Ann Brashares is an author of young adult fiction books. She is best known for her international best selling book series, "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants". The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, was her first novel.
Brashares was born on July 30, 1967 in Alexandria, Virginia. She grew up in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Where she attended elementary school and High School. She studied Philosophy at Barnard College, which is a part of Columbia University in New York, City. Ann met her husband Jacob in college. He was a Junior and she was a freshman, his father was actually one of her professors. The first time they met he sketched a portrait of her.
She worked as an editor for 17th Street Productions while attending school. She actually took some time off of school to work, in hopes of making money to pay for school. It was then that she realized that she wanted to write, she did not continue to attend school for her Graduate program. It was soon after she stopped working there when she wrote her international best seller novels "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants".
Brashares currently resides in New York City, with her husband, Artist Jacob Collins and their three children; Sam, Nathaniel, and Susannah and let's not forget about 'Finny' the dog! Her husband is a successful artist that sells paintings for as much as $125,000 a piece.
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| "The first novel of the series" |
Brashares stumbled upon the idea of the traveling pants books, as she and a girlfriend talked about a summer her girlfriend had with girlfriends and how they shared a pair of pants, but lost them in Borneo (Asia). She was inspired to write the book after she had something similar happen to her as it relates to a wedding dress that she wore for her wedding that was given to her by a friend that fit her perfectly. Ann kept the dress and 2 of her sister-in-laws wore it when they married her brothers. Ann's life long friend also wore this wedding dress. Each woman who wore this dress, felt as if the dress was made for them. The dress seemed to have something magical!
After the first novel of Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, she also wrote three more novels that were part of a series. The series of books are about four girlfriends Carmen, Lena, Bridgett, and Tibby. These four girls are unique in their own ways, but they share two bonds; their friendship and a pair of jeans that Carmen bought at a thrift shop. One day Carmen was going to throw away the pants, but was stopped by Tibby, who thought the pants were great. Come to find out the rest of the girls also admired the pants. They decide to try on the pants and whom ever the pants fit the best, gets to keep the pants. To their surprise, with no reasoning behind it, the pants seem to fit each one of the girls perfectly, even Carmen, who is self conscious about her body. At that point they decide to form a sisterhood and take the vow of "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants." Soon after they take their vow, they go their separate ways :( for the Summer. Each of the girls is about to have the most memorable Summer yet. They will find love, heartache, new friendships, and much more. Their encounters will be the types of things that most teenage girls go through. This is a story that almost every female out there can relate to in some way! Their friendship and loyalty will inspire us all!
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| from left to right-Lena,Carmen,Tibby & Bridgett |
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| "Series" |
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2001)
The Second Summer of the Sisterhood (2003)
Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood (2005)
Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood (2007)
Keep in Touch: Letters, Notes, and More from the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005)
Although Ann's work is typically for young women, she has also wrote a novel for adults in 2007, The Last Summer (of You & Me. She also attracts a younger audience with her non-fiction children's books that were both released in 2001 Steve Jobs: Think Different & Linus Torvalds, Software Rebel.
What I've learned about Anne during my research is that she doesn't write her stories in hopes that people will learn something from them, but writes them so that people can enjoy her readings. She relates to each of the characters in her stories in someways, for instance, in the traveling pants series, she can relate to one of her characters because her character's parents are going through a divorce and the character has to learn to live with the step family and accept the changes in her life. Ann went through something similar when she was a child. Her parents divorced and her mother remarried, leaving Ann to accept a step parent.
When writing her books she also tries to keep her expectations low, so that she isn't disappointed if her books aren't successful. When asked if the success of her traveling pants series changed her writing process, she replied "I tried not to let the success change anything, but it kept creeping into my consciousness anyway. I worried that I wouldn’t live up to the hopes of my readers. I worried that I would forget how to write. I worried that I never knew how to write in the first place. I worried a lot and I wrote very little". Her Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series were such a success that she was approached by 'Warner Bros', to transform her books into a movie. In 2005, the first movie was released and the sequel followed in 2008.
Some of the inspiration for her books that were set in Greece or Baja, came from when she was a kid. She stated that where she was from was "very plain Jane". So she used to write letters from places she imagined she could go.
3 Willows
My name is Memory
Sisterhood Everlasting
But, she is best known for her "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" series.
I don't really write with the idea of trying to teach any lessons. I want to tell a story as truthfully and engagingly as I can, and then let the chips fall where they may.”—Ann Brashares
