The Teacher's Funeral a Comedy in Three Parts by Richard Peck

Fifteen-year-old Russell Culver hates school. He wants to go harvest wheat with his friend Charlie Parr. When the school teacher dies, Russell hopes they will close the school and he can persue his dream. Alas! The school board hires his older sister to teach which totally bums Russell out. The reader gets to enjoy rural life in the early 1900s complete with country school and the advent of the automobile.