Ann Brashares allows the dialogue and character’s actions to do the talking. Dialogue plays a big part in the plot and realizations typically occur when they are talking it out with each other. When the characters aren’t talking, which is almost never, details fill the pages of the book. The focus of the detail is more on the physical description of what each character is doing, and less on the setting. “[Lena] had a feeling she could not name exactly, but one she knew she had not had in relation to the Pants before. She had felt gratitude, admiration, trust. What she felt now still contained all that, but tonight it was mixed in with a faint taste of desperation.” The way the narration is said makes it seem like a teenage girl is actually telling the story. The sisterhood consists of four girls. There is Carmen- the force of nature, ranging from a quiet drizzle to a raging tornado. Carmen moved into a dorm room of an Ivy League school where she revives her big personality. There’s Lena- the hermit crab of the group that finds herself in and out of love. Lena enrolls in a prestigious art school, and finds herself climbing out of her hermit shell more and more often. There’s Bridget- the wild one with a fierce personality and will to compete. She moved to Turkey for an archeology exhibition for the summer. And there’s Tibby- the tom boy of the group with a big heart, and a soft spot for her sisterhood. Tibby begins to shelter herself more as she lives in a dorm for a school that teaches their students about movie making. Each girl of the sisterhood are honest and loyal to one another, and always keep in touch. Well- maybe up until this book that was true. With high school over and their first year of college beginning, each character begins to go their separate ways. The development of the characters were done well; all of their career choices made sense when it came to their personality and aspirations in life.
The purpose of the sisterhood that Lena, Tibby, Carmen, and Bridget created was so that they would not lose sight of one another as their lives grow apart. They brought in The Pants because they felt that it would keep them more connected as they went moved away from home. Throughout the book, there is a big emphasis put on their friendship. Although this is the theme, the characters seem to devalue friendship and the bond between each other as their lives start moving faster. For the characters, it was like eating an entire cake. People love the idea of eating it, just as the characters had loved the idea of their friendship and staying close as friends. At first, the person is in love with the cake at first bite and wants more and more. This would be the part where the girls decide they will always be best friends, even when they are apart. The person starts to think it will be easy to eat this entire cake since they love it so much. That would be when the characters find it easy to keep in touch with one another. But as the person progresses with eating the cake, that retched stomach ache begins to creep in on them. That is the part when the characters find themselves trying not as hard to maintain their friendship as their new lives start to fall into place. By the time the person reaches a little over half way with this cake, the stomach ache is in full force, and the person has no choice but to stop. The girls loved their friendship, but with their lives moving forward as they live apart, it becomes harder and more difficult for them to stop for a moment and go back to the idea of staying connected. Bridget came to this point when she had to wake up early in Turkey to find internet connection and email back her friends. For the person eating the cake, and for the characters, after the spot over the half way mark, staying close friends and finishing the cake just becomes a nuisance.
As the girls seem like they’re at the point of no return and begin to lose their friendship, something unlikely happens. The Pants that bonded them together went missing in Greece. In a twist of fate, the Pants, once again, reinforced the character’s bonds. This reinforced the idea of friendship as each girl came together for the first time in the entire book. As the “hello’s” and “hey’s” began to flood out after months of no contact with each other, they realized the symbol of Pants; friendship. “[The Pants] came to us to keep us together, and we were using them to help us stay apart… We counted on them too much.” That was a clever little trick on Ann Brashares’ part.
Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood, earns 5 out of 5 stars. The book combines everyday life with the elements of a love story, friendship, and adventure in exploring new things. Ann Brashares deserves an applause for her dedication to her realistic-fictional characters.
