BANNED FROM THE LIBRARY. FOUL LANGUAGE. EXCESSIVE SEX. These are the kind of comments that are made by some librarians regarding Kevin Major's, gritty, coming-of-age novels. His writing has become con...
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Kevin Major's impact on Canadian children's literature has frequently been compared to that of Judy Blume in the United States, both being among the first to present honest, realistic accounts of the ...
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Critical Essay by R. G. Moyles
It is, I suppose, decidedly unfair to compare the first novel of a young new writer with the acclaimed classic of a master storyteller, but Kevin Major's Hold Fa...
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Critical Essay by Kirkus Reviews
Set in Newfoundland like last year's Hold Fast, this weaker novel [Far From Shore] also deals with a basically likable but undisciplined kid in trouble. In a f...
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Critical Essay by Muriel Whitaker
The strength of Far From Shore lies in the author's ability to present each of the major characters sympathetically in spite of their shortcomings. Through th...
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Critical Essay by Jon C. Stott
When Kevin Major's Hold Fast was published three years ago, it was rightly hailed as a milestone in Canadian children's book publishing. Major captured in...
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Critical Essay by Robert Fulford
There aren't many novels that connect a commercial American style and the special qualities of a Canadian region, but Kevin Major's first book, Hold Fas...
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Critical Essay by Gary H. Paterson
Hold Fast is a novel surrounded by death. It begins with the burial of Michael's parents, who have been killed in a car crash involving a drunken driver, and...
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Critical Essay by Kirkus Reviews
[In Hold Fast, fourteen-year-old] Michael, orphaned along with his seven-year-old brother Brent when his parents are killed by a drunken driver, tries to grapple with...
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Critical Essay by Carolyn S. Lembeck
At 14 kids need to look outside the small world of home and family to fix their bearings on their own independence and individuality. Literature can provide such ...
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Critical Essay by Linda Granfield
Kevin Major's Far From Shore is a commendable example of writing pared to the essentials in character development, dialogue, plot and interpretation. The narr...
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Critical Essay by Janet Lunn
Far from Shore is the story of what happens to a family when the work gives out. It's also the story of Chris, who, despite his strong Newfoundland speech, could b...
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Critical Essay by Ann Johnston
For those who like to think that family life is still more or less as it was on Leave It to Beaver, Far From Shore hits hard and low. For others, weary of the sensation...
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Critical Essay by Kliatt Young Adult Paperback Book Guide
[The critically acclaimed novel Hold Fast] is set in Newfoundland where the author lives. The dialect of the main characters, the details of ...
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