Hold Fast. Kevin Major. Toronto, ON: Douglas & McIntyre, 1978/2003. 201 pp., pbk. & cl., $9.95 (pbk.), $17.95 (cl.). ISBN 0-88899-580-6 (pbk.), ISBN 0-88899-579-2 (cl.). Subject Headings: Maturation (Psychology)-Juvenile fiction. Parents-Death-Juvenile fiction. Villages-Newfoundland and Labrador-Juvenile fiction. Grades 8-12 / Ages 13-17. Review by Jennifer L. Branch. **** /4

excerpt:

You could just about see their nerves twitching. Aunt Flo almost dropped the frying pan. The twoon the daybed could barely keep hold of the cigarettes they had nipped between their fingers. Ashes flying all over the place. It even got Grandfather upset. The rocking chair he was in went off stride.

"We'll talk about that after breakfast, Michael," Aunt Flow said, trying to smooth it over.

"No sir. We wants to know right now." As simple as that. I wasn't being brazen about it if that's the way it looked. I just wanted to get it straight right then and there.

"It's better you boys had your breakfast first." That was Uncle Ted. Coming on strong like he was the voice of experience or some big deal.

"What, is it so bad that you can't tell us?"

"Michael," Aunt Flo said, "it's only been one day."

"You mean you haven't talked about it yet?"

"No, I didn't say that."

"Then tell us. I was awake all last night thinking about it. Brent too."

Then Brent, who hadn't opened his mouth the whole time, said to Aunt Flo, "Is we goin to an orphanage?"

When she heard that she just about broke down crying right there. She came over to the table, stood up by him and squeezed him into her dress. She could hardly keep it in.

"Brentie my love, you knows better than that." Then in a few seconds, after she got a hold of herself, she said, "Brentie , how would you like to come and live with me and your grandfather?" She looked at him and pushed his hair back from his forehead.

"Okay," he said right away. A big relief.

And what about me? The other one. The one who is not going to ask. Where does he fit into all this? I was waiting. Feeling stupid, because I didn't want to look like I was waiting.

"Mike, too?" Brent said then.

Nobody answered. Until Aunt Ellen spoke up, all full of life but not laying her eyes on me atall. "Michael is going to come to live with us in St. Albert."

So that was it. That was what they had in their minds. St. Albert. The least she could a done was look at me when she said it.

So Michael is off to St. Albert without so much as a choice in the decision. After the death of his parents as a result of a car accident caused by a drunk driver, Michael is forced to leave his hometown of Marten for life with a family he barely knows. Not only is he leaving his little brother, Brent, but he is also leaving the safety of his Aunt Flo and his grandfather.

     For some people, a move to a city like St. Albert with a Dairy Queen, two Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets, and movie theatres might seem like a dream come true. But for Michael, who loves setting snares, riding his skidoo, combing the shore for capelin, hanging with his friends, and jiggin' for squid with his grandfather, St. Albert is not where he wants to be.

     Being a part of this other family is also not where he wants to be. Uncle Ted is an angry and controlling man who has his wife, Ellen, and his two children, Marie and Curtis, constantly living in fear. Until Michael's arrival, however, none of them have thought to question Ted's behaviour.

     Being at a new school isn't easy for Michael either. He is teased for his small town ways and for his outgoing nature, and this causes problems at school. During his few months in St. Albert, Michael is forced to question everything he knows to be true about himself.

     Hold Fast is the story of few turbulent months in the life of Michael. Although written 25 years ago, it is still enormously relevant today. The themes of loss, friendship, kindness, bullying, and survival speak to this generation as well as they did to the last. I think this book will be relevant on it 50th anniversary.

     Usually when reviewing a book for CM, I read it twice - once through like any first time reader would, and then a second time to make me better able to write the review. I am proud to say that I read Hold Fast last night for about the ninth or tenth time. This is a novel that you pick up and read from cover to cover, without putting it down for second. That was as true last night as it was the first time I read it. I first used this novel with students in 1992 during my first year teaching in Inuvik, Northwest Territories. I used it at least six or seven more times between then and 1998 when I left Inuvik. I read it aloud to students every time I taught with it, and even though I will never be able to "do" the dialect, thanks to Kevin Major's writing style, I can hear the lovely sounds of Newfoundland in my own head when I read. In fact, students liked it so much that we also read Major's Far From Shore as well.

     During my years in Inuvik, this story was always a favorite with students in junior high. A colleague of mine used the novel last year, and her students felt that it should be made into a movie. They clarified by saying that it had to be a good interpretation of the book with good actors and that it needed to stay true to the story. In my opinion, that is one of this generation's highest compliments. This novel is one that is liked by boys. I think that is because of the diverse and interesting male characters Michael, Uncle Ted, Curtis and Gerrard and the fast moving action. However, I found that girls also enjoyed the story because of the relationships and emotions expressed. I think that both novels works especially well for boys living in small towns and certainly the hunting, fishing, and being out in the woods was something that could be related to by many of the students in Inuvik.

     If you haven't read Hold Fast, I encourage you to do so. I also encourage you to share this novel with junior high and early high school boys looking for something to read. They will like this story, and they will also like Major's Far From Shore.

Highly Recommended.

Jennifer L. Branch is an Assistant Professor in the School of Library and Information Studies and the Department of Elementary Education in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta. She is also the Coordinator of the Teacher-Librarianship by Distance Learning Program. For more information about the program, please see www.quasar.ualberta.ca/tl-dl.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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