Outcasts United: A Refugee Team, an American Town

by Warren St. John

The extraordinary story of a refugee football team and the transformation of a small American town.

Clarkston, Georgia, was a typical Southern town until it was designated a refugee settlement centre in the 1990s, becoming home to scores of families in flight from the world's war zones—from Liberia and Sudan to Iraq and Afghanistan. Suddenly Clarkston's streets were filled with women wearing the hijab, the smells of cumin and curry, and kids of all colours playing football in any open space they could find. Among them was Luma Mufleh, a Jordanian woman who founded a youth football team to unify Clarkston's refugee children and keep them off the streets. These kids named themselves the Fugees.

Outcasts United follows a pivotal season in the life of the Fugees and their charismatic coach. Warren St. John documents the lives of a diverse group of young people as they miraculously coalesce into a band of brothers, while also drawing a fascinating portrait of a fading American town struggling to accommodate its new arrivals. At the centre of the story is fiery Coach Luma, who relentlessly drives her players to success on the football field while holding together their lives—and the lives of their families—in the face of a series of daunting challenges.

This fast-paced chronicle of a single season is a complex and inspiring tale of a small town becoming a global community—and an account of the ingenious and complicated ways we create a home in a changing world.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sports, Book Club, Soccer, Biography, Sociology, School

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Warren St. John is a former reporter for the The New York Times. He also has written extensively for The New Yorker, the New York Observer, and "Wired." He attended Columbia University and now lives in New York City.

Reviews

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps I rate this book too low. It is a heartwarming sports story about a rag-tag group of misfits, facing extraordinary obstacles, who are molded by a stern but loving misfit coach into a disciplined and successful organization. Since my favorite forms of literature are Jacobean revenge plays, dark fantasy, and Edwardian ghost stories, this is not exactly the ideal book for me.

The high school where I work made me read it. The administration—along with the administrations of over 40 colleges and universities—chose it for our summer reading book. Left to my own devices, I would have probably read Mervyn Peak's “Titus Alone” instead.

Still, it kept my interest. The transformation of the sleepy little town of Clarkston, Georgia--first swallowed by Atlanta's urban sprawl, then filled with large numbers of immigrants from disparate refugee communities—is fascinating in itself. Furthermore, the stories of the various families of refugees—most from war-torn Muslim countries—are both moving and historically informative. Finally, the account of the soccer coach Luma Mufleh—a young woman disowned by her wealthly Jordanian family because of her decision to remain in the United States—and how she transforms these uprooted, traumatized boys into disciplined members of unified soccer teams is not only interesting, but also an object lesson in leadership.

Author Warren St. John deserves a great deal of credit, for he refuses to do what many journalist would do in such a place: make this story more inspiring and “cinematic” than the facts themselves actually warrant. Instead, he describes the team and its struggles straightforwardly, and declines to sensationalize his material.

My major problem with the book perhaps arises from Mr. St.John's admirable restraint. Ms. Mufleh is a very private person, and I suspect not a particularly reflective one. Consequently, this account of her great achievement is something always viewed from the outside, something that remains public, artistically incomplete.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Disney got its hands on this would, the script would look a lot like a true-story Bad News Bears or Mighty Ducks or Major League. Rag-tag Bunch of Misfit Kids Ruffle the Establishment and Win the Championship. Fortunately, that's not actually what this book is about. And fortunately (as far as I know) Disney doesn't yet have its hands on this one.

What makes the book engaging is that it presents several good narratives. The author is at his best in presenting the social turmoil brought about in the small Atlanta suburb, where the good-natured but xenophobic mayor and the ideologue police chief are cartoonishly unprepared for the new settlers. Some people and institutions in Clarkston embrace change, while others retreat from the community or resist outright. But the transformation story of Clarkston, Georgia, resulting from the dramatic influx of resettled refugees from every imaginable contemporary conflict, is topic enough for a book. These stories are captured wonderfully.

