Indigo's Bookshelf: Voices of Native Youth

Usually, when a teacher or librarian knows you like sports and they are trying to encourage you to read, they'll suggest books by Matt Christopher. Not until I looked him up did I realize the man had been dead for years and "the family continues to oversee productions of books by Matt Christopher created by various writers and illustrators, treating the name as a trademark." To be honest (no shade) that's how the books read. That's why it was amazing when I came across Art Coulson's (Cherokee) great book, THE CREATOR'S GAME: A STORY OF BAAGA'ADOWE/LACROSSE! Another subject I like to read is relationships between generations of Indigenous men. There aren't too many books like that. (I picked a very different one, HIDDEN ROOTS , by Joseph Bruchac for the HALL OF FAME before.) Of course, I'm glad to see a mom and grandma in this story too. Sixth grader Travis plays lacrosse, but he's not very good at it and he hates to practice and loo...

Are you ready for some football? I was assigned to write a review of UNSTOPPABLE: How Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team Defeated Army. The book is written by Art Coulson and illustrated by Nick Hardcastle. Even though the cover looked cool and the book isn't too long, I was still intimidated to do it, because I'm dyslexic. But it turned out to be a great read that didn't frustrate me at all. As a matter of fact, it's one of my new favorite books. Let me explain why. I have CP, that's cerebral palsy. I get around in a chair. And I play some sports. But I really like watching games and listening to them being called. Coulson did an excellent job of making me feel like I was at the Carlisle-Army Game. He is obviously also a sports fan, and can keep up the tension and excitement of the game. I think he did an amazing job of getting young readers to know Jim Thorpe. He doesn't just seem like a legend (Olympian gold medalist and footb...