Strong Heart is a unique and intriguing tale of the Pacific Northwest written by Charlie Sheldon, a biologist and fisherman turned novelist.
Tom, along with his friend William and William’s daughter Myra, is preparing for an ambitious and personal backpacking trip deep into Olympic National Park when Tom’s callous ex-wife shows up with Sarah, his granddaughter, a broken orphan whom he had no knowledge of prior. Not wanting to cancel the trip (and with a little persuasion from William) Tom brings Sarah along. What started out as an awkward quest of unfinished business for Tom becomes a voyage beyond time and space for Sarah after she falls into a cave.
While the main subject of the novel is Sarah and her wild story she tells after she emerges from the cave, the book also dives into the clashes of local tribal rights and outside commercial endeavors as well as balancing conservation with
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The quick switch to Sarah’s point of view was slightly confusing as the book suddenly becomes set in a time period thousands of years back. I found myself having to reread Sarah’s story a few times just to get the new characters and new setting straight in my mind. This switch between time frames may have made more sense if there was more of an ease into Sarah’s story. There are a couple lines in the novel that seemed a little corny. For example, early into the trip, Sarah claims to have seen a large bear, a bear that Myra says has been extinct for thousands of years. While Tom and Myra dismiss Sarah’s claim, William states, “Myra, we think we brought Sarah on this trip, but maybe it is she, who is taking us.” This conclusion just didn’t seem genuine or something a real person would come up with after a young girl with an attitude says she saw an animal that has been dead since the last ice
(1) Patrick Carman’s Pulse is a fantasy action book that tells the story of a young girl named Faith Daniels, who lives on the outside of the states and finds out she has special abilities that need to be trained for an upcoming battle against the states with the help of Dylan Gilmore, a friend and love interest she made throughout the book. (2) The book starts with a young girl named Faith sleeping, but she isn’t just sleeping, objects are somehow moving by themselves around her without her noticing. (3) During school, her life was pretty normal if it weren’t for the fact that a very sporty boy named Wade Quinn decided to force Faith into a relationship with him and went on a date with her, feeding her two wire codes, which is basically something
Early in their lives, two young sisters, Ruth and Lucille, experience loss and abandonment from the men in the family. Their grandfather had died in a train derailment into Lake Fingerbone before they were born, and their father leaves them while they are very young. Then their mother commits suicide, but not before dropping the girls off on their grandmother’s porch. Moreover, then, “she sailed in Bernice’s Ford from the top of a cliff named Whiskey Rock into the blackest depth of the lake (23), again into Lake Fingerbone. After only a few months their grandmother dies leaving the girls to the remainder of the family, a collection of eccentric females. The girls deal with all of this by relying on each other. Soon, their great Aunt’s,
-The central story is of Niska's early adolescence. It is the winter during which she enters puberty. Her Oji-Cree Anishnabe clan of roughly 30 people still live near Hudson's Bay, in the wilderness. The winter is a harsh one, with few animals to trap and eat. They are reluctantly forced to consume a young hibernating bear, who they regard as a spiritual brother (38). Niska's father, a medicine man and a spiritual leader of the clan, argues that they have no choice but to eat or starve (37). Nothing it should be added, is to be wasted.
In the novel, American colonization and industrialization threatens Angel and her family’s way of life by threatening to destroy their surrounding land and nature. This has the most effect on the Native Americans. Before the construction of the dams even begin, nature is affected greatly by non-native trappers. Angel listens to many stories told by elders in her
At the age of fourteen, the nameless protagonist meets Old Chief Mshlanga on a walk with her dogs, a native tribal leader who used to own the whole area. The chief's pride and respect make the girl gingerly change her opinion of natives and reconsider her prejudiced vision and idea. As a result, she begins to be more pleasant towards the natives she encounters.
“Heartbeat” is a short story by David Yoo that illustrates how a skinny sixteen-year-old struggles to fit in and be liked by his classmates. The story takes place in an American high school during modern times, as the text states that he “returned to school”, and it is mentioned in the text that he is eating a mini-Snickers bar, implying that he lives fairly close to the present. Dave’s nickname is Heartbeat because his friends “swear that you can actually see the pulse on my bare chest.” When his crush, Sarah, comments on how skinny he is, Heartbeat tries to gain weight by working out, adjusting his diet, and eliminating as much movement as possible. However, nothing works—until he discovers the simple solution of wearing several layers to
Our memories, thoughts and stories are what define us, and in the graphic novel the bull is depicted as leading us into a reminiscing state. A narrative quote about the boy is, “he was lead by the bull into a world of remembering”. The boy wanting to make his own stories and have his own adventures illustrates this quote and theme of remembering throughout the book. The boy does not think about where it is leading him only that the more he remembers the more he is able to grasp the situation he is in and comprehended what he needs to do. The novel follows two stories. One is the aboriginal woman and the other is of the boy. They are two very different stories but together they lead in to a reminiscing journey and then unite when the boy decides to make contact with the family that has lived for years with a tragedy that involved for them an unsolved mystery, a mystery for which he has the answer. The boy grows to love and respect the bull even though he knows he must destroy it. As he follows the
Told using backstory and third individual story, it acquaints the reader with strained connections and the mission of self-personality from the Native American point of view. Alexie shows to his gathering of people how individual clashes and broken connections between friends and family can bring about inner battle
In the reading, Encouraging the Heart by James Kouzes and Barry Posner, they seek to explore one of the most indescribable leadership skills of all caring. Caring is said to be an essential skill to be a successful leader, yet one of the most difficult to master. Kouzes & Posner propose that caring leadership is composed of seven essentials: setting clear standards, expecting the best, paying attention, personalizing recognition, telling the story, celebrating together, and setting the example. The book seeks to describe how and why caring leadership works, and goes beyond outlining practices and principles associated with this type of leadership. This book is an inspirational and uplifting blend of theory and principle, true-life stories of caring leadership, and self-reflecting questions.
