ARA Review by mtnlvr71 of Strong Heart
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mtnlvr71
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ARA Review by mtnlvr71 of Strong Heart
[Following is an OnlineBookClub.org ARA Review of the book, Strong Heart.]
Review Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
A Beautiful Wilderness Adventure
I choose this first book in the Strong Heart series because I had enjoyed reading Adrift which is the second in the series. Both novels are stand-along stories and I had no problem reading them out of order.
The location of the novel is in the state of Washington in the northwestern corner of the United States, featuring the gorgeous and remote mountainous wilderness known as the Olympic Peninsula. Clearly, author Sheldon is very familiar with that area as he describes it brilliantly.
Strong Heart is the native American name that is given to Sarah Cooley, a sassy young teenage girl who has been tossed around from one home to another. She winds up on the doorstep of Tom Olson, her grandfather, a man whom she has never met. There is a certain amount of battling that goes on with other relatives over custody, but the adventurous part of the story concerns backpacking trips into the Olympic National Park in Northwest Washington. When Sarah first arrived, Tom was about to leave on the first of two wilderness trips. Now Sarah’s presence complicates matters. What should he do with her? After some debate he decides to take her along hoping it will teach her some manners and some things about her heritage.
The other two well-developed characters on this first backpacking hike are William and his daughter Myra. Myra is young and strong, William definitely feels his age, Tom hasn’t come to grips with his new position as grandfather, and Sarah has some hair-raising experiences.
A second backpacking trip on the same route, includes a Russian scientist named Sergei. While on this hike, the five of them encounter a team of surveyors, a variety of wild animals and weather issues.
One theme has to do with the interesting question of when the area was first settled by humans. Did they come across a land bridge from Russia some ten to twelve thousand years ago or have they always been there? The author uses the literary device of a running argument between Sergei and Myra to weave the two sides of the debate into the story. There is also an ancient artifact of historical significance that serves to develop several more interesting themes.
I can’t give away the story, except to say the intrepid hikers encounter a plethora of adventures and more dangerous situations than you can imagine.
Having spent two months hiking in the Washington wilderness myself, I could emphasize with the older members of the group straining uphill with aching backs and blistered feet carrying a heavy pack, over rocks and fallen trees. The suffering is all worth it. Nothing compares with the sights, sounds and beauty of the woodlands, lakes, waterfalls and snowcapped peaks, and so, the author's vivid descriptions rang a bell with me.
Sarah begins as a hurting, mouthy, defiant brat who turns into the strongest character in the book, able to sketch artistically, imagine scenes out-of-this-world and weave a fantastic tale.
For its enjoyable and exciting adventure and native-American historical significance, I recommend the book and rank it Five stars out of five.
***
View Strong Heart on Bookshelves
Review Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
A Beautiful Wilderness Adventure
I choose this first book in the Strong Heart series because I had enjoyed reading Adrift which is the second in the series. Both novels are stand-along stories and I had no problem reading them out of order.
The location of the novel is in the state of Washington in the northwestern corner of the United States, featuring the gorgeous and remote mountainous wilderness known as the Olympic Peninsula. Clearly, author Sheldon is very familiar with that area as he describes it brilliantly.
Strong Heart is the native American name that is given to Sarah Cooley, a sassy young teenage girl who has been tossed around from one home to another. She winds up on the doorstep of Tom Olson, her grandfather, a man whom she has never met. There is a certain amount of battling that goes on with other relatives over custody, but the adventurous part of the story concerns backpacking trips into the Olympic National Park in Northwest Washington. When Sarah first arrived, Tom was about to leave on the first of two wilderness trips. Now Sarah’s presence complicates matters. What should he do with her? After some debate he decides to take her along hoping it will teach her some manners and some things about her heritage.
The other two well-developed characters on this first backpacking hike are William and his daughter Myra. Myra is young and strong, William definitely feels his age, Tom hasn’t come to grips with his new position as grandfather, and Sarah has some hair-raising experiences.
A second backpacking trip on the same route, includes a Russian scientist named Sergei. While on this hike, the five of them encounter a team of surveyors, a variety of wild animals and weather issues.
One theme has to do with the interesting question of when the area was first settled by humans. Did they come across a land bridge from Russia some ten to twelve thousand years ago or have they always been there? The author uses the literary device of a running argument between Sergei and Myra to weave the two sides of the debate into the story. There is also an ancient artifact of historical significance that serves to develop several more interesting themes.
I can’t give away the story, except to say the intrepid hikers encounter a plethora of adventures and more dangerous situations than you can imagine.
Having spent two months hiking in the Washington wilderness myself, I could emphasize with the older members of the group straining uphill with aching backs and blistered feet carrying a heavy pack, over rocks and fallen trees. The suffering is all worth it. Nothing compares with the sights, sounds and beauty of the woodlands, lakes, waterfalls and snowcapped peaks, and so, the author's vivid descriptions rang a bell with me.
Sarah begins as a hurting, mouthy, defiant brat who turns into the strongest character in the book, able to sketch artistically, imagine scenes out-of-this-world and weave a fantastic tale.
For its enjoyable and exciting adventure and native-American historical significance, I recommend the book and rank it Five stars out of five.
***
View Strong Heart on Bookshelves
