Review by cherylbkclub+2018 -- Strong Heart
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cherylbkclub+2018
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- Latest Review: Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
Review by cherylbkclub+2018 -- Strong Heart
[Following is a volunteer review of "Strong Heart" by Charlie Sheldon.]
4 out of 4 stars
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Strong Heart by author Charlie Sheldon is a refreshing read because I found the story unusual. I rated this book 4 out of 4 as I did not find any errors and it read very well. The story begins as Tom and his long-time American Indian friend, William, and William's adult daughter, Myra, were visiting together in the evening on a rainy night, gathering their camping gear, and making plans to hike into the local mountains along the Olympic Peninsula in the state of Washington. The goal was to find the grave of Tom's grandfather, Bob-Bob. A knock on the door in the middle of the night changes Tom's life. Standing in the rain is his ex-wife, Ruth, and an angry and very wet young girl about 14 years of age. Ruth tells Tom that the girls' name is Sarah and that she is his granddaughter. Tom is a senior and was unaware that he had a granddaughter. Sarah's mother, Becky, had died, and Sarah's father decided to take a job in Europe, so he had left Sarah in the care of Tom's ex-wife, Ruth, and her husband, Fletcher, who had also been Becky's stepfather, for the summer. Ruth demanded that Tom take the girl for the summer, as she and Fletcher were tired of her antics. Tom was not happy to see this angry, defiant young girl. Sarah was also not happy. She didn't know him, and it appeared that she didn't want to know him.
After much debate, William suggested they take Sarah with them on their trip into the mountains. Tom was adamantly against the idea, but the only other course of action would be to let Child Services pick her up, and he didn't want to do that. Myra and William make attempts to befriend the girl, but she is stubborn and furious about being taken along on the hike. She accuses them all of kidnapping her. Despite her protests, the four set out on their trip the following morning. They drove to the trailhead, heading south from Sol Duc to Route 101, then into Olympic National Park. From there, they begin their hike.
They encounter many challenges along the way and run into a group of surveyors hired by Buckhorn, a company that had bought Bob-Bob's mining claim, which was now part of the national forest. Buckhorn planned to mine the mountains for erbium, which Tom, William, and Myra were trying to stop. Buckhorn was owned by Fletcher, Ruth's husband, and he had great animosity towards Tom. Myra was an archeologist and she wanted to preserve her Indian heritage and prove that the peninsula had been inhabited long before the records showed.
As they trekked high into the mountains and forests, Sarah, while still hating it, never complained. Se would sit by the campfires and sketch in her sketchpad. One evening, Sarah wandered away from the group. When she returned she looked startled and showed them a sketch of a huge bear, a short faced bear, the largest bear that had ever lived; they had been extinct for nearly 12 thousand years. Sarah said the bear had approached her and then just watched her for a while and then walked away. Tom did not believe her, which made Sarah furious. William and Myra, believing in the old Indian legends, were not so convinced that Sarah hadn't seen such a bear.
Tom unwrapped an object and told the little group that he had found it the day Bob-Bob died. It was in a hole beside him. Bob-Bob had told Tom there was something he wanted to show him. Tom had brought it home after burying his grandfather, but after many years, decided he should return it and place it alongside his grandfather's grave. That was the true reason for his desire to make this hike. The object that Tom showed them was a long shoehorn-like artifact called an atlatl, used as a weapon by earlier civilizations to throw deadly darts. It was about three feet long and appeared to be made out of bone. It had carvings on both sides, one that looked like a mountain range and the other a raven. The Aztecs had used it against the Spanish invaders in the 1500s. It was powerful and capable of piercing right through Spanish armor.
One day Sarah wandered off, but did not return. The group searched for her frantically for eight days. The nights were cold and the days were rainy. They feared she was dead. Then suddenly, they see her lying in water in a ditch. She was thin, had cuts on her face and body, and she was missing half of her ring finger. They nursed her back to consciousness, put her into dry clothes, fed her, let her rest, and when she emerged from her tent, she told them a very strange story; the story of a young girl taken by an ancient Indian tribe to become a bride. She detailed her travels by canoe over rough oceans, using an atlati to kill bears and big cats that attacked the Indian campsites, and much, much more. Sometime later, after returning from their trip, the group decides to return again to the mountains to attempt to find something to stop Buckhorn from being able to mine the land. Thanks to Sarah and her knowledge of the terrain gained through her shaman-like journey, and with help from the short face bear, the group survives attack by Buckhorn's crew and raging fires to make it home safely.
I enjoyed this book because it was very unique. The incredible details of the Indian adventures described by Sarah, and the rapport between the characters made this a very enjoyable read. It is obvious that the author knows the environment he was writing about and had done his homework relating to the earlier Indian cultures. There was no romance, no violence, but enough adventure and intrigue to make this a worthy read. I recommend this book highly.
