Peacekeepers

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

Nell is extremely angry with her mother, who has gone on a peacekeeping
mission to Bosnia—or, as Nell puts it, “to make other families happy
and safe, instead of her own.” Now Nell has to stay with her uncle,
and she has to go to a less-than-ideal school because doing so makes it
convenient for her to look after her younger brother. The worst thing is
that she is harassed and bullied at school by a boy and his girlfriend.
Nell feels vulnerable, but won’t speak to her mom and doesn’t feel
comfortable speaking to her uncle. She confides a bit to a teacher at
school, but this just incites the bullies to further violence. When the
principal finally learns about the intimidation and the bullies are
punished, they retaliate and no one can protect Nell from their wrath.

Linden weaves a compelling story of Nell’s daily struggles by
creating an interesting mix of humour and drama in both the supporting
characters and the subplots. Nell has a very dry wit and keen powers of
observation, which engage the reader in the narration. The more serious
perspective is offered by the mother, who writes via email from Bosnia.
Setting the school bully situation against the backdrop of the aftermath
of war in Bosnia allows the author to explore the issues of violence and
human rights in both a personal and a more universal way. This is an
interesting story that realistically describes some of the difficult
challenges of human relations. Highly recommended.