Review of Strong Heart

[Glena Saruma]

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

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4 out of 4 stars

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Sarah is dropped off at the doorstep of her grandfather. This is a man that she has never seen and never knew existed. She is determined to shut everybody out and keep to herself as much as she can, but things do not go as she plans. She is practically forced on a hiking trip with her grandfather and his friends. That journey proves to change her view on life as a whole. Such a change comes when she miraculously experiences how humans that lived many centuries ago lived. She cannot explain whether that was a mere vision or she was truly taken back in time. The one thing that she was sure of is that her companions must be sick with worry since her disappearance from their camp. How will she find her way back home? How will her grandfather ever forgive himself if they never find her?

Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon is the first book in Strong Heart series. It is a book that talks a lot about what we might term superstition. It shows a little bit of the way that the Native Americans lived, their belief, and the stories they told their children. Even though it does not dive so deep into the culture and traditions of those people, the little that it shows is just so beautiful. It made me value culture and people. It made me value family. This lesson is my greatest take from this book and is the feature I like most in the book.

Some other themes that it talks about are fear, anger, greed, perseverance, determination, archeology, survival, etc. I learnt so much from this book in the few hours that it took me to finish reading it than I have learnt from movies and so many experiences that I have had. So I can say that while this novel succeeded in expertly entertaining and teaching important moral lessons to its readers and that is a great thing.

There is not a thing that I hate in the novel. I am so glad that Charlie Sheldon wrote such a daring story the way he does. It got me thinking and wondering about if there is more to life than we acknowledge. I will not be surprised if Charlie Sheldon comes up tomorrow and says that that book was not a work of fiction. That he is one of the characters in the story. I say this because the book is so believable. It was a great read as far as I am concerned.

I think that readers who love reading novels on supernatural happenings might enjoy reading Strong Heart. People who also love reading books with Native American characters that acknowledge their roots will also like this novel so much since most of the main characters are Native Americans.

I will give Strong Heart a rating of four out of four stars because I liked everything about it. This book is excellent in everything and I thank Charlie Sheldon for doing a good job. It was exceptional in character development, plot development, editing, suspense, and the ending. I only wish that the sequel in this book would show more of the hiking group and their respective escapades.

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Strong Heart
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[MsH2k]

It’s good to be reminded of the value of family every now and then. I hope Sarah and her grandfather eventually bond. Thank you for your take on this read!

[NISSE]

I wonder whether Sarah was able to find her way back to home and what her grandfather's reactions when she did.