3 out of 4 stars
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“This is the Olympic Peninsula. This is a land of magic, history, and legend. A place of myth, ancient stories, ancient people.”
Magic, history, and legend definitely feature in Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon. There are many themes in this book. There is much to discuss and think about. Themes include history, family, coming of age, and trust.
The story starts with Tom, William, and Myra who are getting ready to set off on a camping trip through the Olympic National Park to visit the grave of Tom’s grandfather. Tom’s ex-wife, Ruth unexpectedly turns up at his door with a grandchild that he knows nothing about. The girl, Sarah, appears to be a moody teenager with an attitude. Myra suggests bringing Sarah along on the trip.
On their journey, they discover an artefact known as an atlatl. There is a corporation named Buckhorn who wants the land for development purposes. The group believes the discovery of this ancient relic could put a stop to that, and prevent the area of beauty from being modernised. Suddenly, Sarah goes missing. She is gone for eight days. Upon her shocking return, she has a story that is questionable and divides opinions through the group.
For me, the main draw of Strong Heart is the beautiful setting. It is clear the author has done his research and went to great efforts to describe the scenery and the journey. He has a wonderful way of building a good picture in your imagination. I never found any of the description tiring or repetitive.
I enjoyed the sparring between the characters of Sergei and Myra. Sergei is a man of science, and Myra believes in the legends. They are both stubborn when they argue, and I found their debates entertaining to read. I also liked reading the action scenes. I can’t say much without giving plot points away, but they held my attention and were very tense.
Unfortunately, there were parts in Strong Heart that I did not care for. The book contains a secondary story within the main plot, where the reader gets transported to the past to experience the tale of a young girl named Strong Heart. I found it difficult to adjust to Strong Heart’s story at first, which was a bit off-putting. I also felt it went on a little longer than necessary, but this is my personal preference. I preferred reading about the events of the group.
I did not like the ending very much. I appreciate that the author may want to set up for a sequel, but I feel many things were left without a conclusion. I do not wish to give away the ending, but I would have liked to have seen more of a resolution to the group’s conflict with Buckhorn. It would also have been nice to have some more focus on the bond between Tom and Sarah at the end since I feel their relationship is important.
I would recommend Strong Heart to a variety of readers. It would suit those interested in the outdoors, science, nature, and legends. The easy flow of dialogue and short sentence structure makes for easy reading, but some of the subject matter brought up in places stops me from recommending this book to younger teens.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. Although the ending didn’t satisfy me, Strong Heart was engaging enough to make me care about the characters and their journey. Unfortunately, I can’t rate it higher because I found it hard to follow the events in Strong Heart's point of view.
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Strong Heart
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