Judy Bolton #22 The Spirit of Fog Island

In Judy Bolton #22, The Spirit of Fog Island, Judy receives a note from Peter while waiting for him on the pier in Chicago.  The note tells Judy that Peter will be waiting for her on the beach of Fog Island on Friday evening.  Judy is mystified, especially since she has never heard of Fog Island.  Judy learns that the island is on an Indian reservation.  She makes the journey and is immediately plunged into a strange mystery.

Margaret Sutton teaches about Indians in this book.  She sets the stage with Judy's thoughts on page 19.

She knew nothing about Indians, really.  What she had learned in school had not greatly impressed her.  Neither had the few Indians she had seen in shows and rodeos.  They were not people to her, but vague shadows out of America's past. 

On page 44, Judy begins to learn that Indians are in fact people just like everyone else.

"They don't teach us much about modern Indians either," Judy said.  "I didn't expect to find you so very much like everyone else," she added rather shyly.

"Do you mean in the way we talk and dress?" Winona inquired.

"I mean in every way," declared Judy.

Judy learns how rude the tourists are to the Indians.  Some of the other girls remark that the Indians were rude to them when they were looking in their windows.  Another girl replies that they were actually trespassing while looking in the windows.  Indeed.  They were also invading the Indians' privacy.

By page 93, Judy understands.

As she walked back toward the government building a feeling of sadness overwhelmed her.

"We took this whole beautiful country away from them and left them so little, so very little," she thought.

After spending hours on Fog Island, Judy is finally back at the inn.  On page 192, Judy reflects, "Somehow, I felt safer with the Indians."

This book is remarkable for how well it teaches about Indians and their culture.  The book is also very spooky, especially when the reader is unaware of what is really happening.  This used to be my favorite Judy Bolton book, but it isn't my favorite now, simply because it has lost the mystique that it once had.  Even so, I still find the book to be excellent.