Ann Brashares. Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood
New York: Random House Audio Publishing, 2007. 9 hours, 3 minutes.
Lena, Carmen, Bee and Tibby have finished their first year of college and are scattered to different cities for the summer. Each is facing a crisis of love – whether with a boy or learning more about loving themselves. The Traveling Pants of earlier Brashares novels travel from girl to girl, but can’t work their magic as well as human understanding can. Lena is slowly getting over a broken heart with Kostas while exploring her art. Carmen struggles to make herself “visible” again after an “invisible” year at college by attending a summer theater workshop. Bee is on an archeological dig and unearths feelings about belonging and family through a relationship with one of her professors. Tibby finds herself afraid and alone after a fateful step she wasn’t ready to take. Each chapter begins with a quote that aptly sets the tone for the story ahead.
Teens who have been following the saga of the Traveling Pants will engage with the exploration of topics such as loss of virginity, “friends” who really aren’t friends, love with a married man and sorting out what true love means. There is lots of tension that keeps you coming back to the story. The narration by Angela Geothals is excellent as the four girls, but seemed phony to me with male voices, especially Kostas. Overall this is a great choice for an audio book.
4Q
4P
The cover art features the famous traveling pants, so fans of the series will instantly recognize them and grab the disc set. The lettering will appeal to teens because it is quirky.
