The Teacher's Funeral — Richard Peck

SCHOOLS OUT!
School is the only thing standing between fifteen-year-old Russell Culver and his dream. Now that his teacher's hauled off and died, 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. Of course, no teacher is a match for Russell, Pearl, Flopears, Little Britches -- the whole bunch. They're going to do whatever it takes to sink the school, even if it means stealing supplies, rustic vandalism, a blazing boys' privy, and more snakes than you can shake a stick at.