William Bell. The Blue Helmet. Toronto: Doubleday, 2006.
Genre: Young Adult - Bildungsromans
The story is set in Hamilton, Ontario. Lee Mercer is a rebellious 16 years old teen. His mother died of cancer when he was seven and he lives with his father who spends most of his time working. Lee likes to resolve problem with violence and wants to become a member of the most powerful gang in Toronto. In order to save his son from further trouble, his father sends Lee to New Toronto to live with his aunt Reena who runs a small café.
While working at Reena’café, Lee meets many people in the neighbourhood and establishes a friendship with them. He also helps people running errands. Bruce Cutter is one of his customers.
Cutter is a mysterious, paranoid person living by himself with no relatives. Although Cutter is suffered from some sort of mental disorders, he is very intelligent, a computer genies. Very soon, Cutter and Lee becomes close friend. Their friendship ends when Cutter committed suicide in his own house. What confuses Lee is Cutter leaves him the house and money in his will.
Lee takes much courage to explore the house. He then finds out that Cutter is actually a war veteran who fought in Balkans as a UN peacekeeper. From Cutter’s diary, Lee understands that Cutter is anti-war. He does not want to fight or kill. All he wants is to be a peacekeeper. But the war destroys Cutter.
This incident enlightens Lee that violence is not a way to solve problems. You have a choice between a green helmet and a blue helmet. At the end of the story, Lee changes his attitude towards his father and takes the initiative to reconcile and rebuild the family.
It is a fast paced, touching novel with a bit of mysteries and adventures. Although I would say it is a plot driven novel, it also fills with vivid characters. Lee is a loveable teen. Although he starts out as a trouble kid, underneath, he is helpful, approachable, easy-going and hardworking. Therefore, he soon becomes a good help at the café and able to make many friends. Throughout the story, readers can see Lee’s gradual growing up and becomes mature. It is a wonderful coming-of-age novel.
