"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...
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Nov 15, 2008
Richard
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This was a read-aloud book for the family and we all enjoyed it. Buckling under pressure I read it in my best Hoosier accent. The book was well written, humorous and understated. Like the characters on its pages the story makes no attempt to be more than it is and, therefore, becomes all the better.
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Aug 18, 2007
Rita Crayon
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I just had the oddest experience. I read this book this week without realizing I'd read it before. This has sometimes happened with books that aren't very good (I block them out), but this book is great! And I hadn't forgotten it, exactly; all the details kept coming back to me about three pages in advance...so that I kept thinking I must have only had time to read PART of the book in the past but would soon get to where I didn't remember. But...nope. I got to the very end and even the final lin
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Sep 03, 2011
April
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It’s 1904, the end of a sizzling summer in a small backwoods town in Indiana. Fifteen year old Russell Culver longs to head off to the wheat-fields of the Dakotas to join the teams of harvesters there. His dream is just out of reach because he still can’t pass the eighth-grade graduation exam. But an unexpected miracle occurs…his teacher passes away a few days before school starts. He, his younger brother Lloyd, and his best friend Charlie Parr hope against hope that the one-room Hominy Ridge Sc
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Mar 01, 2011
L11Beverly
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Russel Culver thinks his prayers are answered when the strict teacher in his one room schoolhouse, with barely enough students to keep it open, passess away in August. He hopes that the school will close, so he and his best friend can leave their fathers' farms in Indiana to travel to North Dakota, where the farms are much bigger and the equipment and farming methods much more modern. Unfortunately, Russel's older sister is hired to replace the teacher. His dreams of travel are shattered when
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Jul 16, 2010
KidsFiction
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Teton County Library Call No: J PECK
Kurt's Rating: 4 Stars
Russell Culver is 15 years old and lives in rural Indiana in the early 1900s. He lives for the annual showcase of new, mechanized farm equipment that arrives each year on the train with all of the pomp and production of a circus. He dreams of running off with his friend Charlie to South Dakota to work in the fields and earn gobs of money. He does not live for school. During summer vacation he and his schoolmates learn of More...
Kurt's Rating: 4 Stars
Russell Culver is 15 years old and lives in rural Indiana in the early 1900s. He lives for the annual showcase of new, mechanized farm equipment that arrives each year on the train with all of the pomp and production of a circus. He dreams of running off with his friend Charlie to South Dakota to work in the fields and earn gobs of money. He does not live for school. During summer vacation he and his schoolmates learn of More...
Oct 05, 2009
Kit
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I have to say I don't think I'm the target audience for this book, seeing as how I am not a fan of (a) the country; (b) nostalgia. I must have inherited the attitude of my grandmother, who said before her death, "I've ridden in a covered wagon and I've ridden in a 747. I liked the 747 better."
I also don't think kids are the target audience for this book, despite the fact that the narrator, Russell, is fifteen, and the cast of characters features kids as young as Little Brit More...
I also don't think kids are the target audience for this book, despite the fact that the narrator, Russell, is fifteen, and the cast of characters features kids as young as Little Brit More...
Jun 07, 2010
Cindy
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Russell Culver thinks it's a miracle at first - his meaner-than-a-snake schoolteacher drops dead right before school is ready to start. But it turns out that it's not the blessing he thought it would be. Who takes the teacher's place but his own bossy big sister Tansy? And since she's in charge, she's not about to take any lip from her younger brothers.
He has to admit that she's working hard for her pay. She even visits the trashy Tarbox clan, trying to get one extra student for the More...
He has to admit that she's working hard for her pay. She even visits the trashy Tarbox clan, trying to get one extra student for the More...
Oct 01, 2011
Kellie
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Given the time of year, where schoolwork begins to pile up for a teacher, I must have been in the mood for this teacher comedy when I picked it up. It takes place in 1904 within a one-room schoolhouse, so the method of school is obviously much different, but I found myself laughing at the main character's thoughts. "If your teacher has to die, August isn't a bad time of year for it."
Since the schoolteacher dies the day before classes resume, the students are crossing their More...
Since the schoolteacher dies the day before classes resume, the students are crossing their More...
Sep 13, 2010
Joseph
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A delightful read that really brings you both to the time and the place: early 20th century rural Indiana. Complete with buggy's, fireflies, corn-husking, and a one-room schoolhouse whose existence is threatened by the untimely death of the spinster school teacher, this story carries a tempo appropriate for the country and a humor that is really quite clever. And, to add to it, one of the best scenes in American literature, when the school receives as a gift a brand new, regulation baseball:
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Sep 26, 2010
Linda
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What a joy to read another book by this Newbery award winning author. He has a simple way of painting delightful images that lift off the pages and delicately enter your soul.
