Award-winning author Steve Sheinkin has
written a number of remarkable accounts of remarkable people in U.S. history,
meticulously researched and richly narrated. Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the
Carlisle Indian School Football Team is one of them. Named Wathohuck
by his mother (translated from the Potawatomi as “Bright Path”), Jim spent much
of his childhood outdoors on Oklahoma land granted to Indians amidst the rush
of eastern settlers. At sixteen, Thorpe entered the Carlisle Indian School in
Pennsylvania, one of the schools established around the turn of the twentieth
century to immerse native children in white culture. Such schools were an often
harsh and unforgiving setting where students were forbidden to speak their own
languages. Sheinkin’s story includes “Pop” Warner, Thorpe’s legendary football
coach at Carlisle and a true believer in his skill, smarts and drive as an
athlete. Readers also learn about early football and about the bigotry that
athletes faced on and off the field. At the heart of the book is the riveting
story of the Carlisle Indian School Football Team, its unflinching use of
strategy in the game, and its determination to win, defeating Harvard and Army
in edge-of-the-seat encounters. Ages 12 to adult.
Related activities and interviews may be found at: TeachingBooks.net
Related activities and interviews may be found at: TeachingBooks.net
