Jim Thorpe, Original All-American

July 24, 2006
Drawing on meticulous research, Bruchac (Wabi
) presents Jim Thorpe's (1887–1953) complex story, focusing on his years at Haskell and Carlisle Indian Schools, as a kind of imagined autobiography. Thorpe excelled at football, baseball and track, winning two gold medals in the 1912 Olympics for the latter. An error-ridden press story stated that he had played summer Class D baseball in North Carolina in 1909 and 1910, earning nominal pay; the piece unleashed a chain of events that culminated in Thorpe signing a proffered "confession" and being stripped of his Olympic honors. By adopting an equanimous, measured voice to serve as Thorpe's first-person narrative, Bruchac shines new light on facets of the Sac and Fox Indian's amateur career, from highlights of Carlisle's wins against college football's greats, to the mishandling of funds endemic at both the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian schools. Bruchac illuminates Thorpe's complicated relationship with his Carlisle football coach, Glenn "Pop" Warner, whose own flaws emerge. (Warner led his winning teams while controlling proceeds from ticket sales and, arguably, Thorpe's amateur status.) In a cogent author's note, Bruchac explains that his research revealed many errors in previous books about Thorpe; and although he calls this a "novelized" account, he quickly points out that "this is not a work of fiction" and "much of the dialogue is taken from research." A selected bibliography and a peppering of period photographs round out an impressive work of scholarship. Ages 10-up.

May 1, 2008
Gr 6-9-Jim Thorpe's remarkable story is documented from his childhood on a reservation in Oklahoma to his time at Carlisle (PA) Industrial Indian School where he began his athletic career to the Olympic scandal (Thorpe lost his Gold medals for having played two semi-professional seasons of baseball on a minor league baseball team) that ended his amateur career. Joseph Bruchac's first-person fictionalized biography (Dial, 2006) makes Thorpe come to life. Bruchac, a Native American, says in the author's note on the last CD that writing this biography was a labor of love. There is enough play-by-play of Thorpe's athletic exploits, mainly on the football field, to pique the interest of sports fans, but not too much to make the book of little interest to those with little interest in sports. The main characters, Thorpe and legendary football coach Pop Warner, are realistically portrayed, while the overriding theme is the Native Americans' poor treatment by the U.S. government. Readers can make their own judgments on why Warner lied and pressured Thorpe to lie as well once news of the scandal broke, which eventually cost Thorpe his Olympic medals. While the passage of time may have dimmed the luster of Thorpe's remarkable achievementsnot only was he an Olympic track and field star, but he also was a professional football star and played major league baseballthis book will leave listeners wanting to learn more about Thorpe.David Bilmes, Schaghticoke Middle School, New Milford, CT

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