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sandraagee 's review for:
Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team
by Steve Sheinkin
3.5 Stars.
The Good: Author Steve Sheinkin is a master when it comes to writing narrative nonfiction. He presents historical figures and incidents from many different angles and crafts his stories in a way that makes them exciting and engaging. In this respect, this book is masterful.
The Bad: It's hard to tell exactly what the subject matter of this book is. Is it Jim Thorpe? Is it the Carlisle School's football program? Thorpe's relationship with Pop Warner? The book tackles it's subject matter from so many angles and provides so much backstory that it really does have trouble defining exactly what it's purpose is.
That said, the extensive backstory is characteristic of Sheinkin and is part of what makes his books so dynamic. This story is clearly complex and there's a lot to it. Unfortunately, because the book tries to cover so much it just looses focus. Not badly enough to deter most readers, but enough for me to not love it for our Mock Newbery picks.
Even with that, it's a heck of a ride. Fascinating stuff.
The Good: Author Steve Sheinkin is a master when it comes to writing narrative nonfiction. He presents historical figures and incidents from many different angles and crafts his stories in a way that makes them exciting and engaging. In this respect, this book is masterful.
The Bad: It's hard to tell exactly what the subject matter of this book is. Is it Jim Thorpe? Is it the Carlisle School's football program? Thorpe's relationship with Pop Warner? The book tackles it's subject matter from so many angles and provides so much backstory that it really does have trouble defining exactly what it's purpose is.
That said, the extensive backstory is characteristic of Sheinkin and is part of what makes his books so dynamic. This story is clearly complex and there's a lot to it. Unfortunately, because the book tries to cover so much it just looses focus. Not badly enough to deter most readers, but enough for me to not love it for our Mock Newbery picks.
Even with that, it's a heck of a ride. Fascinating stuff.