The Teacher's Funeral [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Richard Peck (Author), Dylan Baker (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 9, 2007 | Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

“If your teacher has to die, August isn’t a bad time of year for it,” says Russell Culver, fifteen, who’s raring to light out for the endless skies of the Dakotas to join a team of harvesters working the new 1904 all-steel threshing machines. School’s only standing in the way of his Dakota dreams. Maybe now with his teacher in the ground, Hominy Ridge School will shut down for good.
No such luck. Russell and his schoolmates–Pearl, Flopears, Little Britches; the whole bunch–are about to be ruled by a new teacher who’s Russell’s worst nightmare.
Despite stolen supplies, rustic vandalism, a blazing boys’ privy, and more snakes than you can shake a stick at, the new teacher will keep the school afloat and set Russell on a new course entirely.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Another gem from Peck! -- School Library Journal, starred review

Full of life and character. -- Boston Sunday Herald --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Richard Peck has won numerous awards, including the Newbery Medal, and was the first children's writer ever to have received a National Humanities Medal. The author lives in New York City.


From the Audiobook Download edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Audio CD
• Publisher: Listening Library (Audio); Unabridged edition (January 9, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0739338986
• ISBN-13: 978-0739338988
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.9 x 6.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,349,112 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Richard Peck has written over twenty novels, and in the process has become one of America's most highly respected writers for young adults. A versatile writer, he is beloved by middle graders as well as young adults for his mysteries and coming-of-age novels. He now lives in New York City. In addition to writing, he spends a great deal of time traveling around the country attending speaking engagements at conferences, schools and libraries...Mr. Peck has won a number of major awards for the body of his work, including the Margaret A. Edwards Award from School Library Journal, the National Council of Teachers of English/ALAN Award, and the 1991 Medallion from the University of Southern Mississippi. Virtually every publication and association in the field of children s literature has recommended his books, including Mystery Writers of America which twice gave him their Edgar Allan Poe Award. Dial Books for Young Readers is honored to welcome Richard Peck to its list with Lost in Cyberspace and its sequel The Great Interactive Dream Machine...

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A SATISFYING STORY VERY WELL READ, December 30, 2004

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Teacher's Funeral (Audio Cassette)

Witty, refreshing, and heartwarming all describe Richard Peck's stories. One of the most lauded authors of fiction for young adults, Peck has received a National Humanities Medal, the Newbery Medal, and a Newbery Honor. Each richly deserved.

Equally merited is the Tony nomination gifted voice performer Dylan Baker received. His narration of this story set in 1904 Indiana is warm and moving. As an adult Russell Ciulver looks back on the year he was 15 when all he wanted was to cut out of backwoods Indiana and head for the Dakotas. Then it seemed opportunity knocked: "If your teacher has to die," says Russell, "August isn't a bad time of year for it."

Surely, he thought a new teacher wouldn't be hired for the half dozen students at Hominy Ridge School. He was forced to think again as his older sister, Tansy, was appointed to the post. She took it on with relish. As many a younger brother would, Russell decided it was time for a little subversion, such as a snake in her desk or a fire in the boy's privy plus sundry other bits of irritation.

Tansy was not about to be thwarted, certainly not by Russell.

This is a story the entire family will enjoy. Give a listen and return to simpler times.

- Gail Cooke

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, April 24, 2006

By 

T214T1987 "Avid- Reader" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Teacher's Funeral (Paperback)

This book was so funny, my son and I had a wonderful time reading it. I would read aloud, and could hear my husband in the next room laughing. It was great.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Suprised the reviews aren't better!, June 8, 2008

By 

Michelle Simonett "Booklovingmama" (Ontario) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Teacher's Funeral (Paperback)

I had already read this book with my boys before I read the reviews and was very suprised as we thought the story was a hoot from start to finish. The humour was fantastic and references to other novels such as Treasure Island (which we had read aloud during the winter) kept us all on our toes. Keep in mind this is exactly what it says on the cover, a comedy, not a historical novel. This is a perfect read aloud as kids and adults will love the comments about school being up hill both ways "As it was in those days." We have read Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, The Yearling, as well as freshly written novels about farming communities such as Dust. All fabulous in their own right and this one fits right up there with these. My three boys who are 12, 10 and 8 loved to make connections with the exagerated stories told to them by both their grandfathers and the hardships, and adventures of their rural childhoods. I do think this is best read aloud as the humour is contagious, and some kids reading this to themselves might not hear the humour in their heads, but give it a try!