Review by CNWaweru -- Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon

CNWaweru · Post by **CNWaweru** » 25 Jan 2018, 23:38

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

3 out of 4 stars

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Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon.

Strong Heart is a work of fiction with a theme of the origins of the people of North America.

The main character is a young girl, Sarah. Sarah is sent to live with her grandmother in America by her stepfather in Europe. Few days after she arrives, the grandmother, Ruth, gets tired of living with her. Ruth claims that Sarah's orneriness is too much. She takes her to Sarah's grandfather, Tom. Tom, his friend William and William's daughter, Myra, were packing for a hike in a local park. William suggests that they take Sarah along with them. Though reluctantly, Tom agrees and they set off into the park the next day. On the way, Tom explains to the rest why he wanted them to accompany him and his ultimate goal. Sarah is still in her foul moods. At one point, she departs from her company with the artefact, the atlatl. She falls into a hole that she is unable to climb out of. She is magically taken to another time long before the present. She information she draws from this brings a lot of insight to the issue of the origin of the people in this land. It is a difficult process to convince those around her of these things she experienced until Sergei comes along and challenges the rest to listen to her. Is what she has to say of value? Or is it a mere fantasy?

The story is an interesting read that educates the reader at the same time. The author has done extremely extensive research on the theme of his story and the setting. I learnt so much from this story than I had expected to gain. The main characters have been well developed giving us an understanding of who they really are and what they stand for.

I also somehow picked how the author hinted on current issues in his story. When we are introduced to the skin boat people, we see that there are two women who are assumed to be wives to each other. When the razor stone people were shooting, the author mentions that the women were just accurate as men. I thought this was a positive hint at gender equality.

The book is well edited. I spotted only two typos. One on page 137, where there were three ‘had' instead of two. On page 192, the word ‘away' was written as ‘a ways'. Otherwise, the book was edited quite well. I would give the book a 3 out of 4 stars rating. This is because the story also had too many characters most of whom were not well developed. It was a bit challenging to keep up with all of them. Nevertheless, that did not hinder me from enjoying the story.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in going on an epic journey back in time while learning about the various stories behind the origin of the natives of North America.

This book is packed with information delivered in a story.

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Strong Heart
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kdstrack · Post by **kdstrack** » 05 Feb 2018, 15:15

Nice review. I agree that the author did a great job of researching the history and setting of the story. Like you say, the reader can enjoy the story and at the same time learn many new things. Great job. Thanks.

SPasciuti · Post by **SPasciuti** » 08 Feb 2018, 00:20

Wow, this book actually sounds really interesting. I’m really interested in Sarah’s journey through time. I think you’ve done a great job in capturing the book here. Thanks for your review!