Remembering the Good Times

Reader reviewed by Kelsey N.

I enjoyed this book becuase its tells how three people became friends and out in the world you might hear how some friends became friends like them. I thinkBuck is a good story teller becuase he tells it in way no one else would. But I would hate living in a small trialor like Buck but he has a good life where he lives and he doesnt want to move with his mom and stepdad to a town he doesnt know anything about. Buck has all his friiends in Solcum. I'm remind myself of Buck but I moved to a different twon and went to the same school in my old town. Now Trav has some big problems at home. He always gets beat now I would never do that to anyone that is plan old mean. His dad not that mean about when he went to jail. I would talk to him about it and ask what he did to get in jail and Kate has a good life she lives with her grandmother and mother. This book shows the friendship you should learn somethings about friendship. Buck's really shpws you how you can keep a friendship. Buck's friends meant the most to him. He was really sad when Travis killed himself but Travis didn't went to be in the world anymore. Kate and Polly were sad as much as Buck was. I hope you learn something from this book.
By: Kelsey Nerison

Reader reviewed by skye

RTGT wasnt that very interesting to me, probably because I dont have much interest in non-fiction books. I cant say that there were no fairly incredible parts, I had pictured Pollys room quite easily and I was able to picture Kate in the used-to-be-pink dress. Polly was the one who had interested me the most, she isnt like most grandmothers I know or Ive seen in books. Kate had also interested me since she wasnt like all preppy, and she is such a loyal friend to Buck and Travis! Buck was actually seriously boring to me, and was such a downer. Trav was worried mostly about everything and it got quite annoying! I mean, I can understand to be scared that the world will come to and end, but its probably the end of the world when its a way later year. In the book, when Kates mom came to that party with all that make-up on her& I honestly pictured a clown wearing a tight, gut-sucking dress. Oh, and not to mention Bucks dad& I pictured him in a brown suit, with his stomach hanging out. I must admit, there were few emotional moments with crying. When Buck decided to live with his father in Slocum, I pictured his mother sobbing her eyes out, with like huge globs of mascara running down her face, and that she was almost dead from not enough air. Another sad part I can think of is when Scotty was laying in the hospital bed, with the meter, Irene next to him crying her eyes out, and Scotty was dead cold. So honestly, this actually wasnt that bad of a book, but it still wasnt that interesting to me.

Reader reviewed by ciara f

I thought the book Remembering The Good Times was an okay book. It was just okay because it explains a friendship. Also it lets you know that even if someone acts like everything is alright maybe its not.
The book is about a group of three kids becoming friends. The narrator is named Buck. Bucks parents are divorced. His dad lives in a trailer. While his mom got remarried and moved to Cleveland. He lives with his dad in the trailer behind a convenience store. They are good friends with the owners Scotty and Irene. Buck and Kate met in Pollys orchard. Polly is Kates great grandma. Polly and Kates mom take care of Kate. Kates mom acts like a teenage and it bothers Kate. Since Kates mom is hardly there she a lot of responsibility. Travis moves to Slocum after Kate and buck meet. Travs parents have a house warming party and Mrs. Kirby invites buck and Kate. That bothers Trav. Bucks dad and Kates mom end up going to the party together. Bucks dad interests the other guys so Trav gives buck Kate and Kates mom a tour of the house. When they get to his room they see a bunch of little kid toys. Later he gets caught stealing more toys. People think it was to get back at his parents. His parents decide to send him to his uncles in rural Iowa. The part I didnt like about the book was the fact he took his own life and never explained why. He seemed happy and had it all. He was handsome, good grades, and a big house. He was also born into a rich family!

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 Brittney M.

I didnt really like and understand the Remembering The Good Times. I mean that it was an ok book but it didnt make that much sense. I felt that the author took a while to get to the main point and I still do not know what the main point is! I think I might have an idea what the main point is. I think the main point is to not to kill yourself no matter what because someone will and does care about you, and they would be sad if you were gone. Also, maybe another point is that if you did want to kill yourself all of you friends would miss you a lot.
Like I said before it was confusing! What I mean is it took the author a while to explain things that the characters were doing. Then when he did finally explain, the characters were doing something else. Then the process starts again! Also, its confusing by all the surroundings. I didnt really like it because it was not a happy book! I like happy books and this one was kind of depressing with Trav killing himself and all. Then another sad part was when Mr. Kirby (Travs father) says that he is no longer a father/parent.
After that Polly says some nice words but its sad the rest of the book. Those are most of the reasons why others and I really dislike this book. Some other reasons I do like this book is that it tells a story about friendship and it is a little happier in the beginning but gets sadder as you go on. This book is to sad to read in a school classroom.

Reader reviewed by Ben H.

