I did enjoy this book, but some parts were a little slow. The letters were all flashbacks and kind of confusing at times. Basically, if you can watch PG-13 movies, there won't be anything in this book you haven't seen or heard before.
3 Willows
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Is it age appropriate?
About our ratings(Flash is loading. If this text does not disappear you need to install the latest flash version)
Not age appropriate for kids under 11, age appropriate for kids over 14; suggested age 12. -
Is it any good?
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Common Sense says
Brashares' novel charms even without magical pants.
Why We Rated This
for Ages 12–14
The good stuff
What to watch out for
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Violence:
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Sex:
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Language:
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Consumerism:
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Drinking, drugs, & smoking:
What Parents Need to Know
About 3 Willows
Parents need to know that this book from the author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants ultimately delivers positive messages about doing what's right, making good choices, taking chances, and accepting oneself. Along the way, the three young teen protagonists deaI with a borderline eating disorder, an alcoholic parent, a fickle cute boy, and the tribulations of fitting in with the popular crowd. The book name-drops characters from the author's Traveling Pants books but is targeted at a younger audience than that young adult series.
Read our full review by Stephanie Dunnewind
Families Can Talk About
- Families can talk about Polly's choice to start dieting and her obsession with models. Imagining herself as a model pictured in magazines distributed all over the world, she believes "you could see so much more of the world when you were flat than when you were full ... I'd like to be two-dimensional, she thought. That was what models got to be." What do teens think about the idea of being reduced to a two-dimensional picture? How does Polly's attitude change over the course of the book?
Our Members Say
Most Recent Reviews
- I rate this title iffy for age 12 and give it
A Pretty Good Book

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