Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team

Product Description A great American sport and Native American history come together in this true story for middle grade readers about how Jim Thorpe and Pop Warner created the legendary Carlisle Indians football team, from New York Times bestselling author and Newbery Award recipient Steve Sheinkin.“Sheinkin has made a career of finding extraordinary stories in American history.” ―The New York Times Book ReviewA Boston Globe-Horn Book Nonfiction Honor BookA New York Times Notable Children's Book A Washington Post Best BookUndefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team is an astonishing underdog sports story―and more. It’s an unflinching look at the U.S. government’s violent persecution of Native Americans and the school that was designed to erase Indian cultures. Expertly told by three-time National Book Award finalist Steve Sheinkin, it’s the story of a group of young men who came together at that school, the overwhelming obstacles they faced both on and off the field, and their absolute refusal to accept defeat.Jim Thorpe: Super athlete, Olympic gold medalist, Native AmericanPop Warner: Indomitable coach, football mastermind, Ivy League gradBefore these men became legends, they met in 1907 at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, where they forged one of the winningest teams in American football history. Called "the team that invented football," they took on the best opponents of their day, defeating much more privileged schools such as Harvard and the Army in a series of breathtakingly close calls, genius plays, and bone-crushing hard work.This thoroughly-researched and documented book can be worked into multiple aspects of the common core curriculum.“Along with Thorpe's fascinating personal story, Sheinkin offers a thought-provoking narrative about the evolution of football and the development of boarding schools such as the Carlisle Indian School.” ―The Washington PostAlso by Steve Sheinkin: Bomb: The Race to Build―and Steal―the World's Most Dangerous WeaponThe Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism & TreacheryMost Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam WarThe Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil RightsWhich Way to the Wild West?: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About Westward ExpansionKing George: What Was His Problem?: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About the American RevolutionTwo Miserable Presidents: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About the Civil WarBorn to Fly: The First Women's Air Race Across America From School Library Journal Gr 6 Up—Proclaimed "the greatest all-around athlete in the world" by legendary football coach Glenn "Pop" Warner, Jim Thorpe dominated sports in the early 1900s. His natural athleticism, in tandem with Warner's innovative coaching style, helped establish the Carlisle Indian Industrial School's football program as one of the nation's best, eclipsing perennial gridiron powerhouses Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. Despite the fame and attention Carlisle received because of its winning team, a stark reality existed: the cultures of these same young men were being systematically eradicated by the school (e.g., prohibiting students from speaking Native languages, forcing them to cut their hair). Operating under the premise that the "Indian problem" could be solved by stripping students of their cultural identities, Carlisle founder and superintendent Richard Henry Pratt, a U.S. Army captain, vowed to "Kill the Indian; Save the Man" through any means necessary. Sheinkin has created a rich, complex narrative that balances the institutionalized bigotry and racism of the times with the human-interest stories that are often overshadowed by or lost to history. Within this framework, he brings to life the complicated, sometimes contentious relationship between a coach and a star athlete, their rise to glory, and the legacies they left behind. VERDICT A th