Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

This is a wonderful first novel. It is, as the Kirkus Review notes “… A feel-good novel of substance …. Move over, Ya-Ya Sisters.” Basically, it is the story of a bunch of 15-year old girls and their first summer of separation. Each of our heroines has a traumatic summer in one way or another, and they provide each other with emotional and logistical support. The girls are Lena, who is so beautiful nobody can quite believe it, but is a total introvert; Carmen, who has a Puerto Rican background and is somewhat defensive about it, as well as being a math freak; Bridget, the athelete; and Tibby, who still secretly loves the gerbil she got when she was 12, and is otherwise pretty normal. These girls have a summer of growing up experiences, and by the time they get together again at the end of the summer, they have all changed substantially. This is a really good read.