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Overview
If your teacher has to die, August isn't a bad time of year for it," begins Richard Peck's latest novel, a book full of his signature wit and sass. Russell Culver is fifteen in 1904, and he's raring to leave his tiny Indiana farm town for the endless sky of the Dakotas. To him, school has been nothing but a chain holding him back from his dreams. Maybe now that his teacher has passed on, they'll shut the school down entirely and leave him free to roam.
No such luck. Russell has a particularly eventful season of schooling ahead of him, led by a teacher he never could have predicted-perhaps the only teacher equipped to control the likes of him: his sister Tansy. Despite stolen supplies, a privy fire, and more than any classroom's share of snakes, Tansy will manage to keep that school alive and maybe, just maybe, set her brother on a new, wiser course.
In rural Indiana in 1904, fifteen-year-old Russell's dreams of quitting school and joining a wheat threshing crew are disrupted when his older sister takes over the teaching at his one-room schoolhouse after mean, old Myrt Arbuckle "hauls off and dies."
Synopsis
Now that Russell’s teacher’s done passed away, maybe Hominy Ridge School will be shut down for good and he can light out for the endless skies of the Dakotas to join a team of harvesters working the new 1904 all-steel threshing machines. No such luck. Russell and his schoolmates are about to be ruled by a new teacher who is Russell’s worst nightmare—his sister. Russell’s going to do whatever it takes to sink the school, even if it means resorting to stealing supplies, rustic vandalism, torching a boy’s privy, and rustling up more snakes than you can shake a stick at.
Publishers Weekly
PW wrote in a starred review, "Following the tradition of Mark Twain, Peck gently pokes fun at social manners and captures local color while providing first-rate entertainment." Ages 8-up. (Apr.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
PW wrote in a starred review, "Following the tradition of Mark Twain, Peck gently pokes fun at social manners and captures local color while providing first-rate entertainment." Ages 8-up. (Apr.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.Children's Literature
Combine a slice of Americana with young adult angst, throw in some humor, unforgettable characters and beautiful writing and you have this YA novel by one of the country's most skilled and prolific writers. Russell Culver, 15, wastes few tears when he hears about his school teacher's sudden death. Maybe their one-room school will close for lack of a teacher and he and his friend, Charlie Parr, can light out for the Dakotas and a life of running shining farm machines. Or maybe not. Suddenly, his seventeen-year-old sister, Tansy, persuades the county school board to let her teach. Russell and his younger brother, Lloyd, are reluctantly educated at a pace that leaves the late Miss Myrt Arbuckle in the dust. Then the questions come: can Tansy handle a class ranging from a six-year-old to young men taller than she is? Why does Glenn Tarbox, older than the teacher, suddenly show up "for learnin' and for the long haul?" Are he and Charlie sweet on the teacher? Who is the mysterious Sweet Singer of Sycamore Township who posts her poems around the community and seems to know everyone too well? What about Eugene Hammond, the driver of the Overland speedster who literally ran into Russell's family as they returned from Miss Myrt's funeral? When boxes of school supplies arrive, compliments of the Overland Automobile Company, Russell is forced to see Tansy—and life in the small farming community—a bit differently. Peck is a wordsmith whose descriptions sing. Comedy or not, this book is a pleasure to read. 2004, Dial Books, Ages 12 up.—Judy Crowder
KLIATT
Over the past few years, Richard Peck has left the realm of realistic fiction and ventured into the historical realms of his own past and the people and places that make up America of an earlier time. His new novel takes a humorous yet wholesome look at the Indiana farm country as America begins the 20th century. Rich with colorful characters, Midwest dialect and poignant plot twists, The Teacher's Funeral is the story of Russell Culver and the year the county schoolteacher dies of old age. What follows is a rollicking glimpse of adolescent pranks and dreams in a simpler time. Russell is all boy, 15 years old and not yet out of the eighth grade. He hopes that his school will close down, leaving him and his best friend free to ride the rails to the wheat harvests in the Dakotas. To his chagrin, his older sister Tansy is given the position of schoolteacher, and no sheets in the bell tower or snakes in the desk drawer are going to deter her. Tansy takes the task seriously and helps her brother see the importance of education in a rural world that has already begun to change with the times. Lloyd is Russell's younger brother, who looks up to him; Charlie is his best friend; and the Tarbox farm is one place to avoid. Russell's father is a good, wise man who allows for mischief but not at the expense of family relationships. Younger YAs might need help understanding the historical context, but Peck fully and gracefully describes the family life of an era gone by. KLIATT Codes: JS*—Exceptional book, recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2004, Penguin, Dial, 190p., Ages 12 to 18.—Janis Flint-Ferguson