• Age: 9 to 12
• Grade: 4 to 7
• Reading age: 8 to 13

Shimmerdogs is the story of young Lester B. Hopkins - Mike to almost everyone except his mother, Master Corporal Alice Mackelwain. He is just a boy trying to make sense of his own world that is ever more complicated by the intrusion of the world of his absent soldiering mother. Mike is very worried about his mother's safety while she is in Bosnia. He, like his sister, gets caught up in his mother's tragic stories like the one of a little boy named Edin, whose daily life includes the nightmares of the violence and terror of war. Mike wonders how to make sense of it all, how to step outside the fears he harbours and the unanswered questions he has.

Stumbling upon a book he finds in the library that describes the ancient belief that dogs guard the doorways to death, he begins to shape an understanding of his troubles. Wasn't he brought back to life by a shimmering white dog with "jewellery eyes" who saved him from drowning? The connections become more apparent when Mike's dog, Merit, disappears, and he reasons she is on some kind of peacekeeping mission like his mother. Then he meets Jozef Lapinski, an elderly neighbour who has his own miraculous dog story from World War II. The pieces of his puzzling life are taking shape and he knows something but he cannot name it. Despite the admonishments of his teen sister, Nell, who is concerned about the effect of his rampant imagination on their mother, Mike pursues his instincts. As his self-doubt continues to diminish and his trust in his imagination guides his mind to make sense of what he knows, he sees more and more evidence of what he believes is true - that spirit or shimmer dogs are rescuing people from the very real dangers of our world. And for Mike, this is all the more reason to invent agents of protection for his family - or be assisted by them, whichever the case may be.

Dianne Linden was born in Kansas City, and grew up in Bolder Colorado where she completed her university education. After working in the eastern US and Germany, she made her way to Canada to work as a teacher at both the high school and college level. In addition to her career and raising a family, Dianne's work as a writer has always remained central to her life. Her poetry, short stories, and essays for adults have appeared in many Canadian literary magazines and have been anthologized in Canada, and Britain. She has also published two award-winning YA novels. Balancing her full time writing career is her volunteer work, which is diligently focused on raising money for African grandmothers through the Stephen Lewis Foundation.

Dianne Linden's profile page

Peacekeepers By Dianne Linden

Labels are handy for your preserves and files, but when it comes to a good book, a label can be misleading. Peacekeepers, Edmonton's Dianne Linden's first novel, is labelled "juvenile fiction." But this beautiful, multi-layered story is for everyone.
Peacekeepers tells the story of Nellie Letitia Hopkins, a junior high school student and her brother Lester B. (Are maple leaves beginning to appear on the edges of your mind?) These bright children live with their uncle because their single mom is serving as a peacekeeper in Bosnia. Linden skillfully weaves together the lives of this little family with peace in the school halls and peace on the international stage. The story rings true.Nell deals with her responsibility for a younger brother, her rage at her mom for "caring more about kids in a faraway country than she does for her own children," with school bullies, with an uncle who knows nothing about parenting, and with the fact that, through e-mails, she becomes caught up in the tragic story of a little boy named Edin whose daily life includes the nightmare of landmines.We all know that the world has shrunk quickly during the past decade or so, but that is an adult perspective. Children growing up today take for granted that what happens upstream affects those living downstream, and what happens to a little boy in Bosnia - or Israel, Palestine, Sudan or the U.S. - affects children in Yellowknife, Edmonton or Fredericton. This fast-paced book reflects that knowledge while holding us close to the family living the story.

- Reviewed by Carolyn Pogue in The United Church Observer, Sept. 2004

Shimmerdogs

Shimmerdogs – a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award – is the story of a boy’s need to be heard, to have his experiences and emotions acknowledged, and to be fully included in the life of his family.

The novel by Dianne Linden is written in the voice of the very likable main character, seven-year-old Lester B. Hopkins (Mike). He struggles with a lot of change and loss as people come in and out of his life. When his mother goes to Bosnia to be a peacekeeper, Mike and his sister go to live with their uncle and have to go to a new school. He adopts a stray dog which later disappears. His mother tells him of a boy she meets in Bosnia – a boy Mike wants to befriend but who is later killed by a landmine. When Mike’s neighbour, the elderly Mr. Lapinski dies, things come to a crisis and Mike runs away. Although he is found relatively quickly, that isn’t the end of Mike’s difficulties.

An intriguing aspect of the novel is the possibility that help comes in forms not always recognized – in this case, “shimmerdogs.” Mike reads a legend about them that says they were sent from the moon thousands of years ago to bring peace. Throughout the book, Mike finds “shimmerdogs” – some real and some seen only by him – to help him cope. A second thread in the story is the link between international peacekeeping and peacekeeping in everyday Canadian life when his sister has a fight with classmates.

Shimmerdogs is suitable for the intended audience in terms of language and presentation. The book is divided into sections and each section is sub-divided into short, readable parts. The number of challenging experiences and deaths close to Mike may be overwhelming for some readers. Children who feel alone and frightened, however, may find some comfort in knowing others feel that too. It is a good book for parents to read. By the end of the book, the reader, with Mike, learns that when help is needed it appears, sometimes in unexpected ways; that life goes on, despite change; and that the human spirit has the power to recover.

Shimmerdogs

Seven-year-old Mike has experienced a lot in his young life — his mother is a Canadian peacekeeper in Bosnia, he’s now living with his uncle and going to a new school and his elderly neighbour Mr. Lapinski dies. When he learns about shimmerdogs — dogs that were brought down to earth from the moon to bring peace — he finds a way to begin to heal. The prequel to Peacekeepers.