Mark Guillerman’s A Heart That’s True follows twelve-year-old Joseph Cross and his fourteen-year-old cousin, Elizabeth White Cloud, after they are taken from Fort Belknap in Montana to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. Before the train carries them east, Joseph meets Big Black, a wolf-Newfoundland pup at a Montana way station, and the two form a connection. Carlisle separates the cousins into different lives. Joseph finds his place among horses, while White Cloud is placed in a private home under the school’s control. Rare chances to see one another keep them connected as each begins to understand what staying at Carlisle may cost. Far to the west, Big Black leaves the ranch and becomes the center of stories spreading across Montana. Their paths are separated by thousands of miles, but all three are pulled toward home.

Mark Guillerman’s A Heart That’s True is powerful historical fiction, and Guillerman gives every part of this story a full life. I love Joseph’s friendship with Charley, a Carlisle library worker, especially when Joseph shares half of the beef sandwich athlete Jim Thorpe gives him after months with almost no meat. Mrs. Jenkins is wonderful too, especially when she puts herself between White Cloud and a man trying to drag her away outside the library. Big Black may be my favorite part of the book. Guillerman lets the wolf-dog’s separate journey become its own adventure, with his intelligence showing in the way he protects Joseph’s grandfather from bounty hunters. The historical detail is extensive, and the characters are the reason it matters. Well written and heartbreaking, readers who enjoy historical fiction with unforgettable characters will adore this.

Westerns are making a comeback, which is no surprise to me. The western offers old-fashioned entertainment at its finest: stalwart heroes and heroines, adventuresome plots, moral philosophy, and awe-inspiring settings. All of these and more can be found in A Heart That’s True by Mark Guillerman. It follows the journey of two young Native American cousins, Joseph Cross and Elizabeth White Cloud, who must travel from their home in Montana to Pennsylvania to attend the notorious Carlisle Indian School, where the motto, “Kill the Indian to save the man,” is doctrine. Along the way, they find sympathetic whites, decidedly unsympathetic ones, as well as a wolf named Big Black, and the legendary athlete Jim Thorpe. At the school, the cousins encounter the prejudices typical in the mission schools of the era, which test their resolve, but they also find friendship, making their longing for home all the more bittersweet.

Although Joseph is the central character in the book, author Mark Guillerman wisely develops several different plotlines, creating an epic-like quality to the piece; even the stories of the villains and Big Black are carefully followed, creating both tension and interest. The author also wisely chooses to reveal some of the abuses of the Carlisle school discreetly, avoiding any gratuitous cruelty to the characters. Instead, Guillerman emphasizes Elizabeth's resilience, in particular, as well as Joseph’s loyalty to her. In fact, his loyalty inspires a second cross-country trip to Montana, where they hope to discover their names, traditions, and language again. A Heart That’s True is a highly recommended read for lovers of tales from the American frontier and the truths they can still inspire.

Mark Guillerman’s A Heart That’s True follows Joseph Cross, a 12-year-old Lakota boy who is forced to leave the Bear Paw Mountains behind. He is sent thousands of miles away to a Pennsylvania boarding school meant to cleanse his spirit of his ancestors’ teachings and force his assimilation. There, his hair is cut, and his traditions are banned. The story tracks his endurance alongside the journey of Big Black, a giant wolf-hybrid who becomes a legend in the West. Joseph has to find his footing in a cruel environment while worrying about his cousin, White Cloud, who is facing her own dangers on campus from a dangerous stalker. Crucially, Joseph finds a big source of inspiration in Olympic champion Jim Thorpe, an unbroken Native American warrior whose legendary athletic victories give the boy the pride and strength he needs to keep his heritage alive. Nevertheless, will he be able to maintain his true identity and pull off the ultimate return to his ancestral lands?

A Heart That’s True by Mark Guillerman is a historical fiction novel that blends individual human struggles with the spirit of the American wilderness in a really memorable way. Guillerman uses a straightforward storytelling style that lets the emotional depth of the situation speak for itself without relying on melodrama to boost the story. The way the chapters alternate between Joseph’s daily life at the school and the wolf pack traveling across Yellowstone keeps you fully locked into the journey. Seeing Joseph grow from a silent boy into a young man who’s able to stand tall in his harsh surroundings feels very realistic. The inclusion of real historical figures like Jim Thorpe adds a great deal of authenticity to the plot, making the setting really come to life. This tale is a great reminder of what it means to stay true to yourself (and your identity), no matter how hard things get. Very highly recommended.

In 1910, in the aftermath of the Indian Wars, Lakota cousins Joseph Cross and Elizabeth White Cloud are stripped of everything important to them and taken from their Montana home by army wagon to the Great Northern Railway at Malta and shipped east to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania. The mission of the school is simple: “Kill the Indian, Save the Man.” Their long hair is cut, and they receive uniforms. They are marched through drills in the barracks. White Cloud does domestic service, and Joseph works in the stables, but they find ways to pass notes and plan their escape. A subplot follows Big Black, a massive wolf hunted by bounty hunters, Moondog Burrows and Clyde Baxter. Will the kids escape Carlisle, and will Joseph see Big Black again? Nothing is certain in Mark Guillerman’s A Heart That’s True.

Mark Guillerman balances the storylines with steady pacing, infusing A Heart That’s True with biting suspense. The story moves from the quiet oppression at Carlisle to the persistent chase across the Montana plains. The descriptions are terrific, and the journey by wagon is vividly written and symbolic. The characters are well-drawn and relatable. Whether it is Joseph bonding with Mr. Parker or sharing a beef sandwich with Olympian Jim Thorpe on a bench, or White Cloud surviving an attack by ex-soldier Dex Talbot and hiding in a stable loft, the characters feel real. The prose is deceptively plain, but it mirrors the background of the characters. This is a story about survival and characters who refuse to be subjugated. It is a powerful protest statement against colonialism that delivers a message: “The human spirit will never die in a heart that’s true.”