Remembering the Good Times

Reader reviewed by TimW

Remembering the Good Times is a quite well done book. In this story Kate, Buck and Trav are best friends. The books characters are well done, but the end of the book is one of the worst Ive seen. Why is the ending of the book so terrible? Because it is sad and gloomy. The character Polly was by far the best character because she was so old and mean. She really adds a lot to this story by her oldness and meanness. This story was written well, but In the end when Trav kills himself it is so unexpected that it almost surprises you. The reason I hated the ending was because Trav comes back all happy and you would think hes fine and his problems are over. Trav was so troubled before and then he was as happy as can be, then the next thing you know he hangs himself in Pollys orchard. Kate and Buck were very sad and couldnt understand why, and neither could I.
The beginning of this book was great with a good setting and everything. The middle of the book was pretty good too, the storyline wasnt bad either. The part that ruined the book was the ending, it was too unexpected and gloomy. The next thing that kind of ruined the book was that it was so boring and drawn out it didnt have enough action. Overall this book was a an okay book worth reading. But I will say this book is very boring and the end was not well written, it was too sad, they dont have a happy part in the whole last two chapters.

Reader reviewed by Collin F.

Remembering the Good Times is a book about three kids; Buck, Kate, and Travis or Trav. Buck is the narrator in the story and his mom and dad are divorced. Trav is a rich boy and he is really nice to other people plus he is a great student in school and gets straight As. Kate usually ends up taking care of her family because her mom is always gone and lives with her grandmother Polly. Polly is an old lady in a wheelchair. She says that is to old to die and the meanest person in Slocum.
Buck ends up living with his dad full time because Bucks mom marries Fred and they move to Cleveland. When Buck first met Kate they went on and watched a cow being born. Another character in the story is Skeeter. He is important because he is a bully and tortured the teachers by throwing their stuff off the desks. Trav comes into the story then
by taking Skeeters hand and just held on to them and everyone in the class was then quiet for the rest of the class. Eventually Rusty Hazenfield comes into the story and she is a girl from California.
Buck starts working at the Sunoco, a gas station owned by Scotty and Irene, some good friends of Buck and his dad. One night Scotty gets shot and the store was robbed. Scotty died a week later in the hospital. In the end of the story Trav eventually commits suicide because people thought he was a troubled child in his mind. I honestly did not like this book because it did not give us enough information about the topic.

Reader reviewed by Rem B

First Kate meets Buck in the sixth grade. Bucks parents got a divorce in Seventh grade. Then they dont see each other till Eighth grade. Kate and Buck start hanging out after Trav calms down Skeeter while he was on his destructive rampage. Trav and Buck and met Polly at Kates house one afternoon. Buck, Trav, Kate and Polly all play cards for a long time in their spare moments. Trav continues to push himself to do infinitely better in school. Buck left to go to Cleveland with his mother for the summer. He hated it.

When Buck gets back he finds Kate and she tells him that the ninth grade is no longer at the middle school, its at the high school. So the trio go to the High school and start their freshman year. Trav is put into all the advanced classes and does incredibly well in school, while Kate and Buck are left in the regular classes. During a party at the Kirbys house, Kate and Buck get to see in Travs room. There are all sorts of toys from his childhood. Then while Kate performed her play, Buck and his dad had to go to the police station to help bail out Trav. He had shoplifted a lot of little kid toys. Then Trav was gone for the entire summer. No one knew why. Trav got back a day before school started. He gave Kate his stuffed bear and Buck his calculator. Then Trav hung himself.

This book is an excellent example of writing talent and discusses a real world happening. I really like this book because of its attention to detail, but it had quite a choppy storyline. All considered, an excellent read.

Reader reviewed by Karlee P.

Remembering the Good Times

The book I read, Remembering the Good Times is about three friends that meet the summer before their middle school year starts. Kate, Trav, and Buck have a good long lasting relationship that has all the twists and turns of the real life problems and adventures we all face. They work through some of their troubles together and some they have to face alone. When one friends life is tragically ended his best friends have to figure out how to cope with his death. This story seems to be based on real life events and that is probably why I like it so much. It deals with life and death, school, family and the excitement of middle school, high school, and friendships.
Kate is a beautiful girl who has a personality like no one else. She is responsible and caring and independent. Kate is one of my favorite people in this book. Another main character is Buck, a regular boy who has some difficulties in life that would probably be most common. He is nice and caring but doesnt always understand things like others do. In a way I think he is kind of like me, he doesnt like change and just goes with the flow. Now there is Trav, a unique and hard working kid. He is smart and calm but when things turn hard he doesnt know what to do. There are more interesting and fun characters in Remembering the Good Times. Hopefully you get a chance to read this emotion wrenching and interesting book that keeps you thinking.

Reader reviewed by Kyle J.

Remembering the good times is good book the main characters is Kate, Buck, Travis, and Polly. I thought it was a good book at the middle and end and the beginning was the worst I ever saw in a long time, because it skipped around a lot and I felt lost when reading the book. When Buck went with his mom for the summer and when he got back he found Kate and Travis hanging around each other more often and became close over the summer. Then the pear orchard got sold and Kate was really mad and it got bulldozed.
Every day after school Buck was working at the gas station and pumping gas and washing windshields. I thought the end was ok and the middle was pretty good and it had good setting and good mood and it was kind of boring. Polly was a old person and she was good at playing games. The story as kind was kind of sad and gloomy. I hate when people die in real life and I dont like going to funerals they are boring. I like reading at a slow pace but not at a fast pace because when I read fast I get lost and miss some of the story. I dont like how on the back of the book that when it says what is going to happen in the book, it gives some of the clues away. But then I like reading the back of it because it gives some information.

