Far from Shore

Faced with instability on many sides, and living in an outport community in Newfoundland, fifteen-year-old Chris gropes for direction in a family broken apart by unemployment. Even his easy-going, humorous attitude fails to steady him as he stumbles through the summer after grade ten. He's failed his year, he can't find a summer job, and he's incredibly bored. So the first thing he heads for is trouble -- trouble that ends in a confrontation with the law. Work as a counselor at a summer camp offers the challenge of a fresh start, but it is here, amid new responsibilities, that he encounters his toughest test as a young man. Winner of the first Canadian Young Adult Book Award and named a Best Book of the Year by School Library Journal, Far from Shore was hailed as a unique and innovative novel when it was first published. As he has done throughout his career, Kevin Major broke new ground by tackling a multinarrative structure in a young adult novel -- an approach much imitated since but never more convincingly. When first published in 1980, Far from Shore was hailed as unique and innovative. Author Kevin Major broke new ground in a young adult novel by using a multinarrative structure - five different voices - to tell the story of a troubled youth.Fifteen-year-old Chris Slade lives in a small coastal community on the island of Newfoundland. Faced with instability on many sides, he searches for direction in a family broken apart by unemployment. Even his easy-going, humorous attitude fails to steady him as he stumbles through the summer after tenth grade: he's failed his year, he can't find a summer job, and he's incredibly bored. So the first thing he heads for is trouble - trouble that ends in a confrontation with the law. Work as a counselor at a summer camp offers the challenge of a fresh start, but it is here, amid new responsibilities, that he encounters his toughest test as a young man. When first published in 1980, Far from Shore was hailed as unique and innovative. Author Kevin Major broke new ground in a young adult novel by using a multinarrative structure - five different voices - to tell the story of a troubled youth. Fifteen-year-old Chris Slade lives in a small coastal community on the island of Newfoundland. Faced with instability on many sides, he searches for direction in a family broken apart by unemployment. Even his easy-going, humorous attitude fails to steady him as he stumbles through the summer after tenth grade: he's failed his year, he can't find a summer 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. 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 family deterioration. IF OUR FAMILY had a traditional meal on Christmas Eve, it would probably have to be something like saltfish and potatoes, with fried salt pork smothered all over it.