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Outcasts United

The Story of a Refugee Soccer Team That Changed a Town

ebook
3 of 4 copies available
3 of 4 copies available

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

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  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      December 22, 2008
      St. John (Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer
      ) builds on his 2007 New York Times
      article about the Fugees, a soccer program for boys from families of refugees from war-torn nations who have been resettled in the town of Clarkston, Ga., 13 miles east of Atlanta. Led by the founder and coach Luma Mufleh, a strong-willed, Jordanian woman who turned her back on a privileged past to stay in America after attending Smith College, the three youth teams are a conglomeration of players from Africa, the Balkans and the Middle East. The challenges they face are many, including an ongoing fight against city hall for a field on which to play, and getting by with subpar equipment. Their biggest challenge, however, is the difficulty immigrants face in learning the ways of a strange land and living with the memories of tragedy (some players had lost a parent to violence or imprisonment). In spite of it all, the Fugees compete admirably with mostly white, better-funded suburban teams. St. John begins with an inspiring description of a beautifully played game and then delves into the team's formation, but his storytelling takes on the methodical approach of a long series of newspaper articles that lack narrative flair and progression.

    • Kirkus

      August 1, 2012
      An inspiring account of a young Jordanian immigrant who created Fugees, a soccer program for refugees from war-torn nations. Adapted from an adult book of the same title, St. John tells the story of how Luma Mufleh formed a soccer team composed of young refugees from all over the world, rescued by the U.N. High Commission for Refugees and living together in a crime-ridden settlement in suburban Atlanta. After seeing refugee children playing soccer in vacant lots around town, Mufleh persuaded the local YMCA to fund a free soccer program and signed on as its unpaid coach. The children she recruited came from such war-ravaged countries as Liberia, Sudan, Zaire, Kosovo and Afghanistan. The team offered youngsters traumatized by civil war and genocide the chance to enjoy a familiar recreation and an alternative to gangs. In addition to coaching, Mufleh often acted as counselor and surrogate parent to children whose own parents worked long hours. Though insightful about immigration and the challenges of assimilation, the fast-paced account lacks sufficient detail about the experiences that forced the players to leave their home countries. An uplifting underdog story that will appeal to readers interested in the immigrant experience and the surprising role sports can play in people's lives. (Nonfiction. 12-16)

      COPYRIGHT(2012) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • School Library Journal

      Starred review from September 1, 2012

      Gr 7 Up-In this young adult adaptation of Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference (Spiegel & Grau, 2009), St. John presents the remarkable, inspiring story of a persevering female coach, a soccer team of refugee boys, and the Georgia town that is their home. With conviction and skill, Jordanian Luma Mufleh established and coached three soccer teams known as the Fugees. Her players were haunted by memories of war-torn homelands and personal tragedies and were struggling to adjust to life in the United States. However, her high expectations and willingness to help families impacted her young players. 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 even their competitors. Featuring pivotal soccer games and anecdotes about interactions between a coach and her players, tension among the boys, family responsibilities, and a town wrestling with its changing identity, St. John delivers a vivid, cohesive story about hope and determination. Profiles are enriched with background information on the conflicts that drove the players from their homes in Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. Respecting cultural differences, building a global community, and the importance of getting involved are powerful, motivating messages that will resonate with teen readers, not just soccer fans.-Gerry Larson, formerly at Durham School of the Arts, NC

      Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Booklist

      September 1, 2012
      Grades 6-10 Exciting youth soccer action blends with politics in this story of refugee kids from across the world, including Kosovo, Mozambique, Liberia, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, and Sudan, who find home in the small town of Clarkston, Georgia. There, a tough volunteer coach, Luma Mufleh from Jordan, organizes three youth soccer teams that take on other local players and sometimes win. Adapted for young people from New York Times journalist St. John's 2009 adult book with the same title, the account is filled with fast kicks, scrimmages, dribbles, crosses, corners, shots, and misses on the field that will grab kids, as will the harrowing stories of what the families fled from and their continuing struggle. Unlike the home teams, with their benches of supporters, the refugee teams have parents who are too busy holding multiple jobs to attend games. Fierce Mufleh is part of the drama as she takes on the local politicians who try to kick the refugees off their practice park, and she is just as fierce with players who do not follow the rules.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)

    • The Horn Book

      January 1, 2013
      In small-town Clarkson, Georgia, half of whose population is made up of refugees from war-torn nations such as Somalia and Sudan, a young woman organizes a free soccer program for young immigrants and determines to coach her teams to success. Alternating between detailing the on-pitch and off-pitch challenges, this absorbing book is as much about the American melting pot as it is about soccer.

      (Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • ATOS Level:6.7
  • Lexile® Measure:980
  • Interest Level:6-12(MG+)
  • Text Difficulty:5-7

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