This is the fictional story of the intense and loving friendship among four teenage girls. They remain connected during their first summer apart through a connection with a pair of used jeans that seem to magically fit each of them perfectly, though their bodies are different. The pants are sent around the world during the summer to each of the girls. They each experience love, loss, and all the other elements of the teenage experience.

LITERARY ELEMENTS

SETTING

The story takes place in present day Suburban Washington, D.C., specifically Georgetown and Bethesda (including such places as Wallman's Pharmacy and the 7-Eleven); Baja, California; Oia, Greece; and Charleston, South Carolina

CHARACTER LIST

Major Characters

The Pants
Although an inanimate object, the pair of blue jeans that becomes so magical to the four girls can be called a character. Many of their choices and the events that impact them came about only because of the confidence that the Pants brought them.

Carmen
She is the narrator for the opening and closing chapters of the novel and one of the members of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. She is overly sensitive about her dad's move to South Carolina and her Puerto Rican heritage. She is the one who purchases the Pants.

Tibby
She is the only one of the four girls to remain at home for the summer. She works at Wallman's Pharmacy and becomes friends with Bailey, a twelve year old with leukemia.

Bridget
She is the athletic one of the group and one of the prettiest. She goes to soccer camp where she loses her virginity and finds herself unable to deal with her choices.

Lena
Born of Greek heritage, she spends the summer in Oia, Greece with her grandma and Bapi. She is the most beautiful of the group, but finds it difficult to socialize, especially with boys.

Lydia, Krista, Paul Rodman, and Albert Lowell
These four are Carmen's father and his new family. She is angry at them all, because she is blindsided with the news about the upcoming wedding, but she is most angry at her dad whom she doesn't want to be angry with, so she applies the majority of her hatred to the Rodmans.

Bailey
She is the twelve year old girl with leukemia and a wisdom beyond her years who befriends Tibby and leaves with her new friend an unforgettable legacy.

Eric
He is one of the coaches at Bridget's soccer camp. She falls totally head-over-heels in love (lust?) with him and loses her virginity to him.

Kostos
He is the American-born grandson of Lena's grandparents' best friends. He is introduced to Lena in hopes that love will bloom, but through an unfortunate mistake on Lena's part, they don't discover how they both feel until her very last day in Greece.

Effie
Lena's younger sister, who doesn't have Lena's beauty, but has such an effervescent personality that she is much more popular than beautiful older sister. She is also the one in the end who makes Lena recognize that must face her fears of committing her heart even if that means rejection.

Minor Characters

Duncan, Margaret, Angela, and Brianna
These four are Tibby's co-workers and learn to love Bailey, too.

Tucker Rowe
He is the really good-looking boy on whom Tibby has a crush. Bailey helps her see that he is really shallow and not worth Tibby's effort.

Brian McBrian
He is the young wizard player of Dragon Master whose attitude on life comes to impact Tibby greatly. He believes that happiness is just a series of small pleasures and when looked at from that perspective, life is so much more enjoyable.

Diana, Ollie, & Rosie
These three girls are Bee's friends at soccer camp. They follow her lead and often encourage her in her quest for Eric.

Mollie Brevin
She is Bee's coach who had tried to teach her that playing soccer was about being part of a team; instead, she made Bee feel for a time as if she weren't good enough.

Kelly, also known as Skeletor
She is Paul Rodman's girlfriend and fears Carmen may be her rival. Carmen nicknames her that, because she has the exact opposite body to her, and Carmen is overly sensitive about her own body.

Mrs. Graffman
She is Bailey's mother and the one who explains to Tibby why they decided to stop treatment for Bailey's leukemia. She also tells Tibby how special she is to Bailey and begs her to come see her daughter before it's too late.

Grandma and Bapi
They are Lena's grandparents and stand up against their best friends in support of her when they believe she has been molested by Kostos. They are also the ones who wait patiently until she is ready to explain what really happened that day at the pond.