Charlie Sheldon’s Strong Heart is a coming of age/adventure novel delving into themes such as human origins, journeys real and mythical, and the spirit of the Pacific Coast and the Olympic Mountains.
Tom Olsen is packed and ready to leave on a hiking trip into the Olympic National Park with his friends, William and Myra. Ruth, Tom’s ex-wife, drops in unexpectedly with a thirteen-year-old girl she says is the granddaughter Tom did not know he had, since his daughter lost touch with him and died five years earlier. Ruth leaves Sarah with Tom, describing the teenager as difficult and herself as fed-up with the trouble Sarah causes. Persuaded by William and uncertain what he should do about Sarah, Tom decides to bring her with them on their journey into the Olympics. A few days into the hike, Sarah sees and sketches a bear Myra identifies as an extinct short-faced bear. Furious that Tom does not believe what she saw was real, Sarah storms off into the Olympics with a bone atlatl his grandfather gave him decades ago. She …show more content…
Sheldon knows his setting and his fascination with natural history of the ice age in North America shone through the narrative. I enjoyed reading his speculation about human migration across the land bridge from Siberia to North America and vice versa. Given the research that went into his novel, this speculation did not come across as far-fetched. This novel is worth adding to your bookshelf if the natural history of the northwest Pacific coasts and forests is an interest. The characters don’t dominate the story since the land with its history is Sheldon’s focus, however, Sarah is the strongest character of the cast. She is as tough as a protagonist of a coming of age story should be, and she certainly matured during the hike in the
Tom Olsen is packed and ready to leave on a hiking trip into the Olympic National Park with his friends, William and Myra. Ruth, Tom’s ex-wife, drops in unexpectedly with a thirteen-year-old girl she says is the granddaughter Tom did not know he had, since his daughter lost touch with him and died five years earlier. Ruth leaves Sarah with Tom, describing the teenager as difficult and herself as fed-up with the trouble Sarah causes. Persuaded by William and uncertain what he should do about Sarah, Tom decides to bring her with them on their journey into the Olympics. A few days into the hike, Sarah sees and sketches a bear Myra identifies as an extinct short-faced bear. Furious that Tom does not believe what she saw was real, Sarah storms off into the Olympics with a bone atlatl his grandfather gave him decades ago. She …show more content…
Sheldon knows his setting and his fascination with natural history of the ice age in North America shone through the narrative. I enjoyed reading his speculation about human migration across the land bridge from Siberia to North America and vice versa. Given the research that went into his novel, this speculation did not come across as far-fetched. This novel is worth adding to your bookshelf if the natural history of the northwest Pacific coasts and forests is an interest. The characters don’t dominate the story since the land with its history is Sheldon’s focus, however, Sarah is the strongest character of the cast. She is as tough as a protagonist of a coming of age story should be, and she certainly matured during the hike in the