The Blue Helmet
- Publisher
- Doubleday Canada
- Initial publish date
- Jan 2009
- Category
- General
- Recommended Age
- 12 to 18
- Recommended Grade
- 7 to 12
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9780770430023
- Publish Date
- Jan 2009
- List Price
- $12.99
Classroom Resources
Where to buy it
Out of print
This edition is not currently available in bookstores. Check your local library or search for used copies at Abebooks.
Description
Lee wants to be a Tarantula – a member of the biggest, most powerful gang in his neighbourhood. But when his initiation goes wrong and the police catch him robbing an auto supply store, Lee’s father sends him to live with his aunt in New Toronto.
Lee feels more lost than ever. His mother’s death from cancer, and his father’s constant absence working two jobs mean he has practically had to raise himself. But though he initially resists his Aunt Reena and the customers of Reena’s Unique Café – a ragtag collection of the unusual, the unkempt and the deeply eccentric – Lee gradually learns to open himself up to his new surroundings. When Lee strikes up an unlikely friendship he is suddenly confronted by the ravages of violence, and is forced to face the consequences of his own aggression.
The Blue Helmet is a powerful portrait of one young man’s struggle to come into his own, and the peace that comes from the achievement.
From the Hardcover edition.
About the author
William Bell was born in Toronto in 1945 and went to school there until he graduated from the College of Education in 1970. Until 2002 he was a high school English teacher and department head in Ontario. Bell also taught at the Harbin University of Science and Technology, the Foreign Affairs College (both in China), and the University of British Columbia. He holds a Masters of Arts degree in Literature and a Master of Education degree. Bell's Young Adult novels have been translated into nine languages and have won a number of awards. Bell lives in Orillia, Ontario, with author Ting-xing Ye.
Awards
- Short-listed, Young Reader's Choice Award
- Short-listed, White Pine Award
- Winner, Canadian Library Association - Young Adult Canadian Book Award
Excerpt: The Blue Helmet (by (author) William Bell)
One
"I thought you guys aren’t supposed to smoke on duty.”
The fat plainclothes cop named Carpino lowered his window an inch.
“You’re a strange one to talk about rules,” he said.
The unmarked police car hissed through deserted Sunday morning streets, wipers flapping greasy drizzle from the windshield, the rattling fan fighting a losing battle against condensation. My father would have had a fit if he’d heard the fan, and launched into a rant about proper maintenance. But, as usual, he wasn’taround.
I sat up front beside the cop. The car was hot and stuffy and smelled of stale coffee, hamburger grease, and tobacco. With the palm of my hand I squeegeed mist from the side window. Outside, the rain brimmed in the curb gutters, pushing dirt and soggy food wrappers toward plugged sewer grates.
My head throbbed and I winced every time the car hit a pothole. I flipped down the visor and examined my face in the vanity mirror. An angry red scab was forming over the split in my swollen upper lip, my nose was puffed and red, and the cheek under one eye was bruised and purple. Disgusted, I pushed the visor back into position.
“Anyway,” I told the cop, “you’re wasting your time. I’ll be back.”
He dropped his cigarette butt out the window, took a left through an orange light, and headed toward the on-ramp for the highway.
“Think about it, Lee,” he replied. “You’ve got no choice here. You’ve burned all your bridges.”
I said nothing. Maybe he was right, maybe he wasn’t. I stared out the side window and let my mind take me back to the night before, to my assignment. I played the scene over and over, searching for clues that would tell me what had gone wrong.
“It’ll be a piece of cake.”
“I’ve heard that one before.”
“No, really. You’ll be in and out in five minutes, ten at the most.”
Classes were in session and the school parking lot was quiet. I was supposed to be in Math class.
“Where is this place?” I asked, zipping my jacket against the frosty breeze.
Vernor opened the driver’s door of his Mustang and pulled a folded map from the door pocket. He spread the map on the hood, tapped a spot with a finger tip.
“Here. On Market Street.”
“Down by the docks. Near the old distillery.”
“Right. You get around back through the alley. It’s an auto supply store, a small one, with an office on the second floor.”
“So it’ll have a burglar alarm.”
“My source says not. Here’s how it will work. Behind the store, there’s a small basement window, almost hidden by a dumpster. It’s broken. You go in, make your way to the second floor. Leave through the back door and down the fire escape. You make sure the door is left unlocked.”
“And then what?”
“And then nothing. You just walk away. We’ll take care of the rest.”
“What’s in there? Cash?”
“Not for you to know.”
“Why don’t I just take what you want while I’m there?”
