In a follow up to the charming Harvey Comes Home, Harvey, Austin and Maggie are back with new friends and new drama in Harvey Holds His Own.

Author Colleen Nelson lovingly guides the reader through another Harvey adventure. Austin is back at Brayside helping out his grandfather, the head custodian at the retirement villa. Meanwhile, Maggie has just started grade seven at a new school, St. Ambrose Academy, when she is assigned volunteer hours to complete and she is drawn back to Brayside. With Harvey in tow, she comes to an understanding with Austin, a new friendship with the feisty Mrs. Fradette and a plan to help Austin’s grandfather keep his job.

I love how Colleen Nelson tells this story in three different voices. From Austin’s perspective, from Maggie’s perspective and from Harvey’s perspective. There are a couple different stories going on at the same time keeping the novel moving along. There is such a wonderful cast of characters in this book, especially all of the seniors at Brayside. Colleen Nelson has captured so many different personalities among the residents and has painted seniors in a way to inform young readers about all the knowledge, wisdom and life that can be learned from the older generation. She makes volunteering with the elderly seem like a huge adventure and through this story will entice readers to maybe sit down with a grandparent and learn more about life when they were younger or encourage them to pack their mandatory volunteer hours with time spent listening and sharing with those in a retirement community. 

Harvey Holds His Own is such a feel good story. This story will leave the reader feeling all warm and fuzzy inside and secretly hoping for another Harvey tale.