Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team - Steve Sheinkin

You don’t have to be a football fan to thoroughly enjoy Steve Sheinkin’s latest deep dive into history, Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team (Roaring Brook, $19.99). The award-winning author addresses three diverse, yet uniquely related, topics: the engrossing biography of Olympian Jim Thorpe; the implementation of the forward pass, which added finesse and strategy to American football; and, most importantly, the dehumanizing assimilation program that was forced upon Native American children by a government determined to wipe out their cultural heritage. Social activists, armchair athletes, and history buffs alike will not want to miss this gold medal of a book. Ages 11-14.