Overall rating and opinion of "Strong Heart"
- jhollan2
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Re: Overall rating and opinion of "Strong Heart"
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- flavian njoki
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The story is about a Native American grandfather, Tom who is going on a journey into the wilderness to visit his fathers grave. However, his motive is more than that; he also has an old environmental artifact that is mysteriously linked to his past that he feels he must return. Just as his friends, William who is in poor health and his daughter Myra who is struggling over different issues picked up their backpacks to join Tom on his journey when someone knocked on the door. For the first time he meets his granddaughter, Sarah who is thirteen, rebellious and strong willed. An elder family member left Sarah on his porch because they could not control her and felt he must do his share in raising this child and keep her out of trouble.
This left Tom in a dilemma. Sarah has never been backpacking through the wilderness before so he really didn’t want to take her but William talked Tom into taking her with them. Sarah didn’t want to go plus she didn’t think her grandfather liked her. It was interesting to follow Tom, his friends and most of all his granddaughter. As the reader I could tell how Sarah might be mischievous throughout their trip. They had some situations that stood in there way but they made the best of it. Sarah gets angry and walks off but eight days later she was found with a story to tell and what a story… Sarah got to complete the mystifying and hard to believe story on their second journey into the wilderness.
It was a great story of adventure, myths, and legions that was beyond the modern world. It felt like I was watching all the scenes from above them. The story just flowed with ease…..
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- KasieMiehlke
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- Jennifer Allsbrook
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I enjoyed reading this book. 4 out of 4 stars is my overall rating. The setting was amazing including the descriptions of the natural area during the hikes of the modern day group and during the journey in the canoe.gali wrote:This is a discussion topic for the October 2017 Book of the Month, "Strong heart" by Charlie Sheldon.
What is your overall opinion of "Strong heart"? What do you like most about it? What do you like least? Will you recommend the book to other people? Why or why not? Please remember to add your actual rating using the book's page on Bookshelves.
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Tom, 67 years old, is planning a journey to his grandfather's grave. William and his daughter Myra are going with him. Before leaving, Sarah arrives. She's a 13 year old granddaughter Tom didn't know about. To say she's not happy about being there, nor the upcoming trip, is an understatement. Yet her presence really shakes things up.
It turns out that Sarah's a gifted yet self-taught artist. During the trip she sees and sketches a bear. Myra recognizes it as a long extinct species. When the others don't believe her, Sarah runs off. They find her eight days later, alive but injured.
Sarah has quite a tale. She and some young women were captured to be wives for a far distant people. There are names like Anger, Thrower, Weeps A Lot, Weeps A Lot More, Pretty Hair, Woman Too Soon, etc.. The journey is long and dangerous. There is rough weather and wild animals. During the journey she learns new skills, such as how to throw spears. Strong Heart is the name they give her.
One reason for Tom's trip was to return an ancient bone thrower. Myra' was angry that he removed it from the park. Yet she feels that it can stop planning mining of the area. This ancient artifact can prove that their people were in the area earlier than previously fought.
There is lots of drama. Fletcher Lundy is the definite villain. He's leading the mining efforts. He's also Tom's boss, and husband of his ex-wife Ruth. Sarah's mother left home on account of him. Sarah doesn't think too highly of him either.
The book holds your interest. Keeping characters separate was a little hard at times. Most of the surveyors seemed interchangeable. Sergei added some flavor. I was very disappointed in some of the language. Using the Lord's name in vain was totally unnecessary.
The format needed some work. It was in four large sections. I like having page numbers even on e-books.
I won't give spoilers. But abrupt endings are usually disappointing. One teacher pointed out that fairy tales made us want and expect happy endings. Ditto for real life. Perhaps the author will give us a sequel.
- Arushi Singh
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- MontyQ
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It had some interesting themes but didn’t seem to do much with them. There were too many passages that got dragged with the long, detailed hikes through the park. Also the stiff dialouge and lack of characterization didn’t make it any better. I did enjoy the story about Strong Heart, and the incorporation of Native American culture, but the abrupt ending that failed to bring any closure was very disappointing.