The following version of the book was used to create this study guide: Peck, Richard. The Teacher's Funeral. Penguin Books, New York, NY 10014. 2004. Kindle AZW file.

Though the opening day of school is inevitable, Russell Culver is desperately clinging to the last days of summer. He and his younger brother Lloyd go to the nearby town of Montezuma, Indiana, with their father on the day a train is due to arrive with samples of the newest farming machines. At the end of the day, they return to the farm where their older sister Tansy has gathered the supplies that they need for their annual trip to the nearby creek called the Little Shady. Russell begins to tell a ghost story. At the appointed time, his friend Charlie approaches the camp, scaring Lloyd so that he jumps in the creek. Charlie then begins to share his news – their teacher, Miss Myrt Arbuckle, died earlier in the day. As Charlie gives all the details he knows, Russell is horrified to see Myrt's ghost approaching through the woods. He is relieved to discover that Tansy and Charlie made this plan to scare the boys.

Two days later, Russell and Lloyd are among those gathered for Miss Myrt's funeral. When the Culver family goes to say their final farewells, they see that someone put Miss Myrt's pointer in her hand. Tansy says it is ridiculous to bury a perfectly good pointer, and she removes it before marching out of the church. That evening, the school board members hold an emergency meeting at the Culver home. By the time Russell goes to sleep, he is sure that Tansy is going to be their new school teacher, even though she has not yet graduated from high school. Russell decides that he is going to foil Tansy's plans, but Tansy persists. There are only seven students. Seven is one student short of the eight students necessary to keep the school open. On the search for more students, Tansy visits the Tarbox farm. The family is huge with a lot of children, but Mrs. Tarbox refuses to consider sending any of them to school even after Tansy says there is a law that requires it. Glenn Tarbox shows up at school the next day. Though Russell estimates Glenn's age at 19 or 20, Glenn does not know how to read at all. However, he is determined to learn. Over the next few weeks, Glenn sits in with the youngest members of the class while Tansy becomes increasingly inventive with her efforts to teach.

Russell has plans to travel north to the Dakotas where he imagines himself working on one of the huge farms. Though he knows very little about the trip or the life, he imagines it to be a better life than this one. He and Charlie have been planning this trip together, but Russell discovers that Charlie seems less invested in the plan and more interested in Tansy. Charlie is not the only one showing an interest. Tansy receives several gifts from a man named Eugene who first encountered the family while driving his racing car through Indiana. The situation is becoming more intense as Glenn also seems interested in Tansy. As time passes, Russell realizes that he is no longer interested in sabotaging Tansy's efforts to receive her teaching certificate. As she becomes more invested in the school, she tells Glenn her plan to ensure that he and Lloyd finish high school and go to college. As the novel comes to a close, the youngsters continue to grow up together. Though they go about their chosen professions and establish families of their own, they often return to rural Indiana.