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3 Willows
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Read 3 Willows
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

3 Willows (2009) (edit title/settings)

The Sisterhood Grows

by Ann Brashares (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

Summer is a time to grow seeds Polly has an idea that she can't stop thinking about, one that involves changing a few things about herself. She's setting her sights on a more glamorous life, but it's going to take all of her focus. At least that way she won't have to watch her friends... read more

Summary edit see section history

Polly, Jo, and Ama, friends since elementary school, are drifting their separate ways during the summer before they enter high school. Polly is set on exploring the possibility of becoming a model. Jo gets a job as a busgirl near her beach house and stumbles across a captivating older boy. Ama... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

Polly, Jo, and Ama, friends since elementary school, are drifting their separate ways during the summer before they enter high school. Polly is set on exploring the possibility of becoming a model. Jo gets a job as a busgirl near her beach house and stumbles across a captivating older boy. Ama hoped to get into an academic program but instead is thrust into a wilderness camping trip where hair products are forbidden.

Although the three girls have a history that began with the planting of three small willow trees back in the third grade, in many ways the friendship has changed and stretched out since then. Now, at the end of junior high, they begin to weigh their differences and question the connections that had once held them together.

Throughout the book, readers follow each of the girls through one summer (similar to the format of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants books). Polly, Jo, and Ama are each growing into who they are while also dealing with new challenges that come their way. Polly feels like her friends have left her behind, and even her own mother seems distant and undependable. Jo’s parents have decided to try a trial separation, and Jo has decided to try a more thrilling but perhaps overwhelming life of popularity and romance. Meanwhile, Ama is forced into the great outdoors with a heavy backpack, boots that give her blisters, and overly flirtacious teenagers. These girls try their best to deal and move on, but they can’t help wonder if their old friends might still be needed.

3 Willows: The Sisterhood Grows, by Ann Brashares, author of the bestselling Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, is a recommendable book for anyone interested in the themes of family and friendship and the ways in which they are tested, altered, and refined. Fans of the first Sisterhood series will enjoy the subtle character connections Brashares weaves between the books. But even as a solo act, this story resonates with real meaning.

“This warm and wise story is about how friendships — like willow trees — sprout and grow and change, yet the strong ones never really die” (Donna Volkenannt, TeenReads.com).

Characters/People edit see section history

  • Polly Winchell: Polly is a girl who seems to be an outcast. Her only friends are Ama and Jo. In the book, she is told that her Grandmother, who she never met, was a model. Polly is encouraged to set out to become a model as well. She gets her mother's permission to pay for a modeling camp with her babysitting money; however, before she goes she visits Jo at her beach house and gets hurt emotionally by Jo and her friend, Bryn. After modeling camp (which wasn't very successful), Polly goes to a modeling show with her mother in New York where realizes that she is not modeling material. She and her mother leave New York and return home. Soon after Polly finds her mother unconscious and ends up staying with Ama while her mother is checked into rehab.
  • Ama Botsio: Ama is a smart girl originally from Ghana. Though she is not particularly outdoorsy, her scholarship lands her in wilderness camp in Wyoming. After being lost, she realizes she should stay and try her courage. At the end, she acquires new friends and the adventure of a life time.
  • Jo Napoli: Jo, having spent time away from Ama and Polly, had become quite popular. She spends her summer at her family's beach house with her mother and works as a bus girl. She meets a guy, but loses him when his girlfriend, Effie, comes back to town. She attempts to win him back; however, she only gains enemies. She leaves the beach house and her mother and returns home to her father. She soon recovers from the loss of her brother Finn. Jo decides she does not hate her father and rekindles her friendship with Polly in the end.
  • Maureen: Ama's camp counselor.
  • Carly: Ama's cabin mate
  • Zach: The boy Jo falls for over the summer, but he is already Effie's boyfriend.
  • Bob Botsio: Ama's brother.
  • Genevieve: One of the people from the modelling school.
  • Effie Kaligaris: Sister of Lena from the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. She works as a waitress at the Surfside Cafe.
  • Mrs. Rollins: The mother of Nicky and Katherine. Polly babysits for her kids. Mother of Tibby Rollins from the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants.
  • Finn Napoli: Jo's brother who has died.
  • Brian Mc Brian: Tibby (Nicky and Katherine's sister)'s boyfriend.
  • Mandy: Add a description of this character.
  • Richard: The owner of the Surfside Cafe.
  • Katherine Rollins: One of the kids Polly babysits. Sister of Tibby Rollins from The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants.
  • Jared: One of the counselors at the camp Ama goes to.
  • Hidalgo: A cook at the Surfside Cafe.
  • Grace: Ama's friend.
  • Carlos: A cook at the Surfside Cafe.
  • Megan: A waitress at the Surfside Cafe.
  • Dia Winchell: Polly's mother.
  • Bryn: Jo's shallow friend.
  • Mr. Seaver: One of the teachers at the modelling school.
  • Violet: A waitress at the Surfside Cafe.
  • Nicky Rollins: One of the kids Polly babysits. Sister of Tibby Rollins from The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants.
  • Noah: A boy Ama befriends on camp. She has a crush on him and he returns this.
Show all 26 characters
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Setting & Locations edit see section history

First Sentence edit see section history

The last day of school was a half day. Tomorrow the entire eighth grade would pile back into the gym for the graduation ceremony, but that was just for an hour and their families would be there.

Table of Contents edit see section history

Chapters 1- 26

Series & Lists edit see section history

This book is in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. (standard series)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Ann Brashares (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Country: United States of America
Publication Date: 2009
ISBN: 0385736762
Page Count: 336

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Young Adults

mild language

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
  • The Second Summer of the Sisterhood
  • Girls in Pants
  • Forever in Blue

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history

   
  • Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
  • The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Books 1-4)

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