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Summary
Author Notes
Author Ann Brashares grew up in Chevy Chase, Maryland and graduated from the Sidwell Friends School in 1985. She met her husband while studying philosophy at Barnard College, which is part of Columbia University, in New York City. She worked as an editor in the hopes of saving money for graduate school, but she enjoyed her job so much that she continued to do it until she became a full-time author with her first novel, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Since then, she has written five more novels in the popular series; the latest one is entitled, Sisterhood Everlasting. She has also written as her first novel for adults: The Last Summer (of You and Me). In 2005, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants was adapted into a movie. She currently lives with her husband and their children in New York.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
With the Traveling Pants series all wrapped up, Brashares introduces a new group of BFFs and addresses a slightly younger crowd. Living in the same town as the semilegendary Sisterhood girls, Ama, Polly and Jo have tried to share a pair of jeans and settled on a joint-property scarf (plus an induction ceremony), but their rituals are "lame," and so, they suspect, is their trio. Only socially backward Polly thinks she'll miss the others when all three disperse the summer before high school. In typical Brashares fashion, each girl faces unexpected tribulations: intellectually ambitious Ama, who is afraid of heights, has won a spot in a prestigious scholarship program-which sends her mountain climbing. Jo, newly told that her parents are divorcing, submerges her feelings in the excitement of being friends with a popular girl and having an older boyfriend-or so she thinks. Polly, sold out by Jo in the pursuit of cool, learns that her single mom is alcoholic. Fans will like the tidiness in the controlling metaphor, willow tree cuttings planted after a third-grade project, and for all the fidelity to formula, Brashares gets her characters' emotions and interactions just right. Ages 12-up. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(Middle School) The original Sisterhood is now the stuff of legend; in this fast-paced, readable novel, the story moves on to a new circle of friends, one with a strong past but a shaky present. Ama, Polly, and Jo sealed their friendship in third grade by planting three tiny willow trees together; but by their last year of middle school, the girls have drifted apart. The start of summer finds them awkwardly returning all the items they'd once borrowed, until "what little they'd still had of each other they didn't have anymore." As in the original series, the novel traces a single summer in which each girl experiences her own set of challenges. Bookworm Ama winds up on a wilderness trip, horrified by the prospect of hiking boots and no hair products; Polly, who has outwardly changed least since grade school, develops a dangerous obsession with becoming a model; status-conscious Jo takes a job at a beachside restaurant with the cool high school girls and has a fling with a gorgeous boy that ends in hurt and humiliation. Each girl finds herself longing for the other two and a return to their friendship. The characters are well developed, and their struggles (including more serious family issues of divorce and alcoholism) feel real. The end-of-summer resolution is a satisfying formula for middle-school readers, and a closing visit to the flourishing willow trees promises more to come. From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Brashares begins a new sisterhood series, with occasional cameos from the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants gang. Ama, Jo, and Polly originally met in third grade. Now it's the summer before high school, and they're all dealing with disappointments and difficulties. Ghana-born overachiever Ama is horrified with her assignment to a summer wilderness camp instead of the academic program she was hoping for. Jo is dealing with her parents' separation and the wildly attractive boy at work. Free-spirit Polly is struggling to transform herself into a model through radical dieting and modeling camps. There are glimpses of Tibby and Lena from the Pants series, but readers seeking old friends from the wildly popular series will be disappointed. However, Brashares has created an eminently likable trio of girls that tweens and younger teens will enjoy getting to know, and unlike the last Sisterhood books, there's no sex, just the occasional kiss. Multiple copies are in order for any community where the Sisterhood series is popular.--Carton, Debbie Copyright 2009 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 7-10-Incoming freshmen at the same high school that the original sisterhood attended, Ama, Jo, and Polly are learning that falling out of friendship is an unfortunate part of growing up. They're spending the summer apart-uprooted-dealing with divorce, unmet expectations, and, of course, boys. Fans of Brashares will likely be thrilled to get their hands on Willows, yet the story falls short of offering the chick-lit genre anything new. Undoubtedly, though, readers will become involved with the girls as they grow their separate ways, ultimately realizing that the roots of their friendship have never really come undone. The sweet (near sappy) novel will find a place on the to-read list of many tweens and teens.-Emily Chornomaz, Brooklyn Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants has entered college. Now, three younger girls are about to take its place. Jo, Polly and Ama have been friends since childhood, but as high school approaches the three find themselves growing in separate directions. As in the first Traveling Pants book, the girls are spending their first summer apart. Academic Ama is hiking her way to school credit. Sensitive, quirky Polly is at home, saving her money so she can attend modeling school. Jo, newly popular, travels to her family's beach home and works her first summer job. The girls find that their physical distance brings them closer emotionally. A sweetly sentimental narrative combined with story lines of romance and parent drama ensures that like the previous Pants books, this one will travel from girl to girl. At times the characters are difficult to distinguish from one another, and the parallels between the girls' friendship and the willow trees they planted as children go over the top, but that will not detract from the book's popularity. (Fiction. YA) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Excerpts
