Review by Karina Nowak -- Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon

[Karina Nowak]

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

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4 out of 4 stars

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Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon is a beautiful adventure story about Sarah Cooley, an adolescent girl who is unceremoniously dumped at her grandfather Tom’s house in Seattle. Tom plans to go visit the grave of his own grandfather deep in the Olympic National Park with his friend, William, and William’s grown daughter, Myra. Instead of canceling the trip, they decide to take Sarah along. Deep in the park, Sarah swears she sees a short-faced bear, which Myra explains has been extinct for thousands of years. Before they leave, Sarah has a ‘dream’, where she witnesses events in a time when these bears still lived in the park. An experience that brings her closer to her Native American heritage, and the people who once inhabited the Olympic Peninsula thousands of years ago.

I must admit, it took me a while to get used to Charlie Sheldon’s writing style. The voice and tone read like an adventure story, or a mystery novel from the ‘80’s. The sentences were short, and there was little use of conjunctions. The descriptions didn't give you more than was needed. The conversations were straightforward and to the point, though it wasn't abrupt either. It just said what it needed to say. However, this also meant that emotions weren't always conveyed in the same raw sense that I've gotten used to with authors today. A character would suddenly cry, and I would be confused as to why because looking at the descriptions before that, there was little to show that they were upset. The emotive descriptions were so scant sometimes that I wasn't able to pick up on those subtle emotional cues.

However, it doesn't take away from the book. I quickly caught the flow of the story, and it became easier to understand how each character felt and how their actions betrayed their emotions. It's just a different writing style, not a different language. The story more than kept my interest. This book had a calm, steady flow about it, which would suddenly be injected with action, and sometimes, horrific scenes. I never really felt bored reading it. I think this was one of the nicest books I’ve read this year. I would read it again. I will admit that it started off slow, but the conversations pull you in. There is a lot of sitting around fires and talking, but I feel like it reflects the native tradition of oral storytelling.

Once Sarah gets into the Olympic park, "...a land of magic, history and legend", the pace does pick up. I would have loved if the book had included some simple sketches of Sarah’s drawings, especially when foreign objects were being described. I will give this book 4 out of 4 stars. I really like reading about people and societies from history, and how they navigated a life that was so different from the ones we live today. I would read this book again. I recommend it to anyone who also likes historical fiction, particularly history that touches on mythology and legend.

This was such a refreshing story, and it was definitely professionally edited. This was a gem in the middle of all the YA otherworld dramas today. Technically, Sarah did have an unexpected adventure in another world, a world thousands of years in the past. It was a meaningful experience for her as well as an exciting tale about finding and learning about your heritage in the most magical way.

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Strong Heart
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[Eutoc]

The author slowly engaged the reader in the story. One can now make clear assertions from having a proper engagement with the book.

[Mariana Figueira]

I also liked this book, but the end was so abrupt...Anyway, thank you for the great review.