Customer Reviews

Twelve Mighty Orphans: The Inspiring True Story of the Mighty Mites Who Ruled Texas Football

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm a native Texan and an avid football fan who played football in the southern panhandle area between Odessa and Lubbock and I had never heard this story. I'm thankful that Jim Dent wrote this book and you will be, too.

This is a story of struggle and perseverance during terrible times. The facts are how a rag-tag football team from an orphans home in the 1930's competed and won against the "big dogs" of Texas high school football. The heart of the story, though, is how this orphans home, Masonic Home, it's coach, Rusty Russell, and the players, usually only 12 on the team during any season, overcame harsh times and even harsher lives.

That these boys, who found themselves in this home after the deaths of one or both parents and who sometimes witnessed these deaths first-hand, played football at all is nothing short of fantastic. That they grew as young men under the mentorship of a caring coach is a testament to perseverance in the face of enormous odds...in other words, almost miraculous.

Throughout the book, the author sprinkles stories away from the football field to bring life at the Masonic Home into focus. The oil boom, depression, poverty, Texas football politics, Jack Dempsey, and even Seabiscuit all come together to relate the life and times of this school and football team.

If you're a native Texan, love football, or cheer for the underdog, you will thoroughly enjoy this book.

In my opinion Twelve Mighty Orphans is absolutely the best sports nonfiction book to come along since Seabiscuit, An American Legend. And they both have a similar theme throughout - that of America's love for the underdog. You don't have to be a football expert to be rooting for the boys at the Home. The editorial review from Publisher's Weekly on this page that said "Dent's strength is his play-by-play accounts of key games, but descriptions of personal interactions are often forced and lifeless" is completely off the mark. The play-by-play is great, of course, and exciting. However, it's the back story of the underdogs that grew up at the Masonic Home and scrapped their way to winning while being transported to games on the bed of a wheezing old truck that brings it all together and makes the reader care passionately for the Mighty Mites. Without stories of what shaped the orphans before and after their coming to the Home it could very well have been like reading descriptions of games that were straight off the sports pages of a newspaper. My congrats to Jim Dent for making this story a feel-good winner.

I purchased this book for my father for Christmas--he's a huge football fan, played high school ball in Texas years after the depression. He'd never heard of the Mighty Mites, and, were it not for a review I heard on the radio, we may never have. Turns out, he has a lot of ties to the people in the book.

The book itself is well-written, easy to read historical and personal account of the coach, the home and the boys who lived there. We get background on some families, a real history of the coach and the real-life look at the way life was in the home. IT was not pretty, it was hard indeed, but these boys were given a chance to do something beyond the school's fence. Their coach taught them how to play football, but more importantly, how to be a team and how to be men. His love for the game and the boys jumps off the page and you can feel it in every move he makes, every sacrifice he makes for the school. It follows several years of the "Mighty Mites" team, from their inception to their ultimate conclusion.

This is a wonderful story of the human condition, of overcoming odds and expectations, and how one person can make a huge difference in the lives of others when he is truly committed. Football fan or not, this is a wonderful telling of the lives of some special kids and the man who led them.

I grew up in Ft. Worth in the late 40's & 50's and heard plenty about them from my father & his friends. This is one of the best sports books I've read & am surprised there never has been anything ever written about them before..

My Father, Leon Pickett, was the oldest living member of he Mighty Mites until April 2, 2008. I cherish this book, I cherish the wonderful memories.
Sarah (Pickett) McGarrahan

Better than what my title suggests - it is just a great book aboout people overcoming through grit, determination and basic values. As usual, Dent offers a superb story about the boys at the Home, a Texas orphanage during the Great Depression. Working with no equipment, being vastly undersized, dealing with tremendous emotional traumas and initially knowing very little about the game of football, these boys mature through the guidance of Rusty Russell who could have coached elsewhere for greater glory and money. Instead, he took the boys under his wing and they collectively rode to well deserved glory. Fabulous book!

Great motivational book and the author did a great job writing the book! it starts off kind of slow but works into the meat of the story rather nicely I definatly recomend this book to anybody that liks sports and good motivation!

I'm a high school English teacher and my kids love this book. We have a hard time keeping it in our library.

This is an entertaining and inspiring true story about a football team composed of orphans from the Masonic Home during the 30's. Though scrawny and poorly equipped, they were able to defeat many of the top high school teams in Texas due to a brilliant coach who was totally devoted to his boys. This underdog team inspired great enthusiasm around the US during the bleak Depression.

This was a great story. I actually knew one of the characters in the book who just recently passed away. I guess that is one reason I will always treasure this book and recommend to everyone. It is not only about football but about life during the hard years.