Growing Up & Facts of Life, Social & Family Issues 

How well do we know our best  friends?They were the best of friends.  Sixteen-year-old Buck Mendenhall first met Kate Lucas the  summer before seventh grade. In eighth grade they made  friends with the brilliant and wealthy newcomer,  Trav Kirby.They didn't seem to  need anyone else. Mostly they looked forward to the  good times shared at Kate's house. it didn't  matter if their classmates wondered about them; no one  could unravel their binding  ties.At least that's what they thought. When one of  the trio finds the future too great a threat, the  other two can only wonder: "How well did we  know our best friend?"  "With humanity, wit, and a quiet intensity, Peck's novel   depicts suicide as a turning point inward of the pressures in  an alienated and violent society." -- Booklist, starred review.  A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year. - from Amzon