Review of Strong Heart
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Tumelo Tefo
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- Latest Review: Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
Review of Strong Heart
[Following is a volunteer review of "Strong Heart" by Charlie Sheldon.]
Strong heart by Charlie Sheldon is a very beautiful book about an orphaned girl of 13, unwittingly taken on an adventure that would change her irrevocably. The book was so well written that I saw, felt and smelled with the characters. Above all, I was touched and consequently educated on some issues I never knew before. Mr. Sheldon had me googling the short face bear and researching about the history of modern man and its intersections.
It is early May in the Olympic Peninsula, raining with wind and thunder, when Tom, a 66 year old man along with his friends William ‘Walleye’ and William’s daughter Myra make plans to hike into the forest to search for the resting place of Tom’s grandfather, Bob-Bob. While it is thundering, they hear a knock on Tom’s door to find a 13-year-old girl “thin as a stick” with dark hair, a nose piercing and a determined air about her, dragged by Tom’s ex-wife. She announces the girl as Tom’s granddaughter and will have to stay with him. Tom’s ex-wife, who is also the girl, Sarah’s grandmother, took her on for some days in which she learned the girl drinks, has a bad attitude and is in bad company, supposedly. Soon after, her grandmother leaves her with these three strangers.
The trio has two choices, taking young Sarah with them on their hike or cancel the trip. With a Mining Company looking to mine in the same area as Bob-Bob’s resting place, they take Sarah with them into the Olympic National Park to Tom’s grumbling reluctance. Later on, they learn that Bob-Bob took Tom on the same journey to show the then young Tom something of importance. Sadly, the old man died before showing Tom. So it is now or never to go on this trip. Soon, it becomes clear to William and Myra that Sarah is in fact, leading them into this journey when she encounters impossible situations that she somehow survives. She comes out of these mysterious situations stronger and more knowledgeable than those around her do.
Strong heart is a story about mystery, history and people who go on a seemingly regular but wonderful hike coming together to be a family. If you love reading about archeology, the history of modern man, Native people and their issues, then this adventurous story full of heart is the one for you. For that and being exceptionally well edited, I give it 4 out of 4 stars.
Mr. Sheldon also touches on some hard issues albeit briefly, like child abuse and neglect, and the failure by the system on orphaned children. I would therefore recommend it to anyone who wants a full experience in their story with a tear or two wrought out during the read. I had some tears during my reading and the end had me crying with Sarah, not because of it being tragic but because I went through something so beautiful and poignant with her. Please, enjoy!
******
Strong Heart
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Strong heart by Charlie Sheldon is a very beautiful book about an orphaned girl of 13, unwittingly taken on an adventure that would change her irrevocably. The book was so well written that I saw, felt and smelled with the characters. Above all, I was touched and consequently educated on some issues I never knew before. Mr. Sheldon had me googling the short face bear and researching about the history of modern man and its intersections.
It is early May in the Olympic Peninsula, raining with wind and thunder, when Tom, a 66 year old man along with his friends William ‘Walleye’ and William’s daughter Myra make plans to hike into the forest to search for the resting place of Tom’s grandfather, Bob-Bob. While it is thundering, they hear a knock on Tom’s door to find a 13-year-old girl “thin as a stick” with dark hair, a nose piercing and a determined air about her, dragged by Tom’s ex-wife. She announces the girl as Tom’s granddaughter and will have to stay with him. Tom’s ex-wife, who is also the girl, Sarah’s grandmother, took her on for some days in which she learned the girl drinks, has a bad attitude and is in bad company, supposedly. Soon after, her grandmother leaves her with these three strangers.
The trio has two choices, taking young Sarah with them on their hike or cancel the trip. With a Mining Company looking to mine in the same area as Bob-Bob’s resting place, they take Sarah with them into the Olympic National Park to Tom’s grumbling reluctance. Later on, they learn that Bob-Bob took Tom on the same journey to show the then young Tom something of importance. Sadly, the old man died before showing Tom. So it is now or never to go on this trip. Soon, it becomes clear to William and Myra that Sarah is in fact, leading them into this journey when she encounters impossible situations that she somehow survives. She comes out of these mysterious situations stronger and more knowledgeable than those around her do.
Strong heart is a story about mystery, history and people who go on a seemingly regular but wonderful hike coming together to be a family. If you love reading about archeology, the history of modern man, Native people and their issues, then this adventurous story full of heart is the one for you. For that and being exceptionally well edited, I give it 4 out of 4 stars.
Mr. Sheldon also touches on some hard issues albeit briefly, like child abuse and neglect, and the failure by the system on orphaned children. I would therefore recommend it to anyone who wants a full experience in their story with a tear or two wrought out during the read. I had some tears during my reading and the end had me crying with Sarah, not because of it being tragic but because I went through something so beautiful and poignant with her. Please, enjoy!
******
Strong Heart
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
