Charlie Sheldon

Review: Strong Heart by Charlie Shelden. 4.5 Stars 07/02/2017

This is written by a new author whose writing style is good, understanding, and the story was well organized and interesting. I felt his characters were well developed, likable and each had their own individual traits. I’m hoping to see more from this author. I believe his story, the theme, plot, and the environment he created delivered enjoyment and interest to keep a reader wanting more. I thought the interaction between the show more characters were exceptional. The story setting is in the wilderness of Washington State. The story has historical facts, native culture, past legends and flows with a spiritual quest that makes the story more interesting.

The story is about a Native American grandfather, Tom who is going on a journey into the wilderness to visit his fathers grave. However, his motive is more than that; he also has an old environmental artifact that is mysteriously linked to his past that he feels he must return. Just as his friends, William who is in poor health and his daughter Myra who is struggling over different issues picked up their backpacks to join Tom on his journey when someone knocked on the door. For the first time he meets his granddaughter, Sarah who is thirteen, rebellious and strong willed. An elder family member left Sarah on his porch because they could not control her and felt he must do his share in raising this child and keep her out of trouble.

This left Tom in a dilemma. Sarah has never been backpacking through the wilderness before so he really didn’t want to take her but William talked Tom into taking her with them. Sarah didn’t want to go plus she didn’t think her grandfather liked her. It was interesting to follow Tom, his friends and most of all his granddaughter. As the reader I could tell how Sarah might be mischievous throughout their trip. They had some situations that stood in there way but they made the best of it. Sarah gets angry and walks off but eight days later she was found with a story to tell and what a story… Sarah got to complete the mystifying and hard to believe story on their second journey into the wilderness.

It was a great story of adventure, myths, and legions that was beyond the modern world. It felt like I was watching all the scenes from above them. The story just flowed with ease….. show less

It’s easy to immerse yourself in one or two genres, but that could lead to burnout. I find myself losing my reading mojo when I get into too much of a rut. Readers have a variety of options available to dabble with and figure out what’s best for them. Sometimes I’ll make a subtle change, like reading cozy mysteries instead of thrillers. Other times, drastic measures are in order, and I’ll follow a recommendation from another person which I would never pick for myself. In this case, I show more decided to feed my love of fantasy while transporting myself out of the city to the wilderness.

Strong Heart starts in a straightforward manner. A company wants to exercise its mining rights on property in the Pacific Northwest wilderness, and the locals are concerned about the mining’s impact on local residents and the fishing industry. A rebellious girl is shuffled around between family members before being dumped on her grandfather’s doorstep. A man wants to visit his father’s gravesite and return a relic to the wilderness. But if this relic turns out to be a significant archaeological finding, then the mining could not take place. Sounds like a fairly straightforward nature vs. business struggle until the girl gets lost in the wilderness and comes back with an extraordinary story to share.

I was quickly drawn into the basic plot points with the vivid descriptions of the characters and settings. The Native American mythology and culture are carefully brought into the story so that the girl’s unbelievable story fits. The character development is profound but makes sense given how her experience impacts the others in her hiking group.

I haven’t read much Native American folklore, but I quickly appreciated the beautiful canvas Charlie Sheldon created. I’m not familiar with Native American mythology but Sheldon’s carefully crafted tale drew me in anyway.

Strong Heart is the first book in the series. I’ve grabbed a copy of the second book, Adrift, and am looking forward to reading it. I want to spend more time in the setting Charlie Sheldon built in Strong Heart. I’m going to grab a blanket and hot tea, then curl up and get swept back to the Pacific Northwest wilderness.

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of the book. show less

Tom finds out he is a grandfather the hard way when the girl’s grandmother, Ruth, drops the granddaughter, Sarah, off at Tom’s then leaves. Sarah is defined as defiant by Ruth. She wants Tom to take care of Sarah. Tom had plans to hike to his grandfather’s grave to pay respects and almost backed out because he felt uneasy about taking a young girl into the wilderness. Tom chose to stick with his plan to hike through the Olympic National Park woods to pay respects to his grandfather’s show more grave before a big corporation comes in and destroys the natives’ land. During the hike Sarah gets mad and takes off into the woods alone. A search party was sent out to look for her when she doesn’t return.
A young girl lost in the woods is every family’s worst nightmare. The author, Charlie Sheldon, did a good job in describing the panic everyone felt when Sarah went missing. I was hoping they would find her sooner. After she had been missing for eight days she returns and tells a tale of her experience, or her vision.
Later in the year they return to the park only to be betrayed by Myra’s friend who works for the corporation that wants to take their land. Tom and his friends, William and Myra, defend their native heritage and respect traditions. They are very compassionate about keeping the native lands out of the hands of a corrupt corporation. Myra argues with science defending the stories of her native heritage.
I was glad to see the maps at the beginning of the book. I grew up in Alaska near where Sarah had her adventure. I have watched my friends fight for their native rights. I’m giving a 5 out of 5 review because Charlie Sheldon conveyed compassion for the cause for native rights. show less

Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon is an unusual book. The first thing I noticed was the clipped cadence of the sentences. It seems that this story of Sarah, a young teenager meeting her grandfather for the first time, is a story wrapped around a legend. Sarah and her grandfather Tom, go hiking in the local mountains the day after they met. Sarah had lost both of her parents and her stepfather wanted to be rid of her. She landed at her grandfathers home. There she met with two good friends of show more his, Myra and William, her father.

They hiked up the mountain to pay tribute to her great great grandfather, who died there long before, while in Tom's company. What follows is this small family getting to know each other, and a peek into the myths and legends that surround their native lands. I admit it was somewhat difficult to follow at times. It was worth the journey to find the end of the story. There were difficult times and some good times.

I would not necessarily recommend this to just anyone. It defies genres, in my opinion and is slow paced. show less