[The hero in Blue Fin] is an anti-hero in tune with the present day; the swing in fashion is neatly illustrated if you compare [John] Masefield's Dick Pomfret with fourteen-year-old Steve Pasco, known as Snook—gangling, accidentprone, noisy and confused with the course of life….

This is a gloriously unconventional adventure story, full of the classic qualities of heroism, speed and drama but shot with irreverent guffaws of laughter and the uncompromising acceptance of life's grotesque accidents and frustrations…. [Snook's] character is beautifully drawn and shrewdly so; the story depends on character and action in proper balance and earns high praise for this. And it is a very good story. (pp. 1439-40)