"This nonfiction book for middle-grade readers examines the history, beliefs and customs surrounding death in cultures around the world."--

From the best-selling author of The Painted House, Skipping Christmas, and The Firm comes a nostalgic novel about high school football in a small Texas town, a place in which football has become a religion. High school all-American Neely Crenshaw was probably the best quarterback ever to play for the legendary Messina Spartans. Fifteen years have gone by since those glory days, and Neely has come home to Messina to bury Coach Eddie Rake, the man who...

Although his father has forbidden it, Ernie, a twelve-year-old business tycoon, makes a tidy profit in the pet funeral business, but when he refuses to give his star employee a raise and the business starts to fall apart, it takes the death of his own dog to bring everyone back together.

Discusses funeral rites practiced in the past in different parts of the world and how through archaeologists we have come to know about them.

Examines the customs and practices related to burial that have existed from ancient times to the present.