The Tenth Pupil

Brenda Baltensperger is a playwright, a director of children’s
theatre, an editor of children’s fiction, and the author of Fractured
Fairy-tales.

It is 1934 and the Depression is in full swing. Resentment runs rampant
between the local loggers and the Japanese immigrants on Vancouver
Island.

Trudy Paige is looking forward to the arrival of the new teacher in
Mellor’s Camp where her father is a logger. Ten students are required
before the department of education will pay for a teacher, and so far
there are only nine students enrolled. The families in the logging
community are worried that the school will remain closed because they
can’t afford to pay a teacher. As a last resort, Trudy decides to
enrol her dog Shaggy as the tenth pupil, but plans go awry when it’s
learned that a school inspector is on his way from Victoria.

Just when the situation looks hopeless, Shigi Nakabo enrols and saves
the day. Because of his Japanese heritage, however, he is shunned by
everybody except Trudy, who is bewildered by the animosity. While
visiting friends in Vancouver, Trudy witnesses a riot between the locals
and Japanese immigrants in Little Tokyo. The reason behind it is
explained to her by one of the loggers from her own camp, which is
sympathetic to the immigrants. Shigi is finally accepted by some of the
loggers’ families when he saves several lives by warning of an
imminent bridge collapse.

This book provides insight into life in a logging operation in Western
Canada during the Depression and into the highly volatile relations
between the unemployed white population and the hard-working Asian
immigrants. The glossary of logging terms at the back of the book is an
invaluable learning tool for young readers. Highly recommended.