A Kind of Courage

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.

Colleen Heffernan’s first young-adult novel raises a timeless
universal question: “What constitutes courage?” World War I Canada,
infected by rampant patriotism and the expectation that “[w]e are all
duty bound to do our bit,” equated a man’s courage with his
willingness to enlist and fight the Hun overseas.

David Ross, the 18-year-old son of a prominent Ontario banking family,
struggles against his father’s expectation that he become a soldier
because his personal moral barometer says taking someone’s life is
wrong. When conscripted, David declares himself a conscientious
objector, but then faces two choices—jail or farm work. Electing the
latter, David, in April 1918, is assigned to the Tamblyn farm. There he
meets Hattie, whose older brother, Will, having enlisted, has already
spent two years in the trenches of France. Johnny, Hattie’s
13-year-old younger brother, is ashamed that their father has agreed to
accept a “conchie,” the pejorative equivalent of “coward.”
Hattie is initially ambivalent about her feelings toward David, but
circumstances ultimately cause her to redefine courage.

While the book’s focal action occurs in 1918, the story actually
spans the period from 1910 to 1919. Heffernan jumps around in time,
labelling each section with the month and year as well as the name of
the narrator, either David or Hattie. Hattie’s portion of the story,
which also includes Will’s letters from the front, advances
chronologically. David’s goes back and forth timewise as Heffernan
fills in the details of David’s life that have led to his moral
stance. Highly recommended.