School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-5-In 1912, the Carlisle Indian School football team defeated Army, the U.S. Military Academy team at West Point. It was an exciting game, which pitted the quick, nimble players from Carlisle against the strong defense of the West Point Cadets. Detailed pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations reveal the excitement of the Carlisle win and Jim Thorpe's athletic prowess, but also show the pain that Native children suffered when they were forced to attend boarding schools where the goal was to strip them of their culture-to change their dress and forbid them to speak their languages or practice their religion. The back matter reveals the more disturbing aspects of this true story-that many children died at the residential schools; that Thorpe had to give up the Olympic medals he won when officials learned that he had played professional baseball; and that Carlisle's famous coach, "Pop" Warner, was fired from Carlisle because of abusive behavior. This book shows that there is much to admire about Jim Thorpe and his career, without whitewashing history. -VERDICT A first choice for nonfiction picture book biography collections.-Myra -Zarnowski, City University of New York © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
At age sixteen, American Indian Jim Thorpe was sent to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania. In spite of adversity, he thrived there as a multi-sport athlete, particularly as the 1912 football team's linchpin in beating--against all odds--West Point's Army team. Straightforward, conversational text and meticulous ink and watercolor art reveal the prowess and importance of this extraordinary athlete. Reading list. Bib., glos. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
The story of a wounded child who found refuge in sports.As a child growing up in Indian Territory, Jim Thorpe (Sac and Fox) was taken from his family to Haskell Institute, a boarding school where Native children were forced into a white assimilation education system. After running away from Haskell several times, Jim was sent at 16 to the Carlisle Industrial School, where his father hoped he would learn a trade. Coulson's straightforward account informs readers that it was at Carlisle where Jim turned his talent for running to track, encouraged by coach Glenn "Pop" Warner. Though Jim was small for his age, he excelled in baseball, lacrosse, and hockeyand his ability to dodge bigger players landed him on Carlisle's varsity football team. The twin highlights of his career were making it to the 1912 Olympics, where he won several gold medals, and leading Carlisle to defeat the champion Army team. Hardcastle's fine-lined ink-and-watercolor illustrations project an appropriately bygone air, depicting Thorpe in motion more often than not. Though the book is a welcome celebration of this Native American sports hero, the text skates over the impacts of forced cultural assimilation and separation from his family on Jim. Coulson (Cherokee) does mention a more personal family history in the backmatter, as well as the stripping of Thorpe's Olympic medals (and their posthumous restoration), but his failure to integrate it into the story keeps readers from appreciating Jim's victories in their full scope.Solid if incomplete. (glossary, further reading, notes) (Informational picture book. 6-10) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Jim Thorpe, one of the greatest athletes in American history, is introduced to young readers in this picture-book biography. Native American Thorpe had a troubled childhood in Indian Territory in what is now Oklahoma. His father, hoping the 16-year-old would settle down, sent him to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania to learn a trade. The author, also Native American, provides a brief history of how schools like these stripped students of their culture. The bulk of the narrative, accompanied by action-packed illustrations, focuses on Thorpe's athletics at Carlisle, where he excelled in many sports. After success at the 1912 Summer Olympics, where he competed in the pentathlon and decathlon in mismatched shoes he found in a trash can and won the first gold medals by an American Indian, he returned to Carlisle for the match of his life. Coulson describes the historic and symbolic significance of the football game between Army and the Carlisle Indians, and Thorpe's role in Carlisle's win. More information on Thorpe, his team, his coach, and Carlisle conclude the insightful biography.--Leeper, Angela Copyright 2010 Booklist
