Strong Heart

by Charlie Sheldon

Overview

"...rife with secrets and hidden depths." - Kirkus Reviews

One stormy May night, just as Tom Olsen is about to leave with his Native American friends to visit his grandfather's grave deep in Washington State's Olympic Peninsula wilderness, he answers a knock at his door to find an abandoned thirteen year old girl.

The girl announces her name is Sarah Cooley and that Tom is her grandfather. She tells Tom he lives at the end of the earth. All she sees is dripping forest, tall trees, rain and wind. Astonished, all Tom sees is trouble. He knows he should cancel the trip and deal with Sarah, but when his friends suggest bringing Sarah along, Tom reluctantly agrees, hoping a backpacking trip might teach Sarah some sorely needed lessons about character, responsibility and grit.

All too soon, Tom and his friends have reason to wonder - are they taking Sarah Cooley on this journey, or is she taking them?

Adventure, scientific inquiry, a tinge of mystery, and a hint of the unexplainable infuse this meticulously-imagined tale. In a story matching the breathtaking scope of its Pacific Northwest and North Pacific setting, Sheldon's tale startles, yet challenges us to think.

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And now ADRIFT, the exciting follow-up to STRONG HEART, is available for purchase, and Totem, the third and final book in the series is available for PRE-ORDER (publication date October 29, 2021).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780997060058
Publisher:	Charlie Sheldon
Publication date:	03/17/2017
Series:	Strong Heart , #1
Pages:	274
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.58(d)

About the Author

Charlie Sheldon studied at Yale University and the University of
Massachusetts, where he received a Master's Degree in Wildlife
Biology and Resource Management. He then went to sea as a commercial fisherman off New England, fishing for cod, haddock,
hake, lobster, red crab, squid, and swordfish. He spent 28 years working for seaports (New York, Seattle, and Bellingham, WA) as a project and construction manager and later as an executive,
including habitat cleanup projects and working with Puget Sound
Tribes to reduce tribal fishing conflicts. Later he returned to sea,
shipping out with the Sailor's Union of the Pacific as an Ordinary
Seaman, Able Bodied Seaman, and Bosun. His last gig was as bosun aboard USNS Shughart, New Orleans to New York, in 2016.
Always a writer, he published Fat Chance with Felony and Mayhem
Press in 2005. He began working on ideas for Strong Heart, his tale about the Olympic Mountains, the Pacific coast, and human origins long, long ago and began serious research in 2010. These days he hikes in the Olympics whenever he can, cooks for his wife,
and continues to write tales in Ballard, Washington.

Editorial Reviews

“How does a heart grow strong? Read this wonderful book and find out. The characters charmed and surprised me, and I found myself a willing companion on their journey, caring deeply for them.” - Kim Heacox, author of RHYTHM OF THE WILD and JIMMY BLUEFEATHER (Winner of the National Outdoor Book Award)

From the Publisher

2017-04-20
A novel melds wilderness adventures and family history. Tom Olsen's ex-wife showing up at his doorstep unannounced is certainly unpleasant, especially on the eve of a backpacking trip to visit his grandfather's grave, deep in the Olympic Peninsula. But her arriving in the middle of a storm with a granddaughter, Sarah, he never knew he had is something else entirely. An angry, sullen teenager with an instinctual hatred for "the total boonies," Sarah seems to be more than Tom can handle, even before friend William "Walleye" and his daughter, Myra, suggest that they go ahead with the trek and bring Sarah along. Once on the trail, Tom can't help but get caught up in the memories Sarah evokes of his marriage and his now-dead daughter—the teen's mother—Becky. Sarah even vanishes for a time and reappears, coming back with a strange apparent connection to the land and a head full of stories beyond what any of them are familiar with. In a place rife with history, spirits, and the cultural memories of the local Native American tribes, the hikers have more to discover than any of them realize. What at first seems to be a rote fish-out-of-water story quickly morphs into something more as Sheldon's (Fat Chance, 2006, etc.) novel takes shape. In some hands, the tale's mix of spirituality and the harsh realities of life in rural and Native American communities would be awkward or off-putting to read, but this book carries the blend well, creating something greater than the sum of its parts. The complex histories and motivations of each character only add to the atmosphere, allowing the reader to see and empathize with their many-layered feelings. The prose is overly minimalist at times, but once readers get into the story, they should appreciate the bare-bones style: "After two weeks on the ship, it was heaven to sink into the brine, lean back, look at the sky above. Across lounged a couple, all over each other. They were both large. Three younger women were in the smaller pools, laughing." An intricate backpacking tale rife with secrets and hidden depths.

Kirkus Reviews