Magical jeans that look incredible on all who wear them, regardless of variations in the owners’ sizes and shapes? Far-fetched, to say the least, but this fantastic premise ties together the summer stories of four friends, each of whom encounters challenges during the season they spend apart. Lena, Tibby, Bridget, and Carmen vow to pass the jeans from one to another during the course of the summer, never washing them, lest they weaken the pants’ amazing qualities. The four teens face issues including a new stepparent, overwhelming shyness, the need to explain an embarrassing and misunderstood encounter with a boy, a cynical attitude about a rock-bottom job at a discount chain store, and a relentless drive to experience physical intimacy at any cost with an attractive but older camp counselor. These are presented with credibility, humor, and compassion in a way that allows the plot to escape becoming overly sentimental. The different story lines are competently interwoven, and the friends emerge at summer’s end stronger for their experiences. (Ages 13–16)

The first novel in the wildly popular #1 New York Times bestselling Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, from the author of The Whole Thing Together and The Here and Now.

Some friends just fit together.
 
Once there was a pair of pants. Just an ordinary pair of jeans. But these pants, the Traveling Pants, went on to do great things. This is the story of the four friends—Lena, Tibby, Bridget, and Carmen—who made it possible.
 
Pants = love. Love your pals. Love yourself.


"Funny, perceptive, and moving." --USA Today

 “An outstanding and vivid book that will stay with readers for a long time.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred, Flying Start
 
 “The loving depiction of enduring and solid friendship will ring true to readers.” —The Bulletin, Recommended
 
 “A feel-good novel of substance.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred
 
“Uplifting.” —Seventeen