50 Fun Facts About The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

In The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, where does Carmen Lowell buy the jeans that somehow fit all four friends?

A thrift shop near Georgetown sold her the jeans, which she bought mostly to prove that secondhand stores aren't dirty. She then threw them in her closet and nearly forgot them.

Which everyday chore do the rules of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants forbid all summer?

Washing them is banned, so one pair of jeans crosses three countries through a hot summer without a single clean. The same vow limits each girl's turn to a week.

On which Greek island does Lena Kaligaris spend her summer with her grandparents and younger sister?

Santorini is where her grandparents live, and Lena arrives unable to speak Greek with a grandfather who has no English. Their silent breakfasts become one of the summer's quiet pleasures.

Which illness does twelve-year-old Bailey have when Tibby Rollins reluctantly befriends her one summer?

Leukemia is what Bailey is fighting, and Tibby only learns of it when Bailey's mother mentions her medicine. Bailey dies before the summer is over.

How long have the four friends of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants been close before their first summer apart?

Since birth is no exaggeration: the four arrived within weeks of one another, to mothers who were friends first. The mothers later drifted apart, which the girls swear never to do.

Which author made her fiction debut with The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and wrote four sequels?

Ann Brashares grew up in Chevy Chase, Maryland, with three brothers, and set her story of four girlfriends in the same state. She has four children of her own.

What is Lena Kaligaris doing at a pond in Greece when Kostos Dounas accidentally walks in on her?

Skinny-dipping on impulse is Lena's attempt to do something memorable on her last day with the jeans. She assumes Kostos followed her, and the mix-up sets their two families against each other.

What does Carmen Lowell smash with a rock after watching her father's new family eat dinner without her?

A window in the dining room is what her rock goes through while the family sits at dinner. Carmen then runs, slips back in for her things and heads home to her mother.

Which actress plays soccer-mad Bridget Vreeland in the film version of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants?

Blake Lively plays Bridget, in a production whose shoot began on a Greek island and moved on to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico. She returned for the sequel three years later.

Where does Tibby Rollins hide the body of her pet Mimi rather than face burying her?

The freezer keeps Mimi, wrapped in a brown bag behind a cake, until Tibby is ready to say goodbye. She finally buries her pet beside Bailey.

In which state does Carmen Lowell arrive to find her father engaged to a woman with two teenage children?

South Carolina is where her father has built a new life in a big Victorian house. Carmen had pictured a bachelor apartment and a summer with him all to herself.

What does Tibby Rollins set out to make about her dull summer job, with her manager cast as its star?

A documentary, mocking in tone, is the plan until Bailey signs on as her assistant. Tibby ends up reshaping it around the memories the two of them made.

What kind of pet is Mimi, whom Tibby Rollins envies for doing nothing all day while she goes to work?

A guinea pig, Mimi gets to be lazy all day while Tibby has to go to work, and Tibby later wishes she could curl up in Mimi's box herself.

With whom does Bridget Vreeland fall recklessly in love at her summer soccer camp in Mexico?

Eric Richman is one of the camp's coaches, and camp rules forbid coaches and campers from dating. Bridget chases him all summer anyway.

Which nickname does Bridget Vreeland use to introduce herself to her coach on a long run?

Bee is the name her friends use in their letters all summer, and the one she gives before challenging her coach to a sprint.

In which Maryland suburb do the four friends of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants grow up together?

Bethesda is home, and it is where Tibby stays behind while the other three leave for Greece, Mexico and a father's house far away.

How does twelve-year-old Bailey first come to Tibby Rollins's attention in the aisles of the drugstore?

She faints in aisle two when a display Tibby built falls apart on top of her. Tibby rides along in the ambulance and is holding her hand when she wakes.

Which label does narrator Carmen Lowell pin on Tibby Rollins when sorting the four friends into types?

The rebel is Tibby's tag, while Lena is the pretty one, Bridget the athlete and Carmen the one who holds the group together.

Which outgoing younger sister travels to Greece with Lena Kaligaris in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants?

Effie, fourteen, is everything Lena isn't: outgoing, flirtatious and at ease with people. It is Effie who finally tells Lena that she is in love.

What is the name of the drugstore where Tibby Rollins stacks shelves in a polyester smock all summer?

Wallman's is where Tibby works under manager Duncan Howe, who on her first day accuses her of pocketing a roll of tape.

Who is the fiancée that Carmen Lowell first meets on the doorstep of her father's house?

Lydia greets Carmen at the door with her teenagers, Krista and Paul. Carmen had expected to see her father's new apartment, not a big house with a family in it.

What does Lena Kaligaris give Kostos Dounas as an apology on her last day in Greece?

A painting of the olive grove, the spot she now knows is his, carries her apology. She then admits that she cares for him, and they kiss.

How does Lena Kaligaris's grandfather treat Kostos Dounas's grandfather after the mix-up at the pond?

Punches him squarely in the face, in fact, and both old men end up at the clinic. Lena knows Kostos did nothing wrong but takes far too long to say so.

What does Lena Kaligaris call her quiet Greek grandfather, with whom she shares wordless breakfasts?

Bapi turns out to be as quiet and private as Lena herself, and by summer's end she sees how alike the two of them are.