The bigger challenge for the writer, a white American (and a grown man), is capturing the lives of the refugees themselves, and the kids in particular. This is still done as well as one might be able to hope. Many of these children find the soccer team to be critically important for them. They learn to take responsibility for their own actions and play together. But more importantly, the team and its unlikely coach give them structure and friendship, an outlet for youthful aggression, and a role model. The author particularly focuses on the growth of the under-13 soccer team, since those kids work together, grow, and best embody the hope and spirit of their coach.

But the most compelling storyline centers on the under-15 team. These kids endure chaos in the form of a perfect storm. Many are from single parent families whose head-of-household has to work long hours to keep the family afloat. Many arrived in the country at an age advanced enough to make the language and cultural transitions particularly difficult. And to top it off, they are at an age that proves to be awkward even for the most well-adjusted of our species. Some of the kids cope well, but many others do not. As a result, the team fares poorly.

Each year, San Diego's public library and public radio team up to choose a contemporary book to promote as the city's book for the year in a program called "One Book, One San Diego", and this is the chosen volume for 2010. (And this is why I read the book at all.)

Cynically, I was disappointed when I first saw their choice this year. For the fourth year in a row, it's nonfiction, and I was afraid I'd get too much of a dose of that feared Disney pic. But this book really was much more fun than I'd feared. And given that San Diego is every bit as common a destination for refugees as Atlanta, it's a very relevant choice.

[Eleanor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not a fan of soccer, but I picked this book up based solely on my fondness for Warren St. John (author of Rammer JammerYellow Hammer). This story of Luma Mufleh, a native of Jordan, and the Fugees, her soccer teams comprised of boys whose families fled to the United States from across the war-tattered globe, transcends any sport that might have served as the catalyst for their coming together.

Clarkston, Georgia is one of several US cities in which refugees are relocated, and Outcasts United is as much about the difficulties faced by these communities as they are forced into assimilation of disparate cultures as it is about the Fugees, but the heart and soul of the book lies in the transformation not only of the boys from vastly different places but of Luma Mufleh as well.

This is a big, complicated world, but in Clarkston, Georgia, Mufleh and her Fugees have found a way to build relationship between and around every possible cultural difference: politics, religion, and race. The answer is so simple: changes don't come through policies, they come through people working together, playing together.

Since this was an advance reading copy, a promised epilogue is not included, and I will be waiting anxiously for the completed book to come to market to have answers to the heartbreaking turn of events at the end.

I share with you this link to a youtube video about this remarkable woman, and her inspirational Fugees.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lslOsU...

[Jennifer Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

Though an extremely original idea for a book, St. John does only a mediocre job of capturing the lives, trials, and tribulations of a group of young immigrant boys living in Clarkston, Georgia. Living near Clarkston myself, perhaps my opinion is tainted by the grim realities of Clarkston. But, I felt the book could have been extraordinary with better writing and stronger character development. Outcasts United is the story of struggling immigrants escaping brutalities, war, and persecution in their native countries. Looking for a better life in America, your heart will go out to the youths of the Fugees soccer team and their unlikely coach, Luma, herself an immigrant. There are no heros in this story, standing in a blaze of glory; just everyday people trying to help each other, and a dedicated woman who gives her time and energy to a rogue group of young boys. The movie rights to this story have already been sold, and if written and directed well, it will surely make a heart-warming film.

[Hailey Hawkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this read. I thought it was a really powerful story of bravery and resilience and provided a lot of insight into the harsh realities and unique experiences that so many refugee families face in the process of resettlement. It displayed a beautiful story of adolescents from all around the world learning to combat division and isolation through the power of connection and friendship. I just loved it!!

This was a reading recommendation for my family policy class last semester, and I got to base my entire learning experience in that class around the topic of resettlement. Wrote a research paper on the mental health needs of refugee families in the process of resettlement, and this book helped me have a more holistic understanding of the vulnerable experiences of these individuals that could lead to mental health struggles - specifically for adolescents.

I just think this is such an important topic and I’m glad I got to read this book. A pretty quick read (if you don’t read it over the course of a hectic semester like I did lol). Highly recommend!!

