<P> The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is a bestselling young adult novel by Ann Brashares published in 2001 . It follows the adventures of four best friends--Lena Kaligaris, Tibby Rollins, Bridget Vreeland, and Carmen Lowell, who will be spending their first summer apart when a magical pair of jeans comes into their lives, turning their summer upside down . The book was adapted into a film of the same name in 2005 . Four sequels to the book have been published, The Second Summer of the Sisterhood; Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood; Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood; and Sisterhood Everlasting . </P> <P> In the first novel of the series, the reader is introduced to four high school students: Lena Kaligaris, Tibby Rollins, Bridget Vreeland, and Carmen Lowell . They have been best friends since birth (their mothers attended prenatal exercise classes together). The summer before their junior year of high school, Carmen finds a pair of old jeans that fits each girl perfectly, despite their different sizes . This leads them to believe that the pants are magical . They share the "traveling pants" among themselves over the summer while they are separated . </P> <P> Lena spends the summer with her grandparents in Santorini . During her stay, her grandmother attempts to set her up with a man by the name of Kostos . Kostos takes interest in Lena, who eventually returns the notion . She goes skinny - dipping and Kostos accidentally sees her . Later in the summer, Lena explains to her grandparents what happened in order to repair the rift between her and Kostos' grandparents, and confesses to Kostos that she loves him . </P> <P> Tibby spends the summer working at a Wallman's store, planning to film a documentary of her experiences . She meets a 12 - year - old girl, Bailey, after the latter faints at the store . (It is revealed that she has been diagnosed with leukemia .) Over the course of the summer, the two become close friends and Bailey begins to help Tibby film her documentary . Tragically, Bailey passes from her leukemia, which leads Tibby to refocus her documentary to capture the memories that they created together . </P>

The sisterhood of the traveling pants by ann brashares