Throughout human existence, mankind has had to overcome difficult obstacles in order to prosper. In Diane Glancy’s “Pushing the Bear”, the reader discovers how the Cherokee Indians overcome their hardships and flourish into a new, thriving community. In this novel, the audience observe how these Cherokee Indians outlast the harsh environment during the Indian Removal Act. Additionally, Glancy creates a human experience during the Trail of Tears; giving a different perspective of various characters. Through the eyes of characters such as Maritole and Knobowtee, the reader is able to sense the desperation that the Cherokee endured. The upheaval of being forcefully removed from the land stripped the Cherokee of their identity. This disruption left the Cherokee confused, causing frustration to arise because they were unable to live their familiar roles. Men were no longer able to farm. Women had a loss of property and wealth. The bear symbolizes these struggles throughout this novel. Maritole explains, “The bear had once been a person. But he was not conscious of the consciousness he was given. His darkness was greed and self-centeredness. It was part of myself, too. It was part of the human being” (183). In other words, the “bear” is the personal dilemma each character is put up against during this removal. Furthermore, each character has their own personal struggles to overcome; whether that be Knobowtee’s loss of masculinity or Maritole’s loss of family. These struggles,
The short story, “Treasure State” by Tin House, is full of reflection, guilt, and loneliness. Mainly, the story entails the journey of two brothers fleeing their hometown after their incarcerated father, Old Man, is granted mercy due to his terminal cancer to return home. The brothers, John and Daniel, would rather leave town than to live with the Old Man so they set their eyes on the “treasure state,” Montana. The story details their journey to wild destinations and fleeing their past while making it by any means necessary. Along the way, readers are introduced to a few minor female characters: Gwen, the mother of the boys, and “the lady on the bed.” The importance of these minor characters is grossly underappreciated. This is because while the main themes of this story are readily apparent, there are some equally important themes driven by this group of more underrepresented female characters.
Many were forced to evacuate to other regions within the country and endure the infamous Trail of Tears. While Native Americans are not forcibly removed from their homes anymore, this story shows a modern-day example of mistreatment or borders that Native Americans deal with. While the mother faced many different conflicts, externally and internally, she readily accepts the challenge and is not willing to step down. She displays the pride of the Blackfoot Indians and is not willing to let the government tell her who she is and let them define her. She sets an example for Native Americans, standing up against a government that has held them down for so long. That they should always have pride in who they are, and where they came
The author made Sylvia into a Hero through the climbing of the tree. First the author talks about the call to adventure. Sarah begins the story with, ?Half a mile from home, at the farther edge of the woods, where the land was highest, a
For this assignment, I chose to watch the movie “Up.” As a young boy, Carl Fredriskon, idolized an explorer by the name of Charles Muntz. Carl has a dream of traveling to South America and exploring the forbidden Paradise Falls, just as Charles did. One day, as Carl is making his way down the street, he hears a young female voice screaming his favorite line “adventure is out there!” Out of curiosity, Carl makes his way into what seems to be a clubhouse belonging to a young girl, Ellie, and he befriends her. She shares with Carl that she also has a desire to relocate her clubhouse to Paradise Falls. Carl and Ellie get married and fix up the old abandoned house, which Ellie had turned into her clubhouse. Carl sells balloons out of a cart for a living with Ellie. As their marriage continues and they try to have children, Carl and Ellie realize that children is not something that they will be able to experience. After finding out this news, the couple decides to begin saving up change and placing it into their jar to save for their trip to Paradise Falls. As the days go by, Carl and Ellie are faced with hardships and home damages, car troubles, and medical bills squeeze the money out of their adventure jar savings. At last, Carl is able to buy tickets to South America so that they are able to fulfill their lifelong dreams and explore Paradise Falls. One day, before they are able to carry out their adventure, Ellie becomes ill and passes away. As anyone who loses their loved one,
In our world organisms occupy a sliding scale of complexity. On one hand we have the single cell organisms, where all necessary functions for their life are carried out within that one cell. At the other extreme we have extremely complex multicellular organisms, of which humans are perhaps the cardinal member. Obviously, with increased capacity comes increased abilities. Complex organisms are able to manipulate their environment to a greater extent then their simpler cousins. While this has a lot of advantages, it also presents interesting biological problems. With the increased complexity multicellular organisms must have systems to deliver nutrients, signaling molecules, and biochemical building blocks to every cell. In