Most Popular Books by Kevin Major

Follows the lives of a Newfoundland family for several months as they deal with the father''s drinking and unemployment, the son''s poor choice of friends and subsequent problems, and general familial deterioration.

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 environment. In vivid, honest prose, it depicts his fight against those who stand as threats to his pride in himself and his way of life -- 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. Hold Fast has received many awards, and a panel of experts from across Canada named it the country''s second-best children''s book of all time (second only to Anne of Green Gables).

Here is the dramatic and moving story of one child''s transformation from a normal, middle-class kid from the suburbs to an activist, fighting against child labor on the world stage of international human rights. Making headlines around the globe, Graig Keilburger and his organization, Free the Children, which he founded at the age of twelve, have brought unprecedented attention to the worldwide abuse of children''s rights. Free the Childrenis a passionate and astounding story and a moving testament to the power that children and young adults have to change the world, as witnessed through the achievements of one remarkable young man.

Words beginning with each letter of the alphabet accompany illustrations evoking the culture and heritage of Canada.

Jesse''s unemployed mother tries to make a new start for them by moving to a rural home where she hopes to foster a business carving figures for the Christmas season.

On July 1, 1916, the best and the brightest of a generation of Newfoundland men were virtually wiped out. From every bay and cove and town, from fishing stage to merchant''s home, they marched off to the Great War, proud members of their very own Newfoundland Regiment, never suspecting what one terrible morning of treachery would bring. The Battle of Beaumont Hamel is considered the greatest tragedy in Newfoundland and Labrador''s history. Beyond the trenches were lovers and mothers and others who held them dear. The soldiers were part of the immeasurable turmoil of war, yet as they travelled to dangerous and distant lands they were never without the spirit and humour they brought from their homeland. Adapted for stage from the novel of the same name.

Terry knows Bruce Springsteen is on tour, so he doesn''t expect an answer to his letters. What counts is writing it all down, and wondering what Bruce would do if he had a weird life like Terry''s. Dad took off and Mom has a new boyfriend. Terry can''t change that, so he thinks instead about saving up for a guitar and organizing a benefit concert. Then he''ll meet a really cool girl. Maybe. As he pours out his feelings to his idol, Terry gradually sees how to manage his own life and become his own hero. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Crime in Canada - Synards zweiter Fall in Neufundland. Vom puren Naturerlebnis in ein mörderisches Abenteuer stolpern – typisch für Synard, diesen lässigen, aber nie nachlässigen Ermittler. In den neufundländischen Tablelands gibt es viel zu sehen: malerische Natur, jahrtausendealte Gesteinsschichten und – eine Leiche. Schnell wird klar, dass es sich bei dem toten Studenten um ein Mordopfer handelt. So stürzt Sebastian Synard, mittlerweile zugelassener Privatdetektiv, in seinen nächsten Fall. Doch er ist nicht der Einzige, der an der Aufklärung interessiert ist: Die Tante des Opfers kommt mitsamt heißer Spur aus Mexiko angereist. Sie besteht darauf, dass der Stiefvater der Täter sein muss. Mit Entschlossenheit und luftiger Kleidung im Gepäck nimmt Synard den nächsten Flieger vom windzerzausten Neufundland ins warme Mexiko. Doch was ihn dort erwartet, bringt ihn einmal mehr in große Gefahr. »Major motiviert Leser*innen in seinem amüsanten Krimi zum Mitraten – und selbst wenn man dem Täter auf die Schliche gekommen ist, dann lassen einen die guten Dialoge und interessanten Charaktere mit Freuden weiterlesen.« Bookcase | Jean Craham

Roman nach einem historischen Ereignis! Neufundland im Oktober 1942: Als die Caribou ihren Hafen verlässt, ahnen weder Passagiere noch Mannschaft, dass sie nur wenige Stunden später von einem deutschen U-Boot angegriffen werden. An Bord von U 69 hat der junge und ehrgeizige Offizier Ulrich Gräf das Kommando. Trotz aller Gefahren hofft er darauf, unbeschadet zu seiner großen Liebe Elise zurückkehren zu können. Währenddessen träumt auf der Caribou der draufgängerische Steward John Gilbert von einem abenteuerlichen Leben. Jäh aus ihren Hoffnungen gerissen, müssen die beiden Männer in der tosenden See ums Überleben kämpfen. Kevin Major zeichnet ein lebendiges Bild der menschlichen Tragödien während der Schlacht im Atlantik. Er verleiht den Menschen ein Gesicht und eine Geschichte, ohne in ein simples Täter-Opfer-Schema zu fallen.

