Review by Ajhill -- Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
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Ajhill
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- Latest Review: Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
Review by Ajhill -- Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
[Following is a volunteer review of "Strong Heart" by Charlie Sheldon.]
4 out of 4 stars
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Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
Buckhorn International plans to mine the Olympic Penninsula and it's mountain range. They will stop at nothing to prevent anyone finding Native American artifacts there which would ruin their plans. So, Tom is getting ready to go on a hiking trip with his friends William and Myra to pay his last respects to his grandfather before Buckhorn causes the mountains where Tom's grandfather is buried to be forever changed. Unexpectedly, his ex-wife, Ruth arrives at his home with his twelve year old granddaughter Sarah.
Tom is hesitant to bring Sarah on the trip but decides to bring her along because the trip is too important to cancel. While packing gear for their trip, Sarah complains that her grandfather lives "at the end of the world." To which Myra replies, "This is the Olympic Penninsula. This is a land of magic, history, and legend. A place of myth, ancient stories, and ancient people."
On the second day of their trip Sarah sees a bear standing in a stream and she draws a picture of him. She shows the drawing to the others. No one believes she saw the bear she drew. It is a short faced bear, extinct for over 12,000 years. After a few days of their continuing disbelief Sarah storms off in anger and goes missing. Tom and his friends search for her for days to no avail. At the end of the eighth day she returns to camp in tattered clothes, missing a finger, with a large gash on her forehead and quite a story to tell.
Sarah tells that she was living in a time long ago when there were few people and extremely large animals. ( I love the author's attention to detail concerning the animals. He wrote about real ancient animals. I like that he didn't just make some scary animal up.) Sarah speaks in great detail of her battles with the fiercest and largest animals she's ever seen - great huge bears, a saber-toothed cat, and wolves with fangs as long as her finger. Sarah tells the others of her months long journey. (So detailed are the author's descriptions of her travels I believe one could quite possibly create an accurate map of Sarah's journey.)
Sarah's story seems so fantastic and farfetched that Tom and Myra believe she likely hit her head hard and hallucinated the whole thing. William, however, believes that she somehow stepped into the past for a time and actually lived the tale she told. Eventually Tom comes to believe Sarah's story.
I give this book 4 out of 4 stars . It is a wonderfully written story that combines a fictional tale interweaved with interesting facts like Native American cultures and artifacts. I love his idea that Sarah's story is an example of how it could be possible that Native Americans as per their legends have always been in North America. It's a story worth reading again. I have read it twice and will likely read it again in the future. I believe most readers (myself included) would truly love for Mr. Sheldon to continue this story in a second book or a book series.
******
Strong Heart
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4 out of 4 stars
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Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
Buckhorn International plans to mine the Olympic Penninsula and it's mountain range. They will stop at nothing to prevent anyone finding Native American artifacts there which would ruin their plans. So, Tom is getting ready to go on a hiking trip with his friends William and Myra to pay his last respects to his grandfather before Buckhorn causes the mountains where Tom's grandfather is buried to be forever changed. Unexpectedly, his ex-wife, Ruth arrives at his home with his twelve year old granddaughter Sarah.
Tom is hesitant to bring Sarah on the trip but decides to bring her along because the trip is too important to cancel. While packing gear for their trip, Sarah complains that her grandfather lives "at the end of the world." To which Myra replies, "This is the Olympic Penninsula. This is a land of magic, history, and legend. A place of myth, ancient stories, and ancient people."
On the second day of their trip Sarah sees a bear standing in a stream and she draws a picture of him. She shows the drawing to the others. No one believes she saw the bear she drew. It is a short faced bear, extinct for over 12,000 years. After a few days of their continuing disbelief Sarah storms off in anger and goes missing. Tom and his friends search for her for days to no avail. At the end of the eighth day she returns to camp in tattered clothes, missing a finger, with a large gash on her forehead and quite a story to tell.
Sarah tells that she was living in a time long ago when there were few people and extremely large animals. ( I love the author's attention to detail concerning the animals. He wrote about real ancient animals. I like that he didn't just make some scary animal up.) Sarah speaks in great detail of her battles with the fiercest and largest animals she's ever seen - great huge bears, a saber-toothed cat, and wolves with fangs as long as her finger. Sarah tells the others of her months long journey. (So detailed are the author's descriptions of her travels I believe one could quite possibly create an accurate map of Sarah's journey.)
Sarah's story seems so fantastic and farfetched that Tom and Myra believe she likely hit her head hard and hallucinated the whole thing. William, however, believes that she somehow stepped into the past for a time and actually lived the tale she told. Eventually Tom comes to believe Sarah's story.
I give this book 4 out of 4 stars . It is a wonderfully written story that combines a fictional tale interweaved with interesting facts like Native American cultures and artifacts. I love his idea that Sarah's story is an example of how it could be possible that Native Americans as per their legends have always been in North America. It's a story worth reading again. I have read it twice and will likely read it again in the future. I believe most readers (myself included) would truly love for Mr. Sheldon to continue this story in a second book or a book series.
******
Strong Heart
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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Latest Review: Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
