Outcasts United: A Refugee Team, an American Town
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Book Overview
A moving account of how a soccer team made up of diverse refugees inspired an entire community here in the United States.
Based on the adult bestseller, Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference, this young people's edition is a complex and inspirational story about the Fugees, a youth soccer team made up of diverse refugees from around the world, and their formidable female coach, Luma Mufleh. Luma Mufleh, a young Jordanian woman educated in the United States and working as a coach for private youth soccer teams in Atlanta, was out for a drive one day and ended up in Clarkston, Georgia, where she was amazed and delighted to see young boys, black and brown and white, some barefoot, playing soccer on every flat surface they could find. Luma decided to quit her job, move to Clarkston, and start a soccer team that would soon defy the odds. Despite challenges to locate a practice field, minimal funding for uniforms and equipment, and zero fans on the sidelines, the Fugees practiced hard and demonstrated a team spirit that drew admiration from referees and competitors alike. Outcasts United explores how the community changed with the influx of refugees and how the dedication of Lumah Mufleh and the entire Fugees soccer team inspired an entire community. Praise for Outcasts United "An uplifting underdog story."--Kirkus Reviews"Motivating messages that will resonate with teen readers."--School Library Journal, Starred Review
Praise for Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference "Wonderful, poignant book is highly recommended..."-Library Journal, Starred Review "Engagingly written."--School Library Journal
"Richly detailed, uplifting ... educational and enriching."--Kirkus Reviews "Dee"Inspiring...richly detailed...Deeply satisfying...a bighearted book."--Shelf Awareness
Customer Reviews
Rated 5 starsScoring a Goal for the Heart, Mind, and Soul
Outcasts United is no grab-and-go literary fix for the sports thriller enthusiast. This complex and engaging tale of young African refugees from multiple different nations, and widely varying cultures, being welded into functioning soccer teams (the Fugees) by a Jordanian immigrant woman, is about far more than striving for victory on a field of grass. Junkies of David vs. Goliath sports thrillers are hereby given fair...
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Rated 5 starsLost Boys find game
If you like first rate journalism, the kind where reporting integrity, style and skill are more important to you than is the topic, this book is for you. If you already like football, so much the better. Mr. St. John is a trained and experienced reporter by way of Columbia and the New York Times. What is more, he is a beautiful stylist. He writes like a cloudy day (not a rainy one) where the complete lack of harsh glare...
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Rated 5 starsA well-deserved Valentine to a fantastic and inspiring coach
How does a soccer coach find a practice field for her team? Google Earth. But why, in a town that's not short of parks, is she looking for a field on Google Earth? Because the mayor keeps issuing what seem like illegal orders to deny her team access to any of the lush local fields. And why would he do that? Because this is Clarkston, Georgia, a town of 7,200 a dozen miles from Atlanta. And the members of the soccer team...
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Rated 5 starsSometimes inspiring, sometimes sad
As someone who once worked for a company where I had colleagues who were refugees of war-torn countries, this book was personally relevant. Just as in the book, I was told the most astounding and frightening tales of what people did to survive on a day-to-day basis and how they were ultimately forced to flee their homes for fear of their own lives and those of their families. It really made me think of how lucky I have always...
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Rated 5 starsOutcasts United - a brilliant focus on how a team of outcasts became a family
Warren St. John tells the incredible stories of an entire program of immigrant soccer players in Clarkston, GA. The incredible part is how these players ("The Fugees") arrived in this Southern town. The players are all refugees from various countries. Each player's family has an amazing survival story from war-torn and politically oppressed areas of the planet. That the team consists of Liberians, Somalis, Sudanese, Kosovars,...
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