Ten-year-old Nick, who is embarassed to live above the funeral home owned by his demanding uncle, runs into some hilarious trouble when he agrees to give Bernard Trauffman's snake a secret and serious funeral.
Wanting to follow in his late father's footsteps as a truck driver, Nick offers Bernard a memorial service at his aunt's and uncle's funeral parlor for Bernard's dead snake in exchange for the price of a trucker's road atlas. Reprint.