[.ca] The Second Summer of the Sisterhood (ISBN 0786255455)

From Amazon.com:
Teens who loved Ann Brashares's The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2001) will cheer its equally riveting sequel The Second Summer of the Sisterhood. As in the first novel, four teen girls who have known each other since birth (their moms shared a pregnancy aerobics class) further forge their bond of friendship through a pair of thrift-store jeans that magically, impossibly, fits them all perfectly. Like the summer before, Carmen, Bridget, Tibby, and Lena share their individual adventures with the Pants collective, creating an engaging, kaleidoscopic narrative of four voices. This summer, Tibby attends a film program in Virginia and Bridget (Bee), whose mother has died, impulsively jets off to Alabama to get reacquainted with her estranged grandmother. Lovely Lena tries to protect herself from the heartbreak of loving her long-distance Greek god boyfriend Kostos, and Carmen deals (poorly) with her mother dating again and having the nerve to borrow the Pants! The Second Summer, while breezy and fun to read, deals seriously with love lost and found, death, and finding the courage to live honestly. The teens' lessons are often painful, but the Sisterhood prevails. Quotations from luminaries such as Charlie Brown ("Nothing takes the taste out of peanut butter quite like unrequited love") to Nelson Mandela ("There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered") open each chapter and cleverly reflect the novel's many moods. (Ages 12 and older) --Karin Snelson

The Second Summer of the Sisterhood:
I read the first book in the series and loved it, so of course I had to read the second one. The reason why I only gave this book four stars is because, there were questions unanswered and when I finished the book I didn't know that there was gonna be a sequel. My guess is that all of my questions will be anwered then. Like the first book it;s about four friends, Lena, Tibby, Carmen, and Bridget. But in this book it goes into more depth with the relationship of Lena and Kostos. Bridget also meets a guy a soccer camp. What I guess I didn't like was that Bailey wasn't in this book. She was one of my favorite characters in the book besides the four main characters. I can't wait 'till the third sisterhood book comes out, Girs In Pants, but I guess I have to because it doesn't come out 'till january, 25, 2005. Well I hope this review was helpful. Oh, and sorry about all of the grammer mistakes that I made, i'm not very good at grammer.

Summertime Is Still Sweet....:
I'm a big reader of books of all kinds - teen fare that I can get away with reading, the oh so popular chick lit (a la Bridget Jones Diary), and of course classics and top sellers. So I've got a lot to compare Ann Brashares 2nd offering to - and overall I'd give it a 3.5 stars rather then 4 or 3. The story itself picks up 10 months after the last one began - summer break yet again with the girls beginning their yearly tradition of breaking into the gym where their mothers had exercise class together and thus brought the four main characters together - Lena - gorgeous but shy and serious, deals with lessons in love and heartbreak via Kostos (her Greek grandparents family friends son) in this novel...my only problem is that she doesn't really seem to change her attitude much from the last book until the very end, and even then she seems unaware that she is growing up. Carmen - Rehashes the storyline of the last book in this one with a few plot points changed - basically plays a bratty daughter yet again. Carmen is probably my least fave character in terms of development both plot and characterwise - she never seems to learn anything (which perhaps is a character trait). Tibby - Seems to have a much smaller role in this book, particularly towards the end, doens't really grow much but revisits the previous summer in an interesting way. Bee - My fave character and in my opinion has the strongest and most interesting storyline - where she impulsively takes off to Alabama to visit her long lost grandmother and to discover more about her bi-polar mother who killed herself many years ago. Its interesting because Bee appears to be the only one who changed OVER the course of the year, and thus you get to watch her become something from those changes instead of just re-visiting last summers experiences and lessons. All in all I enjoyed Brashares writing, I love the quotes she uses, and she makes you feel for each of the characters. The only thing I have to criticize her on is the lack of major growth the girls should have experienced during the school year, as the mistakes they made in this book were far too similar to the previous years. Personally the summer before grade 10 and the summer before grade 11 (or grade 11 and grade 12) were completely different times for me, and I think the girls really should've learnt something more then quadratic functions over the year. Another small criticism is that the girls are almost too functioned on their said plot points...Brashares could've created a more 3-dimensional world but granted a book can only show you so much. Finally I think she makes the girls a bit over-emotional at times to the point where it becomes unbelievable. However if you are into the ever popular continuity-necessary teen novel that dominates the market today, then pick this (and the first) book up for some fun summer reads.

second best book ever:
The only reason this is the second best book ever is because the first book about the sisterhood was my favourite. This is a wonderful continuation to the lives of Bridget,Carmen,Lena and Tibby. In this book, like the first one, the lives of these four girls are entwined cleverly by a magical pair of pants that look good on anyone. Get reaquainted with Lena, a shy beauty who doesn't know what to do about her long distance boyfriend Kostos, and Bridget, the soccer star whose hidden feelings are starting to catch up with her. Plus Carmen, who is trying to come to terms with her mother dating again. And finally Tibby, the quiet rebel with the nose ring. She is still grieving the death of Bailey. She is attending a film making school. Ann Brashares magically ties the lives of these four wonderfully different friends with a unusual object. A pair of second hand pants. If you loved the first book then you will most definetely love this riveting sequel. Also, if you can't wait for more Lena,Bridget,Carmen and Tibby then don't worry. Tha third book of the sisterhood will be coming out soon and also the sisterhood movie. This is definetely one of three of my favourite books ever.

The Girls Are Back - I read for 8 hours straight!:
I absolutly loved this book, and for that note the one before it also. I don't say that about many books! It was truly touching - I cried for Lena twice! The girls - Lena, Tibby, Carmen, and Bee - Are off again on another exciting story! I was touched by all of them equally (except for Tibby, who didn't have THAT much substance in the book but it was still good! I loved that they brought Bailey's spirit back into the book! I also am glad Kostos came back, even if.... em I didn't like the end... But it was very good and I enjoyed it!!!!

Love This:
This is a very well written novel for teen girls that is very in tune to what teens are actually like, not just the wishy washy nonsense about teen girls. A true winner and a great novel for any girl, young or old.