Heart of the Wilderness

awesome story I found myself living right there with this child it was a greatly heart-touching story

Kendra was not yet four when her parent's died in a river accident. She had to live with her grandfather George MacMannus who was a trapper in the wilderness. Every time that George would go out, he would summon an old Indian woman named Noni to come to stay with Kendra. Although Noni didn't say much, she tought Kendra all about the wilderness. She tought her what kinds of plants to eat, which one's were poisonous, and which one's to use for medicines. Also, she tought her about how to respect the earth and animals, and that they were all her relatives. Papa Mac, what Kendra called her Grandfather, didn't want Kendra to believe in Noni's fables, which led Kendra searching for something more. Kendra's desire for knowledge leads her from her wilderness home to the home of her Papa Mac's trusted friend Maggie where she attends school. Will she find the answers that she is looking for? This is a an exciting book to read, and one of Janette's better books.

I thought this was really a great book! I have read twenty four of Janette Oke's books and I have thought they were all excelent. I recomened you read this book and all her other books because they really are great!

I really enjoyed this book. Kendra Marty falls in love and wants to spend time with this young man, but she also feels the need to help her grandfather. The decision she makes reveals a lot about her character, caring and unselfish. A great Christian novel that I would recommend to anyone!

Heart of the Wilderness is an inspiring story about the experiential growth of a young girl into a women set on the backdrop of trapper country. Young Kendra lost her mother early in life and is raised in a "man's" world of wilderness and trapping with her father and the strong influence of North American Indian beliefs. As she matures, Kendra and her father search for the "proper" way to raise and educate a "proper" lady. Kendra's intelligence finds her in college and influenced heavily by a loving Christian family. The conflicts she faces are as real as her resolutions revealing. Kendra faces changes such as growing up in buckskins and then needing to learn social graces; growing up strong and independent and entering a society of submissive women; never thinking of a god and her best friend being a devout Christian. Her growth is most believable and most challenged when she returns a new women to her home of origin. This story is refreshing because it resonates with timely themes without the usual outcomes. Themes such as the role of women in society, the pressures youth face, struggles with religious growth, and family interactions are treated with a fresh outlook of triumph and peace.