Review by greghefley -- Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
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Jerry Silvanus
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Review by greghefley -- Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
[Following is a volunteer review of "Strong Heart" by Charlie Sheldon.]
Strong heart is an adventure, mystery, coming-of-age, historical sci-fi book from the author, Charlie Sheldon. This book follows a 13-year girl, Sarah Cooley, and her grandfather, Tom, and his friends into an adventure that crosses time and history. The group’s normal hiking trip suddenly turns into a mission to save the natural heritage of the Olympic peninsula.
The story starts as Sarah is dropped off at Tom’s by her grandmother. Tom, who didn’t know that he had a granddaughter till now, decides to take Sarah on a hiking trip along with his friend William and William’s daughter, Myra. During the hike, Sarah claims she saw a mysterious extinct bear which no one believes. After a small argument with Tom, Sarah walks off in anger and disappears. Soon after realizing that Sarah is missing, Tom arranges a search party to comb the hills, forests, and creeks. After some days, when almost all hope seems lost, Sarah reappears with an exciting and unbelievable tale that narrates an epic journey of some early humans who lived during the last ice age. Sarah’s story goes into a sea-faring journey as a captive with the ancient men. Sarah seems to have lost an ancient artifact of Tom’s in the mountains. Sometime after Sarah’s reappearance, Tom and his associates understands the importance of the artifact and plans to retrieve it to use it as a tool against a mining corporation that threatens the Olympic park’s ecosystem.
The positive aspects of Strong heart include the mystery element of the story. The adventure in both sea and mountains gives a mixer of flavors of the story. The author constantly changes focus to the different emotions of the characters like Myra’s stubbornness and Tom’s grit. There are many facts in the script regarding historical discoveries on how humans crossed the land bridge during the ice ages and reached different continents. Some arguments between the characters are backed up by real-life facts. Also, the geographical insights on the Olympic park are well expressed along with some rough maps of the north Pacific Ocean at the start of the book. This shows the research work done by the author.
On the negative aspect, the sea-faring scenarios in Sarah’s story seem a bit repetitive. Since Sarah’s story is narrated in the first person, we cannot see the character’s reactions to her tale. These are ultimately some very minor flaws. Also, at a certain point in the script, the usage of a gun is portrayed. This seems a bit over the top for the given situation not considering the desperation of the scenario. Anyways, it is hard for me to find any major flaws in this well-written story plot.
I give this book a perfect rating of 4 out of 4 stars for its highly engaging plot. I loved reading the book and enjoyed every adventurous moment in the story. I find the author’s style of writing very new and I liked its uniqueness.
I would recommend this book to almost all age groups. The story gets around different age groups and a diversity of genres. Readers who prefer adventure and mystery will like this book. Those who like the ocean may also find this book interesting especially those who sail in the north Pacific Ocean like the author who himself was a sailor. Moreover, native Americans will be interested to read their cultural teachings in the book. Even The characters in the book come under different age categories. This book is quite versatile and is preferable to a wide range of readers.
******
Strong Heart
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Strong heart is an adventure, mystery, coming-of-age, historical sci-fi book from the author, Charlie Sheldon. This book follows a 13-year girl, Sarah Cooley, and her grandfather, Tom, and his friends into an adventure that crosses time and history. The group’s normal hiking trip suddenly turns into a mission to save the natural heritage of the Olympic peninsula.
The story starts as Sarah is dropped off at Tom’s by her grandmother. Tom, who didn’t know that he had a granddaughter till now, decides to take Sarah on a hiking trip along with his friend William and William’s daughter, Myra. During the hike, Sarah claims she saw a mysterious extinct bear which no one believes. After a small argument with Tom, Sarah walks off in anger and disappears. Soon after realizing that Sarah is missing, Tom arranges a search party to comb the hills, forests, and creeks. After some days, when almost all hope seems lost, Sarah reappears with an exciting and unbelievable tale that narrates an epic journey of some early humans who lived during the last ice age. Sarah’s story goes into a sea-faring journey as a captive with the ancient men. Sarah seems to have lost an ancient artifact of Tom’s in the mountains. Sometime after Sarah’s reappearance, Tom and his associates understands the importance of the artifact and plans to retrieve it to use it as a tool against a mining corporation that threatens the Olympic park’s ecosystem.
The positive aspects of Strong heart include the mystery element of the story. The adventure in both sea and mountains gives a mixer of flavors of the story. The author constantly changes focus to the different emotions of the characters like Myra’s stubbornness and Tom’s grit. There are many facts in the script regarding historical discoveries on how humans crossed the land bridge during the ice ages and reached different continents. Some arguments between the characters are backed up by real-life facts. Also, the geographical insights on the Olympic park are well expressed along with some rough maps of the north Pacific Ocean at the start of the book. This shows the research work done by the author.
On the negative aspect, the sea-faring scenarios in Sarah’s story seem a bit repetitive. Since Sarah’s story is narrated in the first person, we cannot see the character’s reactions to her tale. These are ultimately some very minor flaws. Also, at a certain point in the script, the usage of a gun is portrayed. This seems a bit over the top for the given situation not considering the desperation of the scenario. Anyways, it is hard for me to find any major flaws in this well-written story plot.
I give this book a perfect rating of 4 out of 4 stars for its highly engaging plot. I loved reading the book and enjoyed every adventurous moment in the story. I find the author’s style of writing very new and I liked its uniqueness.
I would recommend this book to almost all age groups. The story gets around different age groups and a diversity of genres. Readers who prefer adventure and mystery will like this book. Those who like the ocean may also find this book interesting especially those who sail in the north Pacific Ocean like the author who himself was a sailor. Moreover, native Americans will be interested to read their cultural teachings in the book. Even The characters in the book come under different age categories. This book is quite versatile and is preferable to a wide range of readers.
******
Strong Heart
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Misery Loves Company by Paul Marino
