Review by mamalui -- Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon

[mamalui]

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

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4 out of 4 stars

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This book is a coming of age story about a 13 year old girl named Sarah and the life changing adventure she has alongside her grandfather, Tom. Sarah who is the main character in this book is a troubled child who has difficulty fitting in mainly due to the loss of her mother. Her stepfather who is her sole guardian decides to leave Sarah with her grandmother of whom Sarah had never met before. Her grandmother Ruth, also fails to get along with Sarah and decides to share the responsibility of looking after her with Sarah's grandfather Tom. At the beginning Sarah dislikes Tom as she dislikes most people thinking he is exactly like everybody else until they get a chance to bond after the hiking trip to the mountains.

Tom has reservations upon meeting Sarah from the first time as he didn't even know he had a 13 year old granddaughter to begin with. His daughter, Sarah's mother had run away at the age of 15 and they hadn't heard from her since. So it takes a lot of convincing from his friend, William, for Tom to agree on taking Sarah along on their hiking trip. Along the way Sarah, knowing very well that she's not wanted does little to improve the situation. She manages to get herself lost for eight days in the forest. After all the search and rescue efforts are exausted, Tom and his friend William bracing the worst stay behind just in case.

After 8 days Sarah stumbles back to the camp and is mistaken for Myra, Williams daughter. Sarah who is somewhat changed tells of the impossible things which she had seen during her absence and everybody has a hard time believing except for her grandfather's friend, William who keeps an open mind.

The book touches on the issues of family which come with a fare share of troubles and also the stories and the culture which get passed on from generation to generation through the art of story telling. It also touches on the issue of survival against the odds as we see Sarah's impressive survival skills which she mysteriously acquired during the 8 day period when she was lost. There are elements of Native American myths to boot which I found very intriguing. Without forgetting the adventure of a lifetime on which the Author, takes the reader on through a mixture of characters, events and places throughout the story.

With all that said I would like to rate this book 4 out of 4 mainly because I hardly noticed any errors throughout. It is well edited and well paced with characters who are well introduced. I recommend this book to readers who love archaeology, adventure, mystery and history.

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Strong Heart
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