesda.

In Oia, Lena’s grandmother tries to set her up with Kostos Dounas, the local golden boy. Despite Kostos’s respectful approach, Lena rejects him outright. She is used to only being valued for her looks and suspects Kostos of the same. One day, Kostos stumbles upon Lena skinny-dipping in a pond. Lena accuses him of spying and runs home disheveled and upset, causing her grandparents to mistakenly assume that he assaulted her. A furious Bapi Kaligaris storms over to Kostos’s home and punches Kostos’s grandfather in the face. Lena doesn’t speak up and correct the misunderstanding even as the conflict escalates. Kostos starts to avoid her, which makes her realize that she does have feelings for him.

At camp, Bridget develops a crush on her college-aged coach, Eric. She flirts with him boldly, lying about her age and going as far as to sneak into his cabin. On the field, she shows off her skills hoping to impress him, earning the disapproval of her coach. Though Eric initially keeps Bridget at arm’s length, he eventually admits his attraction, and the two sleep together. In the aftermath, Bridget is left reeling, overwhelmed by unfamiliar emotions. She retreats to her bed and stops eating or playing soccer.

At Wallman’s, Tibby is bored and annoyed by her coworkers. She plans to make a mocking “suckumentary” documenting a summer of misery, but her plans change when she befriends a 12-year-old girl named Bailey, who is dying from leukemia. Bailey collaborates with Tibby on the film, and under their joint direction it evolves from biting satire into an empathetic portrait of its subjects. Tibby grows to love and care for Bailey but struggles to accept her impending death, sequestering herself in her room when Bailey’s condition starts to worsen.

With the help of their friends and the pants, each girl overcomes the challenges she faces. Carmen tells her dad about her feelings, and they repair their relationship in time for her to attend his wedding. Lena works up the courage to confess her feelings to Kostos, who returns her feelings, and they kiss. She then flies to Baja to console Bridget. Tibby overcomes her grief to show up for Bailey during her final days. After Bailey’s death, Tibby leans on her friends for support and resolves to honor Bailey by living a full life.

At the end of the summer, the four friends reconvene, returning to the gym for a joint birthday party. Despite the ways they have changed over the summer, their bond is as strong as ever. They share stories about their time apart and plan to carry on the tradition of the pants the following summer.