The Tramp Room

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

On St. Nicholas Eve, Elizabeth Salisbury, almost 14, goes to the Joseph
Schneider Haus Museum, a restored Mennonite House near Waterloo, where,
as a volunteer junior interpreter, she roleplays being a family cousin.
During the evening, Elizabeth falls asleep, and, when she awakens the
“next” day, finds herself some 150 years in the past. In this
time-slip fantasy, Elizabeth spends about three months as the
cousin/hired girl living with the Schneiders and their four daughters
and two sons. When St. Nicholas Day arrives, Elizabeth returns to the
present.

The plot revolves about a boy, approximately Elizabeth’s age, who
arrives at the Schneider home seeking shelter. He is housed in the
beggar/tramp’s room, a space in the house set aside for travelers
seeking work. The boy, who is never given a name beyond “tramp boy,”
claims that he fulfilled the terms of an apprenticeship but is being
illegally coerced into a second apprenticeship by another unscrupulous
master who is searching for him.

Elizabeth eventually plays a key role in helping to confirm the
veracity of the tramp boy’s story. While the storyline is somewhat
thin, the book is rich in historical detail (including the social
customs of the time), and most chapters are built about the seasonal
work cycle (especially those tasks performed by women). Consequently,
young readers learn about such period activities as making candles,
goose-quill pens, and sausages; flax breaking; and spinning.
Recommended.