Review by fkingsbury -- Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon

[fkingsbury]

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

---

3 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

Strong Heart,by Charlie Sheldon is a novel that takes us on a journey deep into the wilderness of the Native American land in the Northwest Pacific mountains. Tom and his friends William and Myra are on their way to Bob-Bob, Tom's grandfathers, grave to make peace with his spirit. The day before they are going to leave Tom's thirteen year old granddaughter, Sarah, whom he has never met, is brought to Tom's house for her to stay with him. Not sure what to do now that Sarah is there, it is decided that Sarah joins them on their hike into the mountains. After all, Sarah is Bob-Bob's great, great, great granddaughter.


During their time in the wilderness, they experience hardships, especially Sarah, who is new to the lifestyle of the Native American people, who are her ancestors. Sarah struggles at first to adapt to life of the outdoors, but as the days go bye Sarah learns how to live off of the land. Unfortunately, Sarah becomes lost in the woods on her own for eight days. When Sarah returns to Tom, William, and Myra she tells them about the experience she had during that time, but was Sarah's story real or was it all imagined by Sarah?


I was most intrigued by the character of Sarah. Right from the beginning of the book I felt empathy for her. Her mother had passed away and her grandmother was no longer willing to take care of her. At the young age of thirteen, she was alone in the world until she met her grandfather. The author did a very good job in showing Sarah's resilience and strength by showing us, the reader, her willingness to learn about her Native American ancestors culture. He illustrates Sarah's inner strength and her determination to survive any obstacles she encounters. This is most evident during the eight days that she was lost in the wilderness and had the most amazing adventure. During this time Sarah's inner strength comes out from within her heart, and the name Strong Heart is born. I also liked the way the author described the scenery and landscape of the Pacific Northwest wilderness. It was so descriptive that I was able to imagine what it may have looked like in my minds eye. I think that anyone who enjoys adventure stories and books about the Native American culture would enjoy this book.


I thought the beginning of the book started slowly, which made me wonder if I selected the right book for myself. I am glad that I kept reading. While reading the book I came across Native American Indian names and place that I had not heard of and wasn't sure how it should be pronounced. This made the reading difficult for me. I would not recommend this book to people who are not adventurous readers.


All in all, I enjoyed this book a lot. I noticed some spelling errors, but regretfully I neglected to write down what they were. I will pay closer attention to that when I read my next book. I give this book a rating of 3 out of 4.

******
Strong Heart
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

Like fkingsbury's review? Post a comment saying so!