I disliked Remembering the Good Times for three reasons. One reason I disliked Remembering the Good Times because it was too sad. The second reason I disliked the book was because it was too confusing. The third reason I disliked it was because it dealt to much with Buck and not quite enough about everyone else.
First I thought it was too sad because not only did Travis commit suicide, but Scotty was shot during a robbery. Travis hung himself in a clearing in an orchard, one of Kates most favorite spots to relax. Also I thought it was sad because not even the school administrators, the assistant principal, or the principal cared much about the death of Travis Kirby. For this reason Mr. Kirby resigned from being president of the school.
Second I thought that the book was too confusing. One way Remembering the Good Times was confusing was because nobody really knows why Travis would hang himself in the first place. Another way the book was confusing was because nobody really knows why Travis would steal little kid toys from a store.
Third the book talked to much about Buck and not enough about everybody else. One way I thought the book talked too much about Buck was because the book told of what he did over the summer and not a lot about what Kate and Travis did over the summer. Secondly the book told about working and nothing about Kate and Travis working. Lastly the book talked about what Buck would usually do for fun, but wouldnt talk much about what Polly did for fun.

Reader reviewed by Rianna L

Remembering the Good times Critique

This is a book about three friends. During the story, one of the friends is kind of messed up in the head and decides to hang himself.
I think that there was no point in reading this book. I dont see why our teacher made us read a book about a kid who kills himself! What if reading this book made a student want to kill or hurt themselves?
Also, it is extremely emotional because a lot of my friends and I had a friend that died in forth grade. His birthday was on Halloween, which is the day she gave us this book which was surprisingly sad and made some of my friends cry.
This book was boring, had no point, and did not keep my interest whatsoever. It was lame and did not grab my attention. It was a bummer that I was forced to read it because I didnt enjoy this book at all.
I dont think we shouldve had to read this book for many reasons. One is that the beginning was not good at all. I think the author didnt emphasize the main idea until after the middle of the book. Nothing excited me, not even the suicide part, it just made me depressed. No one wants to read about a messed up kid unless its a comedy, and I wouldnt think that any one would want to write about it either.
Another bad feature of this book was the part when Mr. Slater beat up Skeeter. I mean seriously, a middle aged man, rather large, beats up a student in high school. That is so messed up!
Finally, we should have not had to read this book, it was a bad choice.

Reader reviewed by Brandon R

The book Remembering the Good Times was a boring book at times. But some times it became an exciting book. The book is written well in some parts but in other parts its not. The book is a story about a teenage suicide. Most of the characters were good but Polly was far the best character out of all of them. What made her the beast was that they told how she acted throughout the story. They said that she acted like a mean grouchy lady. Travis was a quite boy who had a lot of collectibles in his room.
The beginning of the book was pretty good setting and every thing was alright in the beginning. The middle of the book was alright but not descriptive enough and really didnt tell much like it didnt give you an idea that was going to happen later. The ending of the book was a really exciting book. But it was kind of like the middle part of the book. It was pretty descriptive but it did not do very good foreshadow.
The most exciting part of the book was when Travis commits suicide. He committed suicide in Pollys orchard. He did it in Kates secret hid out place thats where they found him. When he does that everybody feels really sorry and sad. They thought of him for everything that they did. They even though of him when they were eating lunch. Kate and Travis were very sorry that he did that. He went to nobody to everything. Thats what I think of the story.

Reader reviewed by Ryan W

Remembering the good times
During this story I really didnt like it but it mad me thing of stuff. Like when Travis died it made me thing of my best friend that died in 4th grade. Plus when Skeeter it made me laugh because it made me thing of this kid that I got into a fight with because he was harassing my friends. Then when his mom move to Cleveland I laugh to because my dad move to Yankton and I havent seen him since then. I thought it was weird that he meet her in the wood and ask him to go see a baby calf being born. When Travis made Skeeter settle down just by doing something to him I was like that is cool I need to learn that for my brothers. I also though Travis would have a lot of expensive nerdy stuff instead he had awesome little kid stuff. One of the main reason I didnt like the book was because it had nothing about skateboarding or anything I like in it. Another reason made me mad was that every one was crying because Travis died and they didnt even any him thats what had happen to my friend that died. I think that Buck should have done something about them saying that Travis was their best friend like beat them up. And towards the end it was really nice for Buck to give Miss Slater a hug. But that made me thing of remembering the good times.

Reader reviewed by Morgan H

I disliked this book because their wasnt a lot going on in to book. The book wasnt very exciting or adventurous. So I will tell you a brief summary of what happened in the book.
Trav moves to town and Kate, Buck, Trav, and Polly are best friends. They are always playing card games together. They sit out on Pollys porch and look out at the orchard. They would even go in it sometimes. Buck went away for the summer to his mothers. When he came back Kate was very beautiful. They all started freshman year and it was very crazy. Buck was so upset about Trav and Kate liking each other that he went out for freshman football. Trav and Kate told him they missed him so he quit. Kate tried out for the play and was very scared because she didnt think she was going to make it because their was only three spots open. But surprisingly she made it. Skeeter was being very rude to Mrs. Slater. So Kate had gone and talked to Mr. Slater and told him what was going on. Then he made a plan with Kate to beat up Skeeter and he did that during homecoming day. Trav had gotten caught stealing things from a store and was taken to jail and the first people he called was Buck and his father. Then for his punishment he was sent to go and work on a farm all summer. When he had gotten back he had gifts for everyone. Polly had gotten a bottle of perfume. Buck had gotten a calculator he had seen Trav have before. Kate had gotten a stuffed animal she had seen in his room before. Then Trav hangs himself in the orchard. And the gifts were a sign to all his friends he was going to do that.