Mike's mother, Master Corporal Alice Mackelwain, serves in the army as a peacekeeper. She is in Bosnia, and Mike worries about her safety. Mike and his sister, Nellie, also get caught up with his mother's stories about children living in Bosnia during the war. Mike struggles to make sense of the world and to overcome his fears and unanswered questions. During a visit to the library, Mike comes across a book that describes a belief that dogs guard the doorways to death. He decides that dogs bring people back to life from the dead and he calls them Shimmerdogs. When Merit, Mike's dog disappears, he deduces that Merit is in a peacekeeping mission, like his mother. As Mike's life gets more stressful, he meets his own personal shimmerdog.

English language arts grade 8 (2009).