At which sport does Carmen Lowell thrash her future stepbrother Paul after sitting through his soccer match?

Tennis was meant to be her game with her father, who cancels to deal with a wedding crisis. Carmen takes it out on Paul across the net.

Which video game is Brian McBrian's obsession when Tibby Rollins and Bailey film him at a convenience store?

Dragon Master is the game Brian later teaches Tibby to play, and she goes on to play it for Bailey at her hospital bedside.

Which piercing does Tibby Rollins blame when her new boss wrongly accuses her of stealing tape?

A nose ring is part of the tough look Tibby cultivates, on the theory that people expect less of a girl who seems not to care.

Where does Bridget Vreeland choose to sleep at her camp in Mexico instead of in the cabins?

On the beach is where Bridget beds down from the start of camp, talking her new friends into a sleepover on the sand.

Which actress plays shy Lena Kaligaris in the film version of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants?

Alexis Bledel plays Lena in a film that earned about $42 million worldwide, and all four leads came back for a sequel.

Which homework of her stepsister-to-be Krista does Carmen Lowell secretly finish one bored evening?

Geometry is Carmen's strong suit, and at first she refuses to help Krista out of spite. Paul catches her finishing it and keeps her secret.

Which cartoon villain's name does Carmen Lowell use for Kelly, girlfriend of her future stepbrother Paul?

Skeletor is Carmen's private name for Kelly, whom she tries to make jealous by claiming to live with Paul. By the wedding, Paul and Kelly have split up.

What kind of business did Lena Kaligaris's grandparents run in Greece before they retired?

A restaurant was the family trade, and the pair still cook a feast to welcome their granddaughters to the island.

In which city did Kostos Dounas live with his parents and brother before a car accident orphaned him?

New York was home until the crash, after which Kostos moved to his grandparents' village, where the whole town helped to raise him.

For which university does the coach Bridget Vreeland pursues in Mexico play soccer as a sophomore?

Columbia is his college, which makes him years older than Bridget, who is still only fifteen. He tells her they might date when she is older.

At Gilda's, where the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants swears its vow, what did the girls' mothers once do?

Aerobics brought their mothers to Gilda's years ago. The girls sneak out to the old building to dance and to launch the Pants.

Which fantasy author's line about wanderers opens The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants as its epigraph?

J.R.R. Tolkien supplies the opening line, taken from a poem in the first volume of his famous trilogy. It suits four girls about to wander far from home and find their way back.

How does sixteen-year-old Tibby Rollins, still without a driver's license, get to her drugstore job?

By bicycle, which is how her crush Tucker Rowe comes to spot her pedalling along in her work smock. She is mortified.

Which question does Bailey forbid Tibby Rollins to ask her as a condition of their conversations?

How she is feeling is off limits, and so is lying: those are Bailey's two rules for anyone who wants to talk to her.

Which of Bailey's belongings does Tibby Rollins return to her house, only to be accused of stealing it?

Her wallet ended up with Tibby after she searched it for ID in an emergency, and a paramedic suspected her of theft too.

How does Carmen Lowell try to pay for the damage at her father's house before she manages to apologize?

Mails her savings in an envelope, that is, because every apology she drafts keeps turning into an insult aimed at his fiancée.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants grew from a colleague's idea while its author held which job?

An editor at the time, she heard a colleague describe sharing a pair of jeans with college friends and decided to write the story herself.

In the film of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Kostas first rescues Lena Kaligaris from which danger?

Drowning is the danger, and she is wearing the jeans when he pulls her out. The film also gives the two families a long-running feud over money.

In The Second Summer of the Sisterhood, to which state does Bridget Vreeland travel to meet her estranged grandmother?

Alabama is where Greta Randolph lives, and Bridget works for her under a false name. Greta later admits she knew who Bridget was all along.

In Girls in Pants, where does Lena Kaligaris win a scholarship to study art after her father refuses to pay?

Rhode Island School of Design accepts her portfolio of family drawings, made after her father caught her sketching a nude model and cut off the money.

In Girls in Pants, which college does Carmen Lowell choose after nearly staying home to attend Maryland?

Williams wins out once Carmen accepts that her family will still have room for her after the arrival of a baby brother, whom she names Ryan.

In Forever in Blue, where does Bridget Vreeland join an archaeological dig rather than spend the summer at home?

Turkey is her impulsive choice after her first year at Brown, made when she learns her boyfriend will be coaching in Mexico all summer.

In Sisterhood Everlasting, to which country has Tibby Rollins moved with Brian before inviting her friends to Greece?

Australia has kept Tibby almost out of touch for two years, and her friends reach Greece only to learn she has died in a swimming accident.

In Forever in Blue, Carmen Lowell lands the role of Perdita in a production of which Shakespeare play?

The Winter's Tale gives Carmen a professional part when she had only signed up to build sets, which turns her glamorous friend Julia jealous.

How does Carmen Lowell travel home to Maryland after fleeing her father's house without a goodbye?

By bus, after sneaking back in to gather her things. She posts the jeans on to Bridget with a wish that they make their next wearer wiser than she was.

Where is Paul secretly visiting his father when Carmen Lowell notices his family dodging her questions?

A treatment center is helping his father with alcoholism, and the news makes Carmen cry: she knows what it is to be left behind by a parent.