Ellen, Book 3: The Waiting Time

Deborah Dowson is a Canadian children’s librarian living in Powell,
Ohio.

It has been a year since World War II has started and some things have
improved for Ellen and her family. Her father has a better job, but
Ellen worries that he will join the army. Another worry is the polio
epidemic; Ellen is very concerned about her friend who has been
hospitalized with the disease. When Ellen develops a sore throat and
fever, her family fears the worst until the doctor announces that she
only has a case of tonsillitis. Unfortunately there are no antibiotics
to speed her recovery, so Ellen must spend many days in bed before she
is well enough to return to school.

This episode from the Ellen books in the Our Canadian Girl series is a
reflection on how people cope with the worry of war and the fear of
illness, and the realization that some people deal with fear by becoming
prejudiced against those whom they see as the source of the problem. As
is typical for the series, there are also many examples of how different
life was at a time when everyone did not have a car, telephone,
refrigerator, television, or other conveniences that we take for granted
in the present day. This is a thought-provoking story with a generous
and sensitive heroine whose everyday experiences give insight into a
childhood in the 1940s. Recommended.