Review by AstridAlpha18 -- Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon

[AstridAlpha18]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Strong Heart" by Charlie Sheldon.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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This work by Charlie Sheldon was a refreshing view on Native Americans. There were debates, the tribes versus the companies and the mining corporations. Strong Heart was written well with very few editorial mistakes. If you are someone who can have an open mind to learning about how history can become legend, which turns to myth and degrades to mere echos lost in time - this is wonderful read.

The story starts when our main male lead Tom is ready to go on a packing trip with his life-long friends, his ex-wife arrives on his doorstep with a granddaughter he never knew he had. The group decides to head out on the difficult trip deep in the national park as it was a hike of great importance. Many years prior, Tom had buried his grandfather deep in the national park and he wanted to head back in to clean up the burial site. Though 13 year old Sarah grumbled and complained, she eventually came to tolerate their journey, even seeing some remarkable beings thought long extinct.

When no one believes her, she storms off. The group, thinking she needed some time to blow some steam, gave her some time before looking for her, but she was already gone. Without giving anything away but wanting to stay true to the review, Sarah experiences unique visions of a time long past. My one complaint with this book is that the story with start with being 3rd person omniscient, hovering around Tom, then spend a good chunk (think 10-15 chapters) completely switching to first person point of view from Sarah's perspective. This then repeats with 3rd person Tom for a chunk of chapters, back to solo Sarah and ending with 3rd person omniscient.

This threw me off at first but it does make me wonder why the author didn't want to simply write one way or the other (with how the story went, I prefer Sarah's POV). Would the classification of the novel have to change if the narration was done by a 13 year old girl? I would not classify this as just a coming of age story but a mixture of adventure, history, slight fantasy, etc. Truly well done.

I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars . I also recommend reading the author's afterword and bio at the end. It almost wasn't surprising to see that the author had actually been apart of a similar situation in real life regarding the Native American rights versus corporations hoping to reap the fertile lands. During his stay, he had spoken to many of the locals about their legends, stories and beliefs. Reminds me of Micheal Criton and his scientific research papers. Truly recommend giving this book a read.

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Strong Heart
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