Brashares, Ann. The second summer of the sisterhood.

(sequel to The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants). Random House, Delacorte. 370p. c2003.0-8072-0967-8. $18,00. JS*

Another summer and more adventures for the four friends--Bridget, Tibby, Carmen, and Lena--we met in the first book. Yes, the magical pants are still with them and are passed one to the other as the weeks pass by. The four are again separated and yet are constantly connected by e-mail, letters, and phone calls. Bridget is in the small Southern town where her mother grew up--she is hiding her identity and trying to get to know the woman who is her grandmother. Tibby is at a film camp at a local university, admiring a rather sophisticated fellow student and ashamed of her loyal friend Brian. Carmen is at home angry with her mother for falling in love and doing her best to sabotage that relationship, Lena has broken up with her boyfriend from last summer's trip to Greece, but Kostos appears unexpectedly on her doorstep and she is thrown back into the whirlpool of love.

Like the style of the first book, the four stories of the four girls proceed at a fast clip, with their care for each other and the pants themselves connecting the four narratives. The author cuts from one narrative to the next neatly and cleanly; and the reader has no trouble feeling part of these four lives. Brashares manages this juggling act well. She also has great love for many other characters; for instance, the adults of the story are developed as full characters, especially the mothers. The girls are smart, thoughtful, introspective, resourceful, creative, and flawed. They can also be self-destructive, angry, jealous and deceitful. This is longer than most YA novels, and filled with conversation, action, and life.