The Illuminating the Mysteries of Light is a captivating and enlightening book that delves into the fascinating world of light, authored by a brilliant quartet of scientists and scholars: Lucky Singh, Kevin Major, William Anderson Travis, and Adam Mark Jordan. In this groundbreaking work, the authors take readers on an extraordinary journey through the intricate wonders and profound secrets of light.

The modern wars of the Middle East began in 1947, when the Syrians, Egyptians, Jordanians and Lebanese were unofficially at war with the Jewish settlers of Palestine. On the 15 May, the day afer Israel was declared a sovreign state, the Arab invasion began. Between then and 1973 five wars occurred: those of 1948; the Sinai War; the Six-Day War; the 1968–1970 War of Attrition and the 1973 October War. This book examines the organization, training and equipment of the key Arab armies during these conflicts and the variey of uniforms are illustrated by a number of contemporary photographs and full colour artwork.

Aunt Olga shares Christmas postcards with Anna.

For three centuries after Europeans rediscovered it, Newfoundland was thought of as little more than "a great English Ship moored near the Banks during the Fishing Season."Labrador, dismissed as the "land God gave to Cain,"commanded no more respect. But for the people who made its coastline their home, including the Aboriginal peoples who first settled there 9000 years earlier, Newfoundland and Labrador was of considerably greater significance. In these people lie a fascinating history: Leif Eriksson, James Cook, Black Bart, Benedict Arnold, Brigitte Bardot, Mary Walsh, Joey Smallwood, Amelia Earhart, Shanawdithit, D''Iberville, Audubon and Marconi are but a dozen of the better known. The history of Newfoundland and Labrador is no genteel excursion. Scandal coexisted with extraordinary feats of courage; disaster with daring acts of the imagination. The ritual burial of a Maritime Archaic child several millennia ago, the Viking landings, the exploits of Basque whalers, centuries of military and religious strife, confederation with Canada and the collapse of the fisheries — all are brought to life by Kevin Major in exciting, vivid prose. As Near to Heaven by Sea was nominated for the 2001 Pearson Writers'' Trust Non-Fiction Prize.

Set in Newfoundland, "Eating Between the Lines, is the story of Jackson, an adolescent, plagued with some very adolescent problems at home and at school. His parents'' marriage seems to have reached a low point, and he is infatuated with Sarah, a new girl at school who isn''t taking him too seriously. Other broader social issues perplex him too. When he discovers he can magically enter into the imaginary world of the books he reads, he fins solutions to his many dilemmas. Through a unique combination of realism and fantasy, Kevin Major succeeds in depicting the universal trials and tribulations of growing up.

When Sebastian Synard leads a group of tourists along the cliffs of St. John''s harbour, one of them ends up dead. Is there a heartless murderer in Sebastian''s tour group? As a local police officer enlists him to help lush out the perpetrator, the mystery deepeds, and Sebastian finds himself on the edge.

Living in Newfoundland, fifteen-year-old David meets a mysterious new girl named Nancy and makes a startling discovery while doing research for a school project on the Beothuck Indians.

Inspired by her royal namesake, a young Newfoundland girl decides to write her autobiography.

A novel of remarkable historical breadth, Found Far and Wide follows Sam Kennedy through the tragedy of the Great Newfoundland Sealing Disaster of 1914, the horrors of The First World War, and the dangers of rum-running in Prohibition-era New York. And as Sam journeys through the turbulent first half of the twentieth century, carrying the ghosts of those he''s lost, he clings to his love for a woman he''s only ever seen in a photograph. Here, one of Newfoundland''s most celebrated authors offers a story of the irresistible historical forces that define our lives and the compelling private power that beckons us home.

