This is the book that inspired the movie “Stand By Me” and if you’re a child of the 80’s a well loved classic. This book and the movie are very similar and was a pleasant stroll down memory lane. There are a few parts I could have done without. To me it is like the R rated movies that just throw in a couple of scenes to get the rating even though the whole would have been better without it. Not to try to tell one of the greatest of all times how to do his job, just would be my personal preference. It is a great adventure read overall and a good coming of age story. That said I would only recommend it to the same audience of an R rated movie.