Michael turned 14 in May. By June, both his parents have died, 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, hundreds of miles away. Hold Fast is the story of Michael's struggle in his new environment. In vivid prose, it depicts his fight against an array of enemies - loud-mouthed schoolmate Kenston, who ridicules his speech, and his uncle, who tries to rule his home life with an iron hand. It is also the story of the friendship that develops between Michael and Curtis, his cousin, and his uncertain new feelings for Brenda. Author Kevin Major says the book was written "out of love for a way of life and a people." A panel of readers and critics named Hold Fast Canada's second-best children's book of all time, second only to Anne of Green Gables.