yapha's review
4.0
I love the Baseball Card Adventure series, and this one is no exception. It wrestles with the racism that Jim Thorpe faced and the challenges he had to overcome as a Native American athlete in the early 1900s. Yet it says true to the baseball, and remains a fabulous sports story. Recommended for baseball lovers in grades 4-8.
jennybeastie's review
2.0
I think this book wants to return Jim Thorpe to a place of mainstream knowledge, and to be inclusive about the many great players of baseball. Unfortunately, there are a lot of things that detract from that goal -- from the grandkid being a jerk (so there are no positive depictions of Native Americans as characters), to the stereotype-reinforcing Native American alcoholism and historical references to Thorpe as a savage, to the great athlete but not a great baseball player phenomenon -- unintentionally this book portrays an extraordinary athlete as a sad and lost figure -- a tragic portrayal, rather than a celebratory one, and I found it more than a little depressing. Realistic? Probably, but what is the goal of the book? If the desire is to restore Thorpe as an icon, I give it a swing and a miss.
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