Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood

FORVER IN BLUE This is the last book of the Sister Hood of the Traveling Pants. This friendship fiction book, Forever in Blue, is written by Ann Brashires. Lena, Tabitha (Tibby), Bridget (Bee), and Carmen are four best friends learn, cry, and laugh over the crazy happenings that occur over their last summer. They don’t spend their summer seeing each other every day but they keep connection with each other via email, phone, letters, and of course, the weathered, never-been-washed blue jeans. The fourth summer has been different for these four. They have become women and are starting to deal with real life happenings. Bee works in Turkey and digs up artifacts. She also becomes intrieged by a married man even though back home she has a boyfriend. They work together and she starts to lust for his touch as he does for hers. They reveal their thoughts with one another but that is as far as it goes because when his birthday rolls around the wife and kids show up as a surprise. A reality check hit Bee hard in the face and she knows this lust can no longer occur. She goes back home and is glad that having lustful thoughts is the furthest that it went. She realizes that she really did miss her boyfriend, a lot. Tibby and her long term boyfriend Brian take their relationship the next level. A scare arouses when Tibby thinks that she might be pregnant. She finds out she is not but this was the scare of her life that she vows will never happen again. She then backs away from their relationship and tells Brian that she wants to take a break. Brian is hurt and confused but allows Tibby to push away. Lena goes to an art school for the summer. She is used to being the pretty one and having any guy at her fingertips but while in class she finds a mystery, someone to figure out. She spent more time in the art room, but he still doesn’t look her way. She has to approach him and they hit it off. She likes that he looks at her in the eyes and talks with emotion towards her. He invites her to his house for supper and his mother suggests that they paint each other. The twist is that they would have to paint each other naked. This is awkward at first and hard but after a few different times they get comfortable. During one session they get really comfortable with each other and spontaneously have sex. They keep their friendship but it stays a summer fling. Kostos, a long lost lover shows up too. He apologizes and wants her back but she refuses to give her feelings and heart back to him. Carmen travels to Vermont to a theater summer school. She wants to be on stage crew and help create the sets. She never was good at stepping out and being in the lime light, that job was always for Lena. Her room mate for the summer is a popular actress. She wants the lead roll. But she also feels bad for Carmen and gets her to try out just for a supporting roll. The roommate practices over and over how this and that should be said. Carmen gets the lead roll for the main performance without any want or desire for it. Her roommate then starts to become cold against her. She landed a roll in a side performance. Carmen decides to take on the challenge. Later the roommate decides that she is going to try and help Carmen learn her formula. The director is mad because a few days before performance Carmen is no longer herself. She has a certain sound that is no longer their in her voice. Carmen realizes that the roommate’s help was not worth it and it has actually sabotaged her part. Carmen refuses any more help from her roommate and performs great at the performance. She also realized that her roommate was not a true friend and that she was happy only when Carmen was not. The main character has to be the old, memorable, blue jeans. These jeans fit each of the four girls perfect in their own way. They also have memories of the last four summers written on them. The pants are sent to each girl in order during the summer. The girl with the pants has to wear them and make a summer memory. This is how the girls feel as if they were with each other at that moment. These pants create a special bond. The pants bring them together at the end of the story by being lost in Greece. They are never found except that they have shown the girls the true meaning of friendship. The conflicts in this story are of the many. Man vs. self in the internal realm occurs the most though. Lena creates a man vs. self in the fact that she has to learn to break out and approach a guy. She also has to learn how to become comfortable with her body and herself in front of this guy. Bee has to deal with man vs. self too. She has to learn to overcome lust and think about what is moral when she wants to have a relationship with a married guy. Tibby deals with man vs. self when she realizes that she needs not to be afraid of loving someone. She loves Brian but she is scared because she chose to have sex with him. She feels that he knows her too much. Carmen too has to realize that she dosnt need to let people push her around and she needs to break out of her shell and become more confident. All four of them struggle to find who they are and how to embrace their future. This is a sign of transition into womanhood. This book, Forever in Blue, was a great book. It talked of many every day things that we as teens go through now. Decisions being made, learning from our mistakes, living life to the fullest, and finding ourselves. Any teenage girl struggling to find who they are and feel that they are alone should read this book. .

Great book but too much sex. These books are so good full of friendship, love, and personal fights. Heartwarming and wonderful.