This is a folksy, funny and at times hilarious tale of Russell Culver, his friends and family at the turn of the century in the rural mid west.
When the one room school teacher, mean spirited, hand smacking Miss Myrt Arbuckle dies, Russell and his friends are relieved. Their joy is short lived when th More...
This is a folksy, funny and at times hilarious tale of Russell Culver, his friends and family at the turn of the century in the rural mid west.
When the one room school teacher, mean spirited, hand smacking Miss Myrt Arbuckle dies, Russell and his friends are relieved. Their joy is short lived when th More...
Sep 01, 2009
Heidi
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A very enjoyable read. I felt I was just listening to a man tell a few anecdotes from his teen years about how the old teacher died, and how his sister worked to become the new teacher. I love the ol' hometown feel to the book. And the humor was honest, simple, and hilarious. All of it was realistic and nostalgic. I just really liked it. This is the second book I've read (listened to) by Peck. And I've noticed that they start out all right, then somewhere along the way I find myself completely e
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Mar 09, 2010
MCBannnon
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The Teacher's Funeral:A Comedy in Three Parts........190 pages
author: Richard Peck
Summary: Russell's worst nightmare is school and his teacher, Miss Myrt but when she dies his older sister, Tansy, takes over.
pg. 161 p.1
"The days grew shorter, along with Tansy's temper. By now, we knew way more than we wanted to. We could tell you the capitals of countries nobody had ever heard of, and their principal exports. Even those of us whose mouths moved when we we More...
author: Richard Peck
Summary: Russell's worst nightmare is school and his teacher, Miss Myrt but when she dies his older sister, Tansy, takes over.
pg. 161 p.1
"The days grew shorter, along with Tansy's temper. By now, we knew way more than we wanted to. We could tell you the capitals of countries nobody had ever heard of, and their principal exports. Even those of us whose mouths moved when we we More...
Mar 14, 2011
Christian
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It's been a while since I've read something by Peck. As usual, he doesn't disappoint with what I look for in his books. I like that he tells stories from an earlier time, that he brings value to simpler lives. There is no grand plot that must be resolved in this book. The characters don't have grand flaws. Instead, you get a book with likable characters and you get to see a slice of their lives. In this instance, it's Russell's dreams for his future and his sister's efforts to become a good teac
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Aug 11, 2011
This one didn't really do it for me. I thought it was really slow in parts, taking a long time to set up a joke or funny situation. Laura Ingalls Wilder's experiences as a teacher or "Caddie Woodlawn" were way more enjoyable for me to read. Of course, this did have a male protagonist, but I'd much prefer "Little Britches" by Ralph Moody. My favorite part was seeing how Tansy dealt with different issues in the classroom, especially with little Beaulah. She showed wisdom a
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Nov 01, 2010
Jason
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This was a nice read (well, listen) the narrative voice really establishes the setting (1904), and it is really about the end of an era. Broadly it is about the dawn of the 20th Century, but also it is about a 15-year-old boy who is forced to give up his boyish ideas about what adulthood might be like, and embrace reality.
The narrator is complex, as it is written from an adult perspective, looking back, yet the narration is in first person for the most part, with many authentic col More...
The narrator is complex, as it is written from an adult perspective, looking back, yet the narration is in first person for the most part, with many authentic col More...
Jul 09, 2011
Mr.
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I had high hopes for this book, but was somewhat disappointed in it. I had seen it listed in a couple of education books as a recommended title for middle school students. Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s an enjoyable read, but it just didn’t strike me as outstanding.
I do like how the author plays with more challenging vocabulary at a couple different points. It is decent basic historical fiction in the sense that it doesn’t deal with a major historical event. It’s amazing to think how More...
I do like how the author plays with more challenging vocabulary at a couple different points. It is decent basic historical fiction in the sense that it doesn’t deal with a major historical event. It’s amazing to think how More...
Oct 23, 2009
Nancee
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When the teacher in Russell's one-room school house up and dies in August, he's sure it will be the best year ever, because it will take forever for the school board to find another teacher to come to the rural Indiana community. But, to Russell's surprise, his own sister Tansy accepts the job. Not only will he have to endure having her as his new teacher, but his aunt, who makes biscuits that even the fish won't touch, will take on the daily cooking. Filled with wonderful stories about rural
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Nov 28, 2011
Lindsay
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historical fiction
I got a kick out of this book because I think at some point every kid thinks there's a way to end school. Well, in this book Russell thinks just because the teacher died from a heart attack right before the beginning of the year that school would end and he'd get his wish of not having to go anymore. School in his eyes is just holding him back. After all that he gets a knew teacher that he never expected, his sister, who is probably the only one to control h More...
