I haven’t written about my reading lately, so I thought I’d share some thoughts from my latest read, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares. This book was written in 2001 and is considered “young adult literature,” a great book, specifically, for those of you who have teenage daughters.
I actually bought this book, originally, for my daughter Rachel when she was 14. My husband, who also works part-time at Borders for extra family cash, raved about the book at the time for girls. He called the teenagers buying the book: “Little Ya Ya’s.” The reference is to The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells, which shares common “women bonding themes” with Traveling Pants, but is more adult, and in my opinion, just a better book overall.
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants sat on my bookshelf for years until I started teaching an adolescent literature course at my college. I have finally read it and saw the film, which I was grossly disappointed in. However, I’d suggest the book for any teenage girl or young woman, and if you like “chick flicks” and “chick books,” you may like this one too. Read this book, and then go read Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood!
My favorite part of Traveling Pants was the quotes that began each chapter, so I thought I’d share them here for thoughts and comments. I’m starring and highlighting my favorites:
*1. “Not all who wander are lost.”
-J.R.R. Tolkien
2. “Luck never gives: it only lends.”
-Ancient Chinese Proverb
3. “Today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday.”
-Anonymous
4. “Can you make yourself love? Can you make yourself be loved?”
-Lena Kaligaris, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
*5. “There is no such thing as fun for the whole family.”
-Jerry Seinfeld
6. “Love is like war: Easy to begin. Hard to end.”
-Proverb
7. “Rule #1: The customer is always right. Rule #2: If the customer is wrong, please refer to rule #1.”
-Duncan Howe
8. “When life hands you a lemon, say, “Oh yeah. I like lemons. What else ya got?”
-Henry Rollins
9. “I have seen the future and it’s like the present, only longer.”
-Dan Quisenberry
*10. “Sometimes you’re the windshield: sometimes you’re the bug.”
-Mark Knopfler
11. “If you feel like you’re under control, you’re just not going fast enough.”
-Mario Andretti
12. “The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem. Got that?”
-Coach Brevin
13. “If you don’t find it in the index, look very carefully throughout the entire catalog.”
-Sears Roebuck Catalog
14. “Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them, and you have their shoes.”
-Frieda Norris
15. “Time tells the truth.”
-Fortune Cookie
16. “Of the thirty-six ways of avoiding disaster, running away is best.”
-Anonymous
17. “Life is so…whatever.”
Kelly Marquette, aka Skeletor, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
*18. “You will make all kinds of mistakes: but as long as you are generous and true and also fierce you cannot hurt the world or even seriously distress her.”
-Winston Churchill
19. “Wish for what you want. Work for what you need.”
-Carmen’s grandmother, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
*20. “My karma ran over my dogma.”
-Bumper Sticker
21. “You can take a road that gets you to the stars. I can take a road that will see me through.”
-Nick Drake
22. “What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
23. “All Moanday, Tearday, Wailsday, Thumpsday, Frightday, Shatterday.”
-James Joyce
*24. “Is there world enough for me?”
-Jane Frances
25. “In your eyes I am complete.”
-Peter Gabriel
26. “We will go – Nowhere we know-We don’t have to talk at all.”
-Beck
Enjoy! And happy reading.
Lavena*