Fans of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series will be thrilled to know that Brashares has tried to keep her success going by writing a spin-off novel. This time, the story involves three new girls, but the story is set in Bathesda, Maryland, like the earlier books. The girls even bump into family and friends of some of the characters from the original sisterhood.

Ama, Polly, and Jo have been friends since the third grade when they were all stuck at school ate when their parents weren't able to make it on time to pick them up. They like, so many of the kids in their middle school, have looked up to the awesomeness of the original sisterhood. They tried to find their own magical set of pants and even a scarf, but nothing seemed to work the same.

Now, that the three girls are finishing up the 8th grade, they are all getting ready for summer adventures before they start their high school the following fall.

Ama, an African immigrant who is bright as heck, has been accepted to an advanced study program. The only problem is that it is not to the specific aspect that she was hoping for. Instead, she is assigned to an outdoors workshop that includes hiking and rappeling. To make matters even worse, Ama's roommate is quite the flirt and the boys really like her.

Jo is off with her mother to the family's summer cabin. Her parents have been having troubles and this seems like a great way for them to take a break from each other. While at the cabin, Jo gets a job as a busgirl at a local restaurant and ends up with a boyfriend. The only problem is that he might not be as single as she thought.

Polly is spending most of the summer home with her artist mother Dia. After finding out that her paternal grandmother, whom she never met because she never met her father, was a model, she gets it into her head she should become special by becoming a model as well. She saves up to go to modeling camp while also going on a new diet that is more successful than she even expected. Her mother also seems a bit preoccupied before Polly learns that Dia has her own issues.

As with the other books in the series, the girls each have an opportunity to better get to know themselves and grow. The girls are interesting and their problems are true and honest to the ones that today's youth are confronted with. The only trouble I had is that the girls all read as seeming a lit bit older than their 13 years. I was really glad to read it and I am surprised that there haven't been more books in the spinoff series.