'The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2' (PG-13): (out of four)

With "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2," the sisterhood has grown up. When last we left the quartet of friends who each, no matter what their size, magically fit into the same pair of thrift-store jeans, the neighborhood pals were experiencing a summer away from each other.

Now three years have passed since audiences last saw Tibby (Amber Tamblyn), Carmen (America Ferrera), Bridget (Blake Lively) and Lena (Alexis Bledel). They were 16 then and just beginning to realize the possibilities that awaited them beyond the place where they all grew up.

That summer marked their first separation, as Lena visited her grandparents in Greece, Bridget attended soccer camp, Carmen adjusted to a new household after her parents' divorce and Tibby took a job at a drugstore to fund her first major video project. In the sequel, they've all gone through their freshman year of college, and they've found that life apart has its share of ups and downs. Carmen is the thread that keeps them all together. She's hoping that the girls can be reunited for summer, but she soon finds out that everyone has already made plans.

Bridget is heading to Turkey to study archaeology; Tibby is writing a screenplay and working in a video store after a break from film school in New York; and Lena, who spent most of the first movie in Greece, is concentrating on drawing human forms in class in Rhode Island. Carmen, fresh off her first year at Yale, goes to work backstage at a summer stock theater company in Vermont after she discovers her gal pals are all otherwise engaged.

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The traveling pants take a back seat to the trials and tribulations of post-freshman year in "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2." Bridget, while fancy and free in Turkey, still hasn't healed from her mother's suicide. Tibby's first sexual experience encounters a "malfunction" and causes a rift with her boyfriend, while Lena grapples with the loss of last summer's Greek god, now engaged to someone else. Then there's the cute guy who stands naked before her in life-drawing class. Can a nude model be date material?

Carmen's voiceover weaves the story of each girl's experiences, giving it a genuine book feel. Screenwriter Elizabeth Chandler, a writer on the original film in 2005, drew upon volumes two, three and four of Ann Brashares' award-winning and internationally bestselling book series for the sequel, with an emphasis on the fourth, "Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood." There is almost too much information squeezed into the film's 117 minutes, sometimes causing a flush of ideas and situations that somehow get lost in the mix.

But there's no losing the heart of the film and the real-life situations facing the girls whose teen years will soon be left behind. While Blake struggles with the still-fresh loss of her mother, Carmen is dealing with her mother's pregnancy, and the reality of a sibling who will be almost two decades younger than her when born.

The pants that are now sent via FedEx box from Turkey to Vermont, then back again seem to be closest to Carmen and Blake who are still trying to hold onto the past, while Lena and Tibby use the pants to move themselves forward.

While the "Sisterhood" is good while juggling its multiple storylines, it all comes together when the travelers head to Greece and the bonding begins anew.

Interesting appearances by Blythe Danner as Bridget's sprightly grandmother, Kyle Maclachlan as the oh-so-uptight director of Carmen's summer stock Shakespearean play and the beautiful Shohreh Aghdashloo as a worldly archaeologist give the film legs.

The movie is definitely geared to moviegoers in their young teens, but like a comfy pair of worn jeans, these girls of summer can be a good fit for just about anyone.