The Teacher's Funeral a Comedy in Three Parts by Richard Peck

"If your teacher has to die, August isn't a bad time of the year for it." Russell Cluver relates the story of one of the most important events in his life, the one-room schoolhouse teacher, Ms. Myrt Arbuckle, died before school started. This is by no means a sad story, Russell, his brother Lloyd and the few other students in the rural Indiana setting, are so happy that mean old Ms. Myrt is no more. What Russell wasn't expecting is that his older sister Tansy, decides to become their teacher. Tansy has a goal, she is going to keep the school going and recruits even the undesirable kids from their town.
After a few incidents, Russell's dream of going away to the Dakotas and be free of school comes down crashing and he finally settles for life in his small town. It is after Tansy gets a teacher's provisional certificate that she reveals her goal to oblivious Rusell, now he really has to get an education and have a better life for him and for their younger brother's sake.

I love the humor in this story, I'd find myself laughing at the situations that the kids put themselves in. As a historical fiction fan, going back to 1904, the way it all used to be, the details about what people used in those days and the limitations that they had, have made this book a favorite one. My grandfather used to tell me about his life in the early 1900's so it hits close to home. It's a humorous book that will take you to a simple life with simple folks but not without complications!