Remembering the Good Times

Reader reviewed by Emily B.

In the book Remembering the Good Times nothing really excited me. Thats why I really didnt have fun reading the book. Normally I do have fun reading a book because it is very exciting to read the book. I didnt like it because you have your main characters Trav, Kate, and Buck. They are best friends and they do everything together. Thats what the book is basically about. It gets very boring to read because it happens over and over again.
I also dont like how they are also friends with the oldest and meanest women in Slocum township named Polly. Even though Polly is Kates great aunt and Kate and her mom live with Polly doesnt mean they have to hang out with her all the time. I think it would be kind of weird hanging out with an old lady all the time. Trav and Polly have a lot in common so I can understand that. They both like the past and what is happening in the present. Something was happening in another country and Trav knew about it and he was only 12 at the time. No one knew what he was talking about except Polly because she is old and she reads that kind of stuff.
What I also dont get is why Trav took his life by hanging himself. It seemed like he was doing fine. He had great grades and fantastic friends that cared a lot about him. I mean, cmon, he was a very rich kid with nice parents. What wouldnt you love about his life. I would want to be him if he had all those things.

Reader reviewed by Haylee L

I liked and disliked the book, Remembering the Good Times. I disliked it because the story went to slow for me like in the beginning there were a lot of details and it just went on forever. But I like the story because it is about really close friends who spend most of their time together. Travis is a nice smart kid. Kate is nice and calm. Buck is hard working. They are all different but thats what makes them so perfect together. The ending is the worst part for me. I liked it but I hated it at the same time. I did not like how Travis died. I dont think he should have at all and especially at that time when we was getting better. But I think it was the changes that shocked him. I liked it though for all the things that Polly and Mr. Kirby said about Travis at that meeting. It shocked me but I loved it! Mr. Kirby stood up for Travis and he took a hard one at it. When the school had said it was his fault, he did not stand for that. It was not his fault it might have been the schools but I am not sure why Travis did what he did. Now Polly has the biggest heart for Travis even though she thinks she is the meanest person out there. That maybe so but, she showed that heart and held it out to Travis, Buck, and Kate.

Reader reviewed by Veronica J

The book Remembering the Good Times was not the best book Ive ever read, but it did have some good things I liked in it. This book was not only funny, and happy, but it was very sad towards the end. Throughout the beginning and the middle it was pretty boring until I hit the end.
I dont usually like to read unless I find a good book, and this book didnt really catch me. I enjoy reading books when a lot happens, and sometimes not in a good way, like Trav committing suicide; that part caught my eye. In the beginning of the book I thought it was boring, but then in the middle of the story, things started to pick up.
For me this was not the easiest book to read. When I dont like a book, I cant read it as well. When I am reading a good book, I read a lot faster. So when I was reading this book, it took me a longer time to finish it than usual.
I really enjoyed the part when things werent going so well, Kate and Buck were called to the office and were told to go home. Tensions were rising at that part. Then it was sad when Kate and Buck found out Trav had hung himself at the orchards. I liked that part a lot, because that was the only part that made me want to keep reading more.
Overall, this book sure wasnt the greatest, but it wasnt the worst. I wouldnt recommend it to my friends, because I dont think they would be interested in it. Next time, if we read a book, I hope it to be more exciting than Remembering the Good Times.

Reader reviewed by NatashaP

Remembering the Good Times was an interesting and entertaining book. Personally, I liked it because it never seemed to get boring and always had you thinking about something. Another reason I liked it was that it would almost make you go back and see all of the clues that led up to Trav's suicide. Like when they talked about the poem being a sign, my first instinct was to go back and read it to see what they were exactly talking about.

This book also dealt with real life issues and addressed them, I think, very well. It's one thing to put it on television or hang signs but there is something different and more professional about putting it in a book. Richard Peck did and excellent job on weaving a series of events into an interesting plot leading up to the main point of the story (Trav killing himself). Somehow he made you believe that there was something not quite right and made you keep reading to see how it turned out.

In conclusion, I would totally recommend anyone to read this book. It is very true to life and paints a very precise picture in you head. Also, it leaves plenty of room for your own imagination which is very important. If anything i would borrow the book for the library and at least read the speeches they made at the meeting they held for Trav. If that does not convince you, this book may not be for you. However, if your heart was as warmed as min, I can guarantee that you should turn the book over and start at the beginning. Then, HOLD ON TIGHT!

Reader reviewed by Brady B

Remembering the Good Times

My personal opinion on this book is that it is extremely lame, and not very interesting to my point of view. I think that through out the book there were some parts that were just a waste of paper and some went way too far into detail. I also think the beginning wasnt very mind grabbing as well. I think that the book might be for people who have really dull and boring lives and have nothing else better to do than read. I also think that the ending was EXTREMELY disappointing because the whole story seemed like it was leading up to something great, but at the end of the book Trav killed himself and it didnt even really tell why.

I think the author wanted us to feel bad for Trav. I myself didnt feel bad for Trav, I think he is the stupidest one of all because he really had no logical and reasonable reason to kill himself. If anything Kate or Buck shouldve been the ones to kill themselves because of their home life, considering the fact that Buck was living in a tiny trailer without his mom. Trav had both parents, rich, nice house, and couldve probably had anything he wanted, but then he goes and kills himself. So in my personal opinion, Trav is stupid, inconsiderate, and unthankful. I think this because he had a better family life a better economical life and all around better surrounding and he just kills himself. What is wrong with that kid? This is my opinion on the story I hated with a passion.

