Rave Reviews Log: Historical Fiction

October 24, 2006

The Teacher's Funeral


By Richard Peck
Period: Early 20th century America, Midwest
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Noelle

Richard Peck hits the right spot with this comedy. In 1904 in small town Indiana, the schoolteacher has just died. Russell is 15 and hoping this means he is finally done with school so he can head out to the Dakotas and join harvesting teams. No such luck! The new schoolteacher is none other than Tansy, Russell's older sister. No one is keen on going to school, so Tansy has her work cut out for her, even from her brother. The school bell's clapper gets wadded up so it can't be rung and the boys' privy catches fire. And that was the first day! And there are more pranks and hardships to come! But somewhere along the way, some learning also happens, and some respect for Tansy. Surprisingly, the expectations she has for her class starts changing some of the expectations they had for themselves. If you don't have fun reading this story, you must be doing something wrong!

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