Author: Ann Brashares
Publisher: Random House
Copyright: 2011
ISBN: 9780385521222
Reading Level: Adult
Interest Age: Grade 9 and up
Genre: Romance--Chick Lit
Reader’s Annotation: The members of the Sisterhood are about to turn 30, and in the last few years they've drifted apart. When a reunion takes a horrifying turn, their lives are upended and threatens their lifelong friendship is threatened.
Plot Summary
Now nearing 30, Carmen, Tibby, Bridget, and Lena are leading very separate lives. Carmen has an acting career in New York and a high-powered fiancé whom none of the others likes. Tibby is living in Australia with her longtime boyfriend and has been out of contact for months. Bridget lives with her longtime boyfriend in San Francisco, drifting from one apartment to another with no real job or plans. Lena teaches art classes in Rhode Island and has become an almost complete loner. When Tibby proposes a reunion in Santorini, all of them feel it’s just what they need. But when Carmen, Lena, and Bridget arrive, they find that Tibby has drowned. Finding goodbye letters she wrote to each of them, they assume it was suicide.
After that, the three remaining friends go their separate ways, now even less inclined to contact each other than before. Lena makes a last-ditch effort to reconnect with her long-lost love, Kostos. Carmen gets a lead on a possible big part, but makes some discoveries about what she really wants on the way there. Bridget impulsively leaves Eric, only to find that she is pregnant. While she thinks about whether to keep the baby, she goes to Australia to try to figure out what really happened to Tibby.
Critical Evaluation
In many ways, Sisterhood Everlasting is just like the earlier books in the series: the writing is solid but not revelatory; tear-jerking and heartwarming moments abound. But this installment has a much darker tone than its predecessors, to its credit. The characters have aged convincingly. Things are not going perfectly for any of the four friends, no matter what they pretend to themselves. Though they’re either in careers that they love (Lena and Carmen) or with the men they love (Bridget and Tibby), they all feel a bit lost as they approach 30. They look back on the years they lived together in New York with longing, not knowing how to bring back the closeness they felt then.
Tibby’s death and the indications of suicide surrounding it are horrifying and have real emotional impact. The surviving friends’ reactions are true to character (unlike many of the girls’ decisions in the previous book, Forever in Blue). I found Bridget’s storyline especially interesting—a nice change, as she is usually my least favorite character. The ending, as always with this series, is a bit too facile and perfect, but this time it feels like the characters have earned it.
Curriculum Ties: N/A
Booktalking Ideas: Talk about just one of the four members of the Sisterhood (or perhaps each in turn). Give a little background from the previous books, then describe where she is 10 years later, when this book begins.
Challenge Issues: Sexual content, some language
In the defense file, I will include my library's selection policy, ALA's Library Bill of Rights, ALA's guidelines on free access to libraries for minors (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/freeaccesslibraries.cfm), and ALA's strategies and tips for dealing with challenges to library materials (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/copingwithchallenges/strategiestips/index.cfm). I will also include my library's reconsideration form, in case challenges to this book cannot be defused with "tea and sympathy." I'll include positive reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist and the assessment from Common Sense Media (http://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/sisterhood-everlasting).
About the Author
Ann Brashares (born July 30, 1967) is an American writer of young adult fiction. She is best known as the author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series of books.
Brashares was born in Alexandria, Virginia and grew up in Chevy Chase, Maryland. She attended elementary and high school at the Sidwell Friends School in Washington D.C. After studying philosophy at Barnard College, she worked as an editor for 17th Street Productions. 17th Street was acquired by Alloy Entertainment, and following the acquisition she worked briefly for Alloy.
After leaving Alloy she wrote The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, which became an international best seller. It was followed with three more titles in the Sisterhood series, the last of which, Forever in Blue, was released in January 2007. The first book in the series was made into a film in 2005, and a second film based on the other three titles in the series was released in August 2008. Brashares's first adult novel, The Last Summer (of You and Me) was released in 2007. A companion book to the Sisterhood series, 3 Willows: The Sisterhood Grows, was published in 2009. A second novel for adults, My Name is Memory, was published in 2010 and has been optioned for film. She lives in New York with her artist husband, Jacob Collins, and children Nathaniel, Samuel, Susannah, and Isaiah.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Brashares
Why is this title included?
The Sisterhood series is extremely popular with teens. For years the series seemed to be over, so this new addition is very exciting.