I got a kick out of this book because I think at some point every kid thinks there's a way to end school. Well, in this book Russell thinks just because the teacher died from a heart attack right before the beginning of the year that school would end and he'd get his wish of not having to go anymore. School in his eyes is just holding him back. After all that he gets a knew teacher that he never expected, his sister, who is probably the only one to control h More...
Nov 12, 2011
Dayna
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This is story is set in rural Indiana in 1904. 15-year-old Russell's summer ends on an uplifting note, his teacher has died. As the author notes, "If your teacher has to die, August isn't a bad time of year for it...". He and his brother are certain the school board will tear down the one room school house and they'll be free. But to their utmost horror the school board hires their bossy older sister Tansy as the new teacher. Peck evokes not only the feeling of the times, but humor as
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Jul 25, 2009
Maureen
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This book takes place in southern Indiana in the early 1900's. It is about two young boys, brothers who learn their teacher has died and they contemplate if school is going to take place or if they will not have school at all. When the school board meets and it is decided that the two young boys sister is to be the teacher, things begin to change. It is a funny book all the way through. Everything that happens is comical and very much like I would imagine it would be in that time frame. I espec
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Aug 24, 2009
Janette
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I have to say I didn't think I was going to like this book very much when I first started it. As a reader, I like plot-driven novels and this was clearly a character driven book.
Now I realize that I do like character driven books--if I love the characters in them. And the characters in this book are wonderful! Reading it felt like sitting down and having a talk with Tom Sawyer. I loved all of the little descriptive asides:
When describing the teacher, Russle says, " More...
Now I realize that I do like character driven books--if I love the characters in them. And the characters in this book are wonderful! Reading it felt like sitting down and having a talk with Tom Sawyer. I loved all of the little descriptive asides:
When describing the teacher, Russle says, " More...
Sep 11, 2010
Hilary
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After fifteen-year-old Russell Culver's teacher dies, he rejoices at the thought of never returning to school and heading out to the Dakotas to become a harvester. His dreams are ruined, though, when his sister decides she's going to take over teaching at his one room school house in rural Indiana in 1904. Once again, Richard Peck puts us in a time before America became corporate. A time when Terre Haute, IN is a big city, automobiles are a passing fad, and the annual pig butchering is the bigge
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Jan 06, 2010
Barbara
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This is a wonderfully warm-hearted, humorous novel which takes place in 1904 Indiana, where the narrator and his brother attend a rural, one-room school house. When their old teacher unexpectedly dies over the summer, the boys are optimistic that there isn't enough time to engage a new teacher and so school will not take place this year. Sadly, and comically, that isn't the case. I loved this book! Wickedly funny, engaging characters, wonderful colloquial language, and vivid descriptions all
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Mar 13, 2008
Lotte
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This should be read out loud with your children so you can all enjoy some good laughs together!
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Mar 01, 2008
Chris
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This book must be read out loud. The eulogy had me laughing so hard tears were pouring down my face.
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Apr 04, 2010
Terrie
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Told with amazing honesty and humor this is a story like Grandpa would tell of his childhood. This takes place in 1904 in the Indiana country. When the very old (age 40) schoolteacher,Mert Arbuckle, dies just before the school year starts, 15 year old Russell Culver and his little brother Lloyd are sure that their education days are over.
This is one of those books that adults will probably enjoy more than the children it is written for. I had tears running down my face several times from More...
This is one of those books that adults will probably enjoy more than the children it is written for. I had tears running down my face several times from More...
Nov 15, 2010
Mary Anne
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This is a fun young adult book. An good chance to get a view of the midwest around the turn of the century in a humorous way. The tail end seemed to be a bit unsatisfying though. It's one of those where you are led up to a point in detail and then all of a sudden it's said. "Oh and by the way here's who everyone married eventually."
I wish the boy weren't quite so selfish, but most kids are a bit, and I never was sure of the ages of anyone.
Being from Indi More...
I wish the boy weren't quite so selfish, but most kids are a bit, and I never was sure of the ages of anyone.
Being from Indi More...
Mar 17, 2010
Cinnamon
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One of my all-time favorite books!!
When the teacher dies right before school starts, the kids at Hominy Ridge school see this as Providence saying that they have learned everything that they will ever need. But the school board sees things differently and they hire a new teacher, Tansy, who is not much older than the students. Her brother is not happy about this change and he is determined to stop her from destroying her plans. But there are other forces who are also out to close the sc More...
When the teacher dies right before school starts, the kids at Hominy Ridge school see this as Providence saying that they have learned everything that they will ever need. But the school board sees things differently and they hire a new teacher, Tansy, who is not much older than the students. Her brother is not happy about this change and he is determined to stop her from destroying her plans. But there are other forces who are also out to close the sc More...
