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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
informative
medium-paced
I really enjoyed this. I love Sheinkin's writing in general, but Jim Thorpe's story is fascinating. Whether or not you're a football fan, this book does a wonderful job blending a biography of Thorpe, a history of the game, and the story of the United States' forced attempts to "assimilate" Native American youth. It's a compelling read with great photos and memorable people. That said, I have a couple issues with the book.
First, while the issue of naming a sports team after a group of people is touched on, I was hoping for a stronger stance about how harmful and inappropriate some current sports team names are. While Sheinkin makes the point that the Carlisle Indians were a team made up of Native American players, unlike today's teams with racist mascots, I felt like that wasn't really good enough. I wanted a more definitive stance about why current team names are problematic, and perhaps some allusion to movements to have these names changed like #Change the Mascot. Since the book is so heavily about sports and a Native American team, I think this isn't a small detail. It should have gotten more attention in the text.
My other reservation is more wobbly. This great piece by Cynthia Leitich Smith is something I return to over and over when I read books by white authors about underrepresented groups. I think Sheinkin is an amazing writer. I found this book gripping and informative, and there's no question that he did a wonderful job. But I just found out that another author I really like, Joseph Bruchac, wrote a book about Thorpe in 2006: Jim Thorpe: Original All American. And that doesn't make Sheinkin's book any less great, but I didn't know about Bruchac's book until I went looking. Sheinkin's made it on my to read list before it was out. Obviously, this is an area where I need to do better as a reader: looking for #ownvoices books when I read books by white authors. This is just something that I think about a lot, and this book in particular gave me the chance to try to articulate everything I've been mulling. I've also been unable to track down a review of this title by a Native or Indigenous reviewer, though that might be because it's relatively new or because I just don't know where to search for said review. (My regular kid-lit go to, Debbie Reese, doesn't have one up yet and my Googling didn't find me anything relevant.) ANYWAY. Those are my thoughts. YOU'RE WELCOME.
First, while the issue of naming a sports team after a group of people is touched on, I was hoping for a stronger stance about how harmful and inappropriate some current sports team names are. While Sheinkin makes the point that the Carlisle Indians were a team made up of Native American players, unlike today's teams with racist mascots, I felt like that wasn't really good enough. I wanted a more definitive stance about why current team names are problematic, and perhaps some allusion to movements to have these names changed like #Change the Mascot. Since the book is so heavily about sports and a Native American team, I think this isn't a small detail. It should have gotten more attention in the text.
My other reservation is more wobbly. This great piece by Cynthia Leitich Smith is something I return to over and over when I read books by white authors about underrepresented groups. I think Sheinkin is an amazing writer. I found this book gripping and informative, and there's no question that he did a wonderful job. But I just found out that another author I really like, Joseph Bruchac, wrote a book about Thorpe in 2006: Jim Thorpe: Original All American. And that doesn't make Sheinkin's book any less great, but I didn't know about Bruchac's book until I went looking. Sheinkin's made it on my to read list before it was out. Obviously, this is an area where I need to do better as a reader: looking for #ownvoices books when I read books by white authors. This is just something that I think about a lot, and this book in particular gave me the chance to try to articulate everything I've been mulling. I've also been unable to track down a review of this title by a Native or Indigenous reviewer, though that might be because it's relatively new or because I just don't know where to search for said review. (My regular kid-lit go to, Debbie Reese, doesn't have one up yet and my Googling didn't find me anything relevant.) ANYWAY. Those are my thoughts. YOU'RE WELCOME.
adventurous
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
I read the book aloud to my 4th grade student who loves football and narrative non-fiction. We enjoyed learning about the history of football and how innovative and formative the Carlisle Indian School under Pop Warner was to the development of the game. This book is centered on Thorpe's experience as an athlete (both football and track& field) but does touch upon broader US policies to assimilate Indians into white culture through boarding schools and the plan to "kill the Indian and save the man"....
I first learned about Jim Thorpe when I read [a:Joseph Bruchac|15337|Joseph Bruchac|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1261104499p2/15337.jpg]'s [b:Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two|175395|Code Talker A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two|Joseph Bruchac|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1309198585s/175395.jpg|1973199]. It always saddens me when heroes are forgotten by most people. Thorpe's life was not easy, but his legacy deserves to live on.
In this book I learned about the early history of American football (before the NFL) and the role Native Americans played. It goes into detail about the obstacles Native Americans faced in the early 1900s and the mindset of white Americans. It chronicles the history of Jim Thorpe as he experienced the difficulties of that era and how he found success. I found this a very interesting read.
I read this aloud with my 14 year old son. There is so much history in this - not only football history, but also the history of the cruel treatment of American Indians during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Steve Sheinkin has a wonderful way of making the story engaging and informative. I am looking forward to reading his other books as part of our homeschool studies!
Steve Sheinkin has a wonderful way of making the story engaging and informative. I am looking forward to reading his other books as part of our homeschool studies!
I don't like football, but this book was great! I had no idea about any of this.
I can’t wait to recommend this book to all my football players next year!
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
After entering what seemed like a goodreads giveway a day, I finally got one! This was my first encoubnter with Steve Sheinkin's work, another first I thoroughly enjoyed. Even though Undefeated was written for a younger audiene, I was fully engaged through the entire book. The general information presented motivated me to do more in depth research of Jim Thorpe, Pop Warner, and the Carlisle school. The story of Jim Thorpe is tragic, as is the stories of countless other Native Americans in our country's history. I was aware of the existence of Indian schools and the hardships they imposed on their students. What was surprising to me was the tremendous influence one such school had on the sport of football. There are millions of football fan in the U.S. but I doubt very many know the history of the sport and the impact a group of Native American students had on the sport. Pop Warner may have been the mastermind of many of Carlisle's contributions to the sport but without the willingness of the students, it would not have been possible. Pop Warner is an intriguing character. How did he view his relationship with his students? Did he care and respect them as individuals or view their athletic performance as his ticket to fame and success? As with most things, I imagine it was a mixture of both. I see Pop Warner as a very conflicted person.
Jim Thorpe was one of the greatest athletes of all time, and Steve Sheinkin has done a tremendous job making sure more people know it.
Jim Thorpe was one of the greatest athletes of all time, and Steve Sheinkin has done a tremendous job making sure more people know it.
informative
inspiring
medium-paced