Seventeen-year-old Ann Harvey is one of the great unsung heroes of maritime history. In 1828, off the Newfoundland fishing village of Isle aux Morts, Ann Harvey, her father and younger brother, came upon the wreck of the Despatch, an Irish immigrant ship originally destined for Quebec City. In thick fog and fierce wind it had run aground. Ann''s courage and strength at the oars of the rescue boat were largely responsible for saving more than 160 dirt-poor passengers stranded amid the raging storm, left "like seabirds clinging to the rocks." Ann''s courageous feat along the isolated south coast of Newfoundland has been all but forgotten. Ann and Seamus brings the remarkable story of Ann Harvey to today''s readers. In a poetic and powerful retelling, Kevin Major portrays the shy young woman thrust into extraordinary circumstances. It is the story of dramatic rescue, but it is also the story of dreams and fate, of a hard life and young love. For also at its center is Seamus, a young Irishman who had set sail with hopes of a new life in America. Ann and Seamus is historical fiction that sweeps across ages and nationalities. In rich yet accessible narrative verse, it draws the reader into the drama of sea rescue without losing the tender and impetuous voices of youth at the core of the story.

Needing a change, Shannon Carew takes a job in the National Parks system in Newfoundland and Labrador. The journey brings her life full circle, returning her to the birthplace she abandoned years before. As she makes new connections, and unearths old ones, Shannon learns the land holds many memories, stories of Maritime Archaic, the Vikings, the Basques, the Beothuk, and the Europeans who came after. New Under the Sun is the work of a master storyteller.

Mystery once again finds Sebastian Synard--this time beyond the shores of Newfoundland, in Saint-Pierre, a small French island off the coast of North America. Wrapped up in an international investigation, Sebastian is tested personally and professionally as his search for answers takes him overseas and beyond. In the sixth installment of the Sebastian Synard mystery series, Sebastian finds himself beyond the borders of his home in Newfoundland, where history blends with modern-day intrigue. Travelling with his partner Mae, Sebastian arrives in Saint-Pierre where his son, Nick, is spending a semester. However, his visit to this charming yet peculiar overseas territory of France quickly takes a turn. In the two weeks since Nick has arrived in Saint-Pierre, he has become enamoured with more than the French language, but his budding relationship with his amiable classmate, Zach, is shattered when Zach disappears without warning. When Zach''s body is found washed up on a deserted shoreline, Sebastian finds himself entwined in the mystery, caught between the competing aims of the local Gendarmerie, the RCMP, and the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary. His search for answers leads him to Martinique, another overseas territory of la France, where his relationships are tested to the extreme. Just what will it take for the trio of police units to come around to Sebastian''s perspective? What will it take to bring Mae back into his life? Nothing less than a violent assault on our PI, together with the threat of the very knife that was used against the innocent young gay man whose body washed up on the shoreline rocks of the island of Saint-Pierre.

When Sebastian goes undercover in the theatre to find a killer, things get... dramatic. In Three for Trinity, the third book in the Sebastian Synard Mystery series, offbeat humour meets suspense as a nefarious crime unfolds. Trying to run a tour business in COVID times is tough, especially when you''re home- schooling a teenager. But with the creation of the Atlantic bubble, Sebastian can offer a tour of the scenic, historic Bonavista peninsula to a small group. On the last night of the tour, an actor collapses at a socially distanced theatre performance. Sebastian rushes to help, but Lyle Mercer has been poisoned. When Sebastian goes undercover as an actor to try to discover the killer, he''s taking a risk in more ways than one. Will it upend his romantic relationship with police inspector Ailsa Bowmore?

Gaffer is a surreal, haunting novel of a young man tied to a place, but able to explore the depths of the sea and swim freely across the tides of time. Living in a dying outpost town and haunted by the memory of his father''s death aboard the doomed Ocean Ranger, Gaffer is obsessively drawn to the sea. Miraculously, he is transformed into a fish-like creature capable of taking to the ocean, where he experiences episodes from Newfoundland''s past, and is granted a dark vision of its future. With a master''s grace, Kevin Major weaves the distinctive language of Newfoundland into a narrative that is both poetic and profoundly moving.

"Meticulously researched and seamlessly blended historical fact and Kevin Major''s fiction, Land Beyond the Sea was a great read.".

Une étape sombre de la vie d''une famille terre-neuvienne. Alors que le père ivrogne va chercher du travail en Alberta, Christopher glisse dans la délinquance. Dans la seconde partie, le père revient compréhensif vers sa famille, le fils s''amende, etc. L''auteur laisse la parole à ses personnages qui se confient dans un style direct. Un roman où la recherche porte davantage sur le comportement psychologique des personnages que sur le style.