Carmen Timeline and Summary

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• Carmen begins the book by making some vague statements about the Pants and the Sisterhood. What the heck is she talking about?
• Carmen buys the Pants at a thrift shop and throws them in the closet.
• It's time to head to South Carolina to see her father, but before that, Carmen pulls out the Pants. She and her friends recite vows, and the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is created.
• Carmen has big plans with Albert—tennis, decorating the apartment, that sort of stuff. But hold your horses…
• Carmen is devastated to learn that Dad lives in a plush house with his fiancé and her two teenage children.
• Ticked off, Carmen decides she hates her new family.
• She names Paul's girlfriend "Skeletor" and tries to make her jealous; instead of helping Krista with her homework, she does it for her; plus she tells her soon-to-be step mother that she has underarm fat (that part was kind of funny, we have to admit).
• Carmen can't take it anymore and throws rocks through the dining room window at dinnertime—and then, embarrassed and ashamed, Carmen takes the bus home, where her mom explains to her that the divorce was hard on everybody.
• She gathers up her life's savings and sends it to her dad to pay for the broken window.
• Meanwhile, Carmen meets Bailey, and she tells Tibby about her hatred for Lydia, Paul, and Krista. Tibby asks if she is mad at her father. Guess who Carmen is mad at now? She storms out.
• A little later, Bailey teaches Carmen that fights are useless—people who love each other always make up in the end. Oh, and by the way, it's okay to be mad at your father, Carmen.
• Carmen calls her father, and spills her guts—she is mad at him and he has no right to be secretive and dishonest. He apologizes and cries.
• With Bailey dying, Carmen tells Tibby to visit her.
• Clad in the Pants, Carmen summons the courage to attend her father's wedding, where she dances with Paul and her father. He tells her he will be honest with her, a quality he's learned from his daughter.
• Carmen closes the novel just like she opened it. She is happy to be reunited with her friends, yet notices a slight separation, and she hints at a sequel when she says the girls will pull the Pants out again next summer.