“Not for you to know.”
“What’s the point of me going in through the window and leaving the door unlocked if–”
“You ask too many questions. That’s always been your problem.”
A gust of wind snatched the map and Vernor lunged to recapture it. He folded it, pushed long, black hair out of his eyes. “This is your last initiation test. Do it right and I won’t say anything about you letting that grade nine kid off the hook. You’ll get your patch. You’ll be a Tarantula.”
As he spoke he opened the front of his denim jacket a little, revealing a small yellow square with a black spider stitched onto it. When the jacket was done up, the tarantula would rest on his heart.
“When?” I asked.
“It has to be tonight. After midnight.”
“Consider it done,” I said.
“Don’t screw up,” he warned, then climbed into the Mustang and peeled out of the parking lot.
The Tarantulas were the best gang in my neighbourhood – the biggest, the most powerful – and if you belonged you didn’t need to worry about anything. They took care of their own. You always had a place to go, someone to turn to. Nobody crossed a Tarantula without the whole crew coming after him.
But it was hard to get in. There were tests to prove your obedience and allegiance, and if you passed you were a member for life. “Like being a Catholic,” Vernor had joked when he was explaining things to me. “You’re expected to return loyalty with loyalty. No exceptions. And you follow orders, even if you don’t like them. Sometimes you gotta do things you don’t want to, but when the shit flies, you got the whole outfit behind you. You’re never alone. It’s like the army.”
Two
It was raining when I got to Market Street, and I was numb with cold from my bike ride across town. Teeth chattering, I cruised along the deserted, oily-wet street, steering around potholes and squinting into the dark. The auto parts store was squeezed into the gloom between a decrepit warehouse and the gigantic bulk of the old distillery. A battered Ford slumped at the curb, its hood up, its windows smashed, its wheels long gone. A dented hot dog vendor’s cart lay on its side under one of the few unbroken street lights.
At the end of the block I turned, retraced my route, and rode into the inky dark of the alley, struck by the rank odour of cat piss and motor oil. I decided to leave the bike a few feet in from the street rather than take it farther and risk puncturing the tires on a nail or broken glass.
The dumpster was parked up against the back wall of the store, leaving a narrow gap, and the basement window was broken, just like Vernor had said. I was in and out in no time. At the bottom of the fire escape, I scanned the dark lane for any sign of movement, then stole along the back of the store. The far end of the alley was a lighter shade of dark, where I should have seen the silhouette of my bike.
It wasn’t there.
From the Hardcover edition.
Editorial Reviews
An OLA Top Ten Best Bet for schools and libraries
“William Bell is arguably one of the most wide-ranging and reliable of Canadian authors. His range is impressive. So is the high quality of his writing.”
—Books in Canada
“The Blue Helmet reminds the reader that all actions have consequences, and that one must take responsibility. . . . Bell has created a fast-paced and moving story of a teen trying to find his place in the world.”
— (Highly Recommended) CM magazine
Librarian Reviews
The Blue Helmet
When Lee finds himself in trouble with the law for breaking into a building, things seem to finally hit rock bottom for him. In desperation, his father arranges to send the boy to stay with his Aunt Reena. Lee can work in her diner and try to get his life back on track. Bitter, resentful and angry, Lee reluctantly accepts his fate, since it’s either that or go back home and face charges.Once there, Lee is surprised to discover that it’s not so bad. Aunt Reena comes to rely on him, and he begins to run a delivery service for her. And he makes friends. In particular, one new friendship with a deeply disturbed man has a dramatic impact on Lee. As he eventually pieces together the story of Cutter’s life, Lee also starts to get a handle on the anger that has threatened to overwhelm him for so long.
William Bell’s gift for creating highly memorable teen boy characters is once again in evidence. The story of Lee, a troubled youth whose anger oftentimes gets out of control, gives readers occasion to think about the pain and self-doubt that lead so many teens to act out. The secondary characters in this book are equally engaging, for all their eccentricities. And Cutter’s life story, as it unfolds, is a sad and powerful reminder of war’s terrible capacity for wreaking havoc and ruining lives. Lee’s conscious decision to deal with his own demons and to open himself up to healing gives the story poignancy and a lasting sense of hopefulness.
Source: The Canadian Children's Bookcentre. Spring 2007. Vol.30 No.2.
H The Blue Helmet
Lee, in trouble with the police and feeling lost, struggles to mend his broken world. An unlikely friend shows him that he must face the war inside himself before he can find peace.Source: The Canadian Children’s Book Centre. Canadian Children’s Book News. 2007.
