Hold Fast: 35th Anniversary Edition

Kevin Major

Jul 2013 · Groundwood Books Ltd

About this ebook

Hold Fast is the widely acclaimed story of a young boy's struggle to survive in a new environment and his fight against those who stand as threats to his pride in himself and his way of life.

Michael turned fourteen in May. By June, both his parents are dead, victims of a car crash. And for Michael, who has lived all his life in a small Newfoundland outport community, this means being suddenly uprooted and sent to live with relatives in St. Albert, a city hundreds of miles away.

Hold Fast is the story of Michael's struggle to survive in his new world. In vivid, honest prose, it depicts his fight against those who threaten him - the loud-mouthed Kentson who makes fun of the way he talks at school, and his uncle who tries to rule life at home with an iron hand. It is also the story of the friendship that develops between Michael and Curtis, his cousin, and of his new uncertain feelings for Brenda.

The book was written, Kevin Major says, “out of love for a way of life and a people. It is an appeal for us Newfoundlanders to be like certain of the species of seaweed that inhabit our shores, which, when faced with the threat of being destroyed by forces they cannot control, evolve an appendage to hold them to the rocks, a holdfast.”

Ratings and reviews

This book was a favorite of mine since I was 11, and now I'm fourteen, just like Michael. I can relate to his character so well, with all that's happened to him, how he feels, problems he has to face as a teenager, and even how he takes it all like some brave person, but is still able to shamelessly cry. All I can say is thank you to Kevin Major

About the author

Kevin Major is one of the best Canadian writers of his generation. He has written sixteen books, for both young people and adults. Several have been translated into other languages. Kevin lives in St. John's, Newfoundland. Visit Kevin Major's website: http://www.newcomm.net/kmajor/