Here, Take This, I Love You: Chapter 12
A Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants gem.
Hi Darklings!
While rifling through my archives (AKA my storage closet), I found something magical . . . almost as magical as a pair of pants that somehow fits four teenage girls perfectly: a book of photoshoot and movie poster ideas for the second Sisterhood movie.
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005) and its sequel, Sisterhood 2 (2008), are two films I starred in alongside some amazingly talented women whose friendship shaped my life in immeasurable and beautiful ways: America Ferrera, Blake Lively, and Alexis Bledel. Adapted from the young adult book series by Ann Brashares, these films hold an extremely special place in my heart because of the real-life sisterhood the four of us have maintained for nearly two decades. (The nineteenth anniversary of the first film is this Friday!) The movies are, on the surface, famously about a pair of jeans that somehow fits four best friends, but the staying power of the films is thanks largely to their very raw, honest, and heartfelt portrayal of young women entering into adulthood—their lives, their friendships, their discoveries and regrets.
The second film finds those same four women the summer after their freshman year of college, now navigating through storylines from the book series that challenged the standard topics of the YA genre at the time—storylines about death, terminating a pregnancy, and so much more. Ann wrote five incredible books in the Sisterhood series, and although only two film adaptations have been made, it was Ann’s candor in creating the characters of Carmen, Tibby, Lena, and Bridget as fully realized, multi-dimensional young women going through real-life, highly relatable experiences that made it an everlasting cultural phenomenon. (Speaking of ~everlasting~ if you’re one of the many people wondering if there will ever be a third Sisterhood movie based on Ann’s final book in the series, Sisterhood Everlasting, the answer is complicated, but I can tell you this: the four of us are committed to working together on a story that feels as authentic and complex and fun as the first film did all those years ago.)
This month, I’m giving away this unique Sisterhood 2 booklet. It’s filled with twenty pages of sketches outlining possible photoshoots and marketing ideas for the four of us to take part in. There are even a few sketches crossed out with the word “No” above them, so you get to see what didn’t make the cut as far as the marketing material is concerned. To sweeten this sweet treat even more, on the very back of the booklet are my almost twenty-year-old words etched in blue ink that read: “Blakey + A.T. 4ever.” (Insert me getting teary-eyed here.) The Sisterhood really does live on forever.
What was your favorite Sisterhood moment from the movies or books? Do you have your own sister/brother/other-hood—a group of best friends who have been through so much together and have loved and supported each other through it all? I’d love to hear about them in the comments. As the famous Sisterhood quote says, “Love your pals. Love yourself.”
NOTE: Please review the full eligibility details, rules, and info below. The deadline for the Chapter 12 giveaway is Friday, May 31, 2024 at 11:59pm ET. All Paid, Founding, and Gift subscription recipients with subscriptions active at the time of the deadline will be automatically entered into the Chapter 12 giveaway. The recipient will first be notified via Substack Direct Message. If the recipient has disabled direct messaging, they will be notified via the email address connected to their Substack account. This notification email will be sent from LITDSubstack@gmail.com, so be sure to add that address to your contacts so you don’t miss out!
