Jim Thorpe played professional football, major league baseball and won Olympic gold medals in track and field. Born on the Sac and Fox Reservation in 1887, Jim was sent as a young boy to various Indian boarding schools – strict cold places that didn’t allow their students to hold on to their Native American traditions.
Jim ran away from school many times, until he found his calling at Pennsylvania’s Carlisle Schol. There, coach Pop Warner recognized Jim’s athletic excellence and welcomed him onto the football and track teams. Glory followed, as did a surprising disgrace.
But through everything Jim was a person to admire – an engaging, spirited and impressive young man. Told in Jim’s voice, this fictional biography is a rousing, fascinating read about a truly great American.
Published: 10/2/2008 (Walden Media/Dial Books for Young Readers)