The Teacher's Funeral

The Teacher's Funeral

Peck, Richard. THE TEACHER'S FUNERAL : A COMEDY IN THREE PARTS

"If your teacher has to die, August isn't a bad time of the year for it." So begins the story of fifteen-year-old Russell Culver who is looking forward to having the school shut down after the teacher dies. All Russell can think about is quitting school and joining up with a wheat threshing crew to get out of this town. There isn't much here in Indiana for a young boy in 1904. Russell wants to go to the city and see all the wonders that modern technology brings. But there is no such luck. Russell's older sister Tansy is appointed the new teacher and so begins a year of privy fires, missing bells, and elocution lessons for this rag tag class at Hominy Ridge School. If you liked Richard Peck's other novels set during this time, A Year Down Yonder and A Long Way from Chicago, you are sure to enjoy the comical look at rural schools from the last century.