Reader reviewed by Erin S

I thought Remembering the Good Times was an okay book. There were parts in it that seemed kind of pointless, and others that were just plain, old boring. Other than those occasional lame spots, the book was quite good. Something that bothered me though, was that they had a lot of useful information that basically just took up space. The climax of the story didnt come until the very end, which was when Trav died. I think if the author had made him die more toward the middle of the book, and then had Buck and Kate become a couple the story would have been more interesting to me. Im really into the love story kind of books, so thats why I think that. Also, I think that whole chapter where Buck went to see his mom should have been taken out of the book, because it was basically useless except for the fact that Kate and Trav became closer. And another part I didnt really like was when Kate had Mr. Slater beat up Skeeter, because it was . . . random. It also didnt fit Kates character, which slightly confused me. One part that I did like though was when Trav was gone for a summer and Buck got to spend some more quality time with Kate. That let me see how Buck really felt about her, and it was nice that they got to have some one-on-one time together. So all in all, I thought the book was fairly bad, except for a few parts that were okay.

Reader reviewed by Joe

Remembering the Good Times was not a bad book. I liked it a little bit. I would rate it a three out of five. I just dont like books with people dieing in them. But it wasnt the worst book I ever read. It really skipped along. One minute it would be talking about summer then it was already the school year.
The reason I would rate this book a three out of five is because it skipped too much, to fast. It was a little confusing to me. I like reading at a nice slow pace. I cant read very fast or I have to reread it. I had to reread in this book a little bit. Otherwise I would not have understood what was going on in the book. That is one of the reasons I did not like this book.
In the books I read people do not die. Therefore I did not like the book Remembering the good times. And I did not enjoy how the character died in Remembering the Good Times. I do not like it when people die in real life. I do not like funerals either.
But I did like some of the book. Like how you do not know what is happening next in the book. I also liked the suspense. And how the author gives you hints. But you really actually do not expect it. Like when Travis goes to jail he never even knew it was going to happen. Overall it was not a really bad book.

Reader reviewed by Ashley M

I didnt really like the book because it took to long a lot of paper work, And how the the characters acted in the story. It kind of tells how the people are stressed out so then they would what to kill them self so than they can get rid of the pressure. The characters where ok but not the best. How the story ended was not complete. Whats the point of the story if the kid didnt what to read it? There was a lot of kids that didnt like the book but thats just their opinion about the book. Theres a lot of books you can read instead of this one. The part about of the buck joined the football team because he felt left out. There is a lot of people that committing suicide and it is really sad. I liked the character named Polly whom has a messy room and is kind of old. Some times she is nice. And kind of reminds me of my grandma that pasted away when I was three. And how she tried to scare buck away from the house. There is a lot of people that can agree about the book and they can disagree about the book. So then thats what I thought about the book. The part when trav kills him self is they where sad about it when they found out. That is not mush to tell about the story. So this is why I wouldnt like to read this book.

Reader reviewed by brett

The book Remembering The Good Times is not really that great of a book; unless you like short simple and to the point stories, then its a good book for you. The book could have definitely been stronger in a number of areas. For instance, it could have taken a bot longer to get to the point that Trav kills himself and explained a few things more. Like where Locum was from (what state). T couldnt believe how many people have actually killed themselves. The story starts out of Slocum, and then they meet Skeeter surprisingly didnt do anything to him. Sskeeter stole Bucks dads hard hat and it made Buck really angry. Buck was debating whether or not to go after him to get his hard hat. He chooses to get into a fight wit Skeeter. He got beat up pretty bad. But at least he got his hat back. Trav and Kate showed up to stop the fight and get the hat then pull him away. Buck was taken to Irenes there he was fixed up like he was brand new. Trav was having a house party and his parents invited Kates mom and Bucks dad. They ended up going together and everyone thought that it was special. Kate and Trav dressed up as a couple and Buck was jealous at the party and was kind of mad at her. Trav was gone the whole summer and when he came back he totally changed, he was mre muscular. One day Trav hung himself where there hideout was. That is all that the book RTGT is about.

Reader reviewed by Jordan F.

Remembering the Good Times is a great book about friendship. The three best friends; Kate, Trav, and buck go through good and tough times. Like an average teen has trouble in his or her life. Kates grandma Polly is part of there group of friends. The four of them play cards and as the years go on their friendship grows and grows. I personally didnt like the book because it really had nothing interesting in it until the last chapters. So if you are into books with lots of surprises and secrets for you to find, this would not be the book for you. I also didnt like it because it was very depressing. It was Buck looking back and he was telling about the past of there friendship. So if you dont want to read a depressing story, or if you get really touchy in books, this wouldnt be the book for you. In the book Remembering the Good Times you will find out that Trav is a little different. He gets worried a lot, always has to be in advanced classes, has to have everything perfect, and never seems to be able to except himself. I he does good in something, he wants to be even better. He is never happy. That is another thing why I dont like the book. Because when I read the book it was like Trav was so different from everyone. It seemed like he was from a different planet. But if you like books about friends, and books that have sad endings. Then I recommend the book Remembering the Good Tmes.