《牛仔裤的夏天》

    They were just a soft, ordinary pair of thrift-shop* jeans until the four girls took turns trying them on — four girls, that is, who are close friends, about to be parted for the summer, with very different sizes and builds, not to mention* backgrounds and personalities.

    Yet the pants fit each girl perfectly, making her look sexy and long-legged and feel as confident* as a teenager can feel.

    “These are magical pants!” they realize, and so they decide to share them equally, to mail them back and forth over the summer from wherever they are.

    Beautiful, distant Lena is going to Greece to be with her grandparents; strong, athletic* Bridget is off to soccer camp in Baja, California; hot-tempered Carmen plans to have her divorced* father all to herself in South Carolina; and Tibby the rebel will be left at home to work for minimum wage at Wallman’s drug store.

    Over the summer the pants come to represent the support of the sisterhood, but they also lead each girl into bruising* and healing* experiences, with love and courage, dying and forgiveness.

    Lena finds her identity in Greece and the courage to accept love; Bridget thinks all the time about an older camp coach; Carmen finds her father living with a new fiancee and family; and Tibby meets a filmmaking apprentice* who is dying of leukemia*.

    Each girl’s story is interesting, told in a brightly contemporary* style. The four stories are spiced* with letters and clever quotes.

    Author Ann Brashares has created hard-to-forget characters and smoothly interwoven* their stories for a young adult novel that is fresh and absorbing. (SD-Agencies)