Excerpts
One The last day of school was a half day. Tomorrow the entire eighth grade would pile back into the gym for the graduation ceremony, but that was just for an hour and their families would be there. The next time Ama went to school, it would be high school. Everything is changing, Ama thought. Usually she took the bus home, but today she felt like walking, she wasn't sure why. She wasn't sentimental. She was purposeful and forward-looking, like her older sister. But it was an aimless time of day, and she wasn't hauling her usual twenty pounds of textbooks, binders, and notebooks. Today she felt like treading the familiar steps she'd walked so many times when she was younger, when she was never in a hurry. She couldn't help thinking about Polly and Jo as she walked, so when she saw them up ahead, waiting at the light to cross East-West Highway, it almost felt like they appeared out of her memory. Ama was surprised to see Polly and Jo together. From this long view, she was struck by the naturalness of the way they stood together and at the same time, the strain. She doubted they had started off from school together. These days Jo usually left school with her noisy and flirting group of friends to go to the Tastee Diner or to the bagel place around the corner. Polly went her own way--taking forever to pack up her stuff and often spending time at the library before heading home. Ama sometimes saw Polly at the library and they sat together out of habit. But unlike Ama, Polly wasn't there to do her homework. Polly read everything in the library except what was assigned. As Ama got closer, she considered how little Jo looked like she used to in elementary school. Her braces were off, her glasses were gone, and she devotedly wore whatever the current marker for popularity was--at the moment, pastel plaid shorts and her hair in two braids. Ama considered how much Polly, in her long frayed shorts and her dark newsboy cap, looked the same as she always had. "Ama! Hey!" Polly saw her first. She was waving excitedly. The walk sign illuminated and Ama hurried to catch up to them so they could cross the highway together. "I can't believe you're here," Polly said, looking from Ama to Jo. "This is historic." "It's on her way home," Jo pointed out, not seeming to want to acknowledge the significance of the three of them walking home together on this day. Ama understood how Jo felt. The history of their friendship was like a brimming and moody pond under a smooth surface of ice, and she didn't want to crack it. As they walked they talked about final exams and graduation plans. Nobody said anything as they passed the 7-Eleven or even as they approached the old turn. What if we turned? Ama suddenly wondered. What if they ran down the old hill, past the playground, and stepped into the woods to see the little trees they had planted so long ago? What if they held hands and ran as fast as they could? But the three of them passed the old turn, heads and eyes forward. Only Polly seemed to glance back for a moment. Anyway, even if they did turn, Ama knew it wouldn't be the same. The creaky metal merry-go-round would be rusted, the swing set abandoned. The trees might not even be there anymore. It had been so long since they'd tended to them. Ama pictured her younger self, running down the hill with her two best friends, out of control and exhilarated. It was different now. People changed and places changed. They were going into high school. This was no time for looking back. Ama couldn't even picture the trees. She couldn't remember the name of the hill anymore. Polly When I think of the first day of our friendship, I think of the three of us running across East-West Highway with our backpacks on our backs and our potted plants in our hands. I think of Jo dropping her plant in the middle of the street and all of us stopping short, and the sight of the little stalk turned on its side and the roots showing and the soil spilling onto the asphalt. I remember the three of us stooping down to put the plant back into its pot, hurriedly tucking its roots back under the dirt as the walk signal turned from white walk to blinking orange don't walk. And I remember Ama shouting that we had to hurry, and seeing, over my shoulder, the cars pouring over the hill toward us. I remember the rough feeling of the asphalt scraping under my fingers as I swept up the last of the dirt, the stinging feeling of my knuckles as I tried to gather it in my fist. I think it was Jo who grabbed my arm and pulled me to the sidewalk. And I remember the long, flat swell of the horns in my ears. Ama We met on the first day of third grade, because of all the 132 kids in our grade, we were the three who didn't get picked up. I was spooked, because my mom had never failed to pick me up from school. She'd never even been late before. We didn't talk to each other at first. I was embarrassed and scared and I didn't want to show it. They put us in the math help room with the see-through walls. We stared out like a zoo exhibit waiting for our parents to come. That was the day they gave out the little willow tree cuttings in plastic pots in our science class. We were supposed to take care of them and study them all year. I remember each of us sitting at a desk with our plant in front of us. Polly kept poking at hers to see if the soil was too dry. She hummed. Jo put her sneakers up on the desk and leaned back. She said her plant probably wouldn't last through the week. I couldn't believe how casual the two of them were about being left at school. I was freaked out, but later on I learned that my mother had a really good excuse for not showing up that day. From the Hardcover edition. Excerpted from 3 Willows: The Sisterhood Grows by Ann Brashares All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
