3 Willows

Book Summary

First things first: There are no magical pants in Brashares' newest novel, despite 3 WILLOWS' tagline: "The sisterhood grows." Like many girls, three old friends -- Ama, Jo, and Polly -- wanted to emulate the famed Sisterhood, still a neighborhood legend despite moving away to college. "It's the best reason I can give for a lot of terrible-fitting jeans in our middle school," Ama notes. Instead, the motif that ties these friends together is their planting of three willow trees in elementary school. Now, during their last summer before high school, the girls must figure out if they will grow together or grow apart as they each face their own challenges. Jo gets a job -- and a new boyfriend -- while her parents go through a divorce; outdoors-hating Ama must hike and rock climb; and sweet Polly decides to become a model, despite her short stature and buck teeth. Are their bonds strong enough for high school -- or is their friendship something that belongs in the past?

Is It Any Good?

Brashares' strength is creating believable characters imbued with true-to-life faults. The 3 WILLOWS teens are not all beautiful, rich, and confident. Her insights into relationships with friends and family will garner a nod of agreement from many teens. When Polly's mom tries to make her feel better for being "weird," Polly confesses that she doesn't want to "interesting." "Maybe it was okay when you were grown up and in control of it, but being interesting in high school was no fun at all." Jo feigns indifference to her father's announcement about her parents' divorce, only to get angry at her father's relief. "Maybe she was a jerk to act like she didn't care, but he was a jerk to buy it."

The book starts a little slow and some of the lessons are predictable. However, teens who enjoy books about friendship will find these new "sisters" worth knowing.