This narrative nonfiction story highlights the history of football and of the United States’ direct involvement in the mistreatment of Native Americans. Lead by Ivy League graduate Pop Warner and star player Jim Thorpe, this team would go on to challenge the most prominent football teams of the day, including Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, and Yale. “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.In 1907, the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania became one of the most innovative football teams in the United States. This thoroughly-researched and documented book can be worked into multiple aspects of the common core curriculum.

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. Pop Warner: Indomitable coach, football mastermind, Ivy League gradīefore 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. Jim Thorpe: Super athlete, Olympic gold medalist, Native American 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.

government’s violent persecution of Native Americans and the school that was designed to erase Indian cultures. Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team is an astonishing underdog sports story-and more. “Sheinkin has made a career of finding extraordinary stories in American history.” - The New York Times Book ReviewĪ Boston Globe-Horn Book Nonfiction Honor Book 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.

Undefeated by steve sheinkin summary