Reader reviewed by Kali P

The book Remembering the Good Times, in my opinion was a good book, because it talks about things that happen everywhere, and everyday. Its sad to think about it, but it does happen. Buck, Trav, and Kate think that they have each other figured out, but when it comes down to the end they really dont. Trav, like many other people in this world, just have something troubling them so much. Or in Travs case he was stressing him self out so much, that people think that the only way to relieve the stress is to take their lives. They dont think about how it will affect many other people in their lives. All those people that loves you and cared for you will be hurting because they felt like they should have seen it coming, but they didnt. Trav left some hints that he was going to take his life, but no one picked up on them. Then when the time came, they looked back at the hints he left and felt terrible because they felt like they could have been able to help them, but they couldnt. If people have a chance to read this book they should, it teaches a great life lesson, and it is just overall a great book. People that are thinking about taking their lives should read this book because it will show how the outcome of them killing themselves will effect many other people.

Reader reviewed by BrittanyS


The book Remembering the Good Times in my point of view was an okay book. It was about three teenagers whose names are Travis, Buck and Kate. Travis was wealthier and his parents are sort of strict. Buck lives with his dad full time in a trailer house because his mom leaves with her new husband in Cleveland. Kate lives with her mom and her grandmother Polly who has pretty much raised her, because her mom is always gone. Some of the parts I liked are when they all meet before they started eighth grade. Another part I like was when Travis had the Christmas party and Kates mom went with Bucks dad. And mostly everybody and the party didnt like Kates mom because she was a little wild. There were also some parts that were boring to me for example in parts when they are just playing cards with Polly. I think that Polly is a loving kind grandmother to Kate. She makes the book funny when she says that she is the meanest person in Slocum (Slocum is the Town they live in).Another person that is in the book is Skeeter is the bully he picks on teachers and students. The Characters I probably like the most is Kate because she reminds me of myself because she is so opinionated. For example when she tells buck that he stinks when he was in football. My over all rating of this book would be alright.

Reader reviewed by Tanner H

I did not like the book Remembering the Good Times because, it was boring. Also it had to do with death and young people dying. I didnt like how they changed from being young to older in the middle of the book, it confused me a lot. The book is sort of like Heart of a Champion, another book that has to do with young people dying. People that would like to read Remembering the Good Times are ones that like sad, complicated books. The book started out with Buck meeting Kate in a field. They saw a snake hole, than Kate brought Buck over to another place where a calf was being born. They started school and meet Travis. Travis stood up for Sherrie Slater, the teacher, when Skeeter Calhoun threw all of the teachers books and papers on the floor. Also he emptied her purse out. Skeeter also stole Bucks dads hardhat. Buck and Skeeter fought and Skeeter beat Buck up. Then Sherrie Slaters husband beat Buck up at a Halloween party. Polly, Travis, Kate and Buck all played cards together, and Polly was the meanest person in Slocum. Later in the book Travis killed himself. After that Polly Prior made a speech about Traviss death and Buck Mendenhall sobbed. They all went to school a gain and everybody respected them more than ever. They looked at Buck and Kate differently. Now that they new their best friend died. A kid stood up and asked why they dont have a moment of silence or school days off. I didnt like the book.

Reader reviewed by Aaron

When I was reading the book Remembering the Good Times I thought the book was an alright book. The reason I say it was an alright book and not bad or good is because the book was good but it isnt my favorite type of books to read. My favorite type of books is Sport books, adventure, and mystery. The book was kind of a mix of types of books it seems like. It seemed like it was an adventure book and a mystery book. The reason I think that is because it is kind of boring for the most of the book until Skeeter and buck get into a fight or when Skeeter gets beat up. The reason I think it is part mystery is because toward the end when Trav kills himself it seems like Kate and Buck should have figured it out that he was giving them his old stuff because he wouldnt be needing them anymore because he wont be alive anymore. One of the reason I didnt like the book is because they give much of a back ground on a character so it seemed like you couldnt feel like you were in the book because you didnt know the characters very well. Another reason I didnt like the book very much was because they didnt have very many events that were pretty major other then when Skeeter beats up Buck over a hard hat and when Skeeter gets beat up and when Trav commits suicide.

Reader reviewed by Alycia K

Remembering the Good Times
Remembering the Good Times starts out telling us that Buck and Kate meet and hung out for a summer while hes at his dads. Then his mom says that there moving to Cleveland and Buck doesnt want to go so he stays with his dad. He goes to school in the town of Slocum. And he and Kate and Travis have home room together, just admitting it now if it wasnt for the rude styling of Skeeter they would have never became friends (the three of them). They all hang out and become real close to one another. They start high school together and they make it through freshman orientation and they think they could make it through everything. A few bumps in the road they stay close. And as the year gets going more things change. Trav doesnt think hes being challenged enough and that the classes other then advanced are just a waste of his time. As the year goes on they start going the other way and not as close as they used to be. Late summer almost sophomore school time a very tragic thing happens in their lives. Trav kills himself. This was a very devastating time in Kate and Bucks lives especially with the hole school thinking they were best friends with him but really werent...this is truly hard to go through, I have been trough it a lot before. I did like this book but I dint at the same time. I did because it was an interesting topic to right about but then again its a very touchy topic. Other then being a little boring it was almost really good.