******
Strong Heart
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4 out of 4 stars
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Strong Heart by author Charlie Sheldon is a refreshing read because I found the story unusual. I rated this book 4 out of 4 as I did not find any errors and it read very well. The story begins as Tom and his long-time American Indian friend, William, and William's adult daughter, Myra, were visiting together in the evening on a rainy night, gathering their camping gear, and making plans to hike into the local mountains along the Olympic Peninsula in the state of Washington. The goal was to find the grave of Tom's grandfather, Bob-Bob. A knock on the door in the middle of the night changes Tom's life. Standing in the rain is his ex-wife, Ruth, and an angry and very wet young girl about 14 years of age. Ruth tells Tom that the girls' name is Sarah and that she is his granddaughter. Tom is a senior and was unaware that he had a granddaughter. Sarah's mother, Becky, had died, and Sarah's father decided to take a job in Europe, so he had left Sarah in the care of Tom's ex-wife, Ruth, and her husband, Fletcher, who had also been Becky's stepfather, for the summer. Ruth demanded that Tom take the girl for the summer, as she and Fletcher were tired of her antics. Tom was not happy to see this angry, defiant young girl. Sarah was also not happy. She didn't know him, and it appeared that she didn't want to know him.
After much debate, William suggested they take Sarah with them on their trip into the mountains. Tom was adamantly against the idea, but the only other course of action would be to let Child Services pick her up, and he didn't want to do that. Myra and William make attempts to befriend the girl, but she is stubborn and furious about being taken along on the hike. She accuses them all of kidnapping her. Despite her protests, the four set out on their trip the following morning. They drove to the trailhead, heading south from Sol Duc to Route 101, then into Olympic National Park. From there, they begin their hike.
They encounter many challenges along the way and run into a group of surveyors hired by Buckhorn, a company that had bought Bob-Bob's mining claim, which was now part of the national forest. Buckhorn planned to mine the mountains for erbium, which Tom, William, and Myra were trying to stop. Buckhorn was owned by Fletcher, Ruth's husband, and he had great animosity towards Tom. Myra was an archeologist and she wanted to preserve her Indian heritage and prove that the peninsula had been inhabited long before the records showed.
As they trekked high into the mountains and forests, Sarah, while still hating it, never complained. Se would sit by the campfires and sketch in her sketchpad. One evening, Sarah wandered away from the group. When she returned she looked startled and showed them a sketch of a huge bear, a short faced bear, the largest bear that had ever lived; they had been extinct for nearly 12 thousand years. Sarah said the bear had approached her and then just watched her for a while and then walked away. Tom did not believe her, which made Sarah furious. William and Myra, believing in the old Indian legends, were not so convinced that Sarah hadn't seen such a bear.
Tom unwrapped an object and told the little group that he had found it the day Bob-Bob died. It was in a hole beside him. Bob-Bob had told Tom there was something he wanted to show him. Tom had brought it home after burying his grandfather, but after many years, decided he should return it and place it alongside his grandfather's grave. That was the true reason for his desire to make this hike. The object that Tom showed them was a long shoehorn-like artifact called an atlatl, used as a weapon by earlier civilizations to throw deadly darts. It was about three feet long and appeared to be made out of bone. It had carvings on both sides, one that looked like a mountain range and the other a raven. The Aztecs had used it against the Spanish invaders in the 1500s. It was powerful and capable of piercing right through Spanish armor.
One day Sarah wandered off, but did not return. The group searched for her frantically for eight days. The nights were cold and the days were rainy. They feared she was dead. Then suddenly, they see her lying in water in a ditch. She was thin, had cuts on her face and body, and she was missing half of her ring finger. They nursed her back to consciousness, put her into dry clothes, fed her, let her rest, and when she emerged from her tent, she told them a very strange story; the story of a young girl taken by an ancient Indian tribe to become a bride. She detailed her travels by canoe over rough oceans, using an atlati to kill bears and big cats that attacked the Indian campsites, and much, much more. Sometime later, after returning from their trip, the group decides to return again to the mountains to attempt to find something to stop Buckhorn from being able to mine the land. Thanks to Sarah and her knowledge of the terrain gained through her shaman-like journey, and with help from the short face bear, the group survives attack by Buckhorn's crew and raging fires to make it home safely.
I enjoyed this book because it was very unique. The incredible details of the Indian adventures described by Sarah, and the rapport between the characters made this a very enjoyable read. It is obvious that the author knows the environment he was writing about and had done his homework relating to the earlier Indian cultures. There was no romance, no violence, but enough adventure and intrigue to make this a worthy read. I recommend this book highly.
******
Strong Heart
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like cherylbkclub+2018's review? Post a comment saying so!
Latest Review: Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