[Alena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I truly only chose this because it was one of the summer reading options for our high school and this is what my sons both chose. The theme for this year is the immigrant experience, a topic about which I’ve read a ton, but not much non-fiction.
This is an inspiring and unusual story because it covers a small American town with a huge influx of refugees from all over the world. They share no common language or culture, just trauma and displacement. The issues facing both the immigrants and the townspeople are complex and the author does a great job of maintaining some journalistic distance in order to let readers sort out our own opinions.
But his admiration for the Fugees Soccer team shines through and it’s those human interest stories that give this book its heart. These young men, their love of soccer and their determination to find some joy in their lives kept me turning pages.
This book was a reminder that no act of kindness is too small to make a difference in someone’s life, a reminder that we can’t define people by one characteristic, and a reminder that everyone has a story.
A quick, easy and inspiring read.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Regardless if you love soccer (or even really understand the game fully) you will enjoy this book. The book follows a youth soccer league made up of resettled refugees in Georgia, but it's really not that simple. Yes, you will learn a lot about soccer -- but you become aware of much more than that. How a small white, Southern town deals with an influx of refugees from conflict zones from around the world. What life was like in the war zones, refugee camps and other places people traveled through before resettlement. You also come to understand that once they arrive in the United States, refugees face a whole new group of challenges. [return]This book as much about the people themselves rather than the game they play. Your eyes and your heart will be opened having read this book."

[Kathy Scantle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, especially since I am familiar with the story. I met the main character, Luma, once and could tell right away she has a profound impact on the refugees she works with. Luma is from an aristocratic family in Jordan. She came to the USA for college. After she graduated from Smith college, she decided she wanted to stay. Her parents were very upset (her father disowned her) but later those wounds were healed. Fate brought Luma to Clarkston, Georgia, a small southern town outside of Atlanta which is home to many refugees. I taught at Clarkston High School so I know the character of the refugee children. They were always so polite, so studious, and so much more respectful of teachers than the American children. The kids were flown to Atlanta from war torn countries such as the Congo, Irag, Afghanistan, Somalia, the Sudan. etc. One young boy from Sudan who I knew came here when he was 10 years old and had never had formal education. (That was typical.) One of the teachers at Clarkston High School offered night classes to the refugee families where he taught things like -- how to use a refrigerator and what goes into a refrigator.
Luma was very taken by the refugee families and started a soccer team. This wasn't an ordinary soccer team -- Luma helped her team members adjust to their new country, taught them discipline, provided tutoring for their school work, and became involved with the families. This was her passion. She started a small school for the refugees and is currently involved in fundraising to expand the school.
I thought the author, (a reporter for the New York Times, who came to Clarkston to write an article and instead stayed a year and wrote this book), did a good job of explaining the past and present culture of the refugees . I thought he was particulary adeptin explaining the motives behind so many people in the book, including Luma herself, Tracy, Clarkson's mayor, sheriff, and even the local grocer. A good read.

[Deacon Tom (Feeling Better) · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Celebration of Life

i really loved this book. For me, it shows how we could and should treat refugees. Bonding on their common love of soccer, these boys stayed out of trouble in a gang neighborhood and improved in academics. All because a coach had a dream.

This would make a great movie!!!

[Alfonso D'agostino · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quando sei piccolo, non c'è bisogno di altro: due magliette per terra a fare da porta, ed una qualunque forma rotondeggiante come pallone. In fondo, il segreto del successo del calcio è in questa sua fanciullesca semplicità.

Rifugiati Football Club nasce da qui: dal campo polveroso di una cittadina americana in cui ragazzi di ogni provenienza ed etnia fanno rotolare un pallone: sono stati trasferiti a Clarkston nell'ambito di un programma ONU e sono accomunati da un passato di carestie, guerre, pulizie etniche. Luma Mufleh li osserva: è una ragazza giordana fresca di laurea che ha deciso di non rientrare in patria e di cercare la sua strada negli States. E guardando i rifugiati di Clarkston giocare a calcio sente di aver trovato la via giusta. Warren St. John racconta la storia di Luma e delle squadre che allena; di più, racconta con lo sguardo attento del giornalista la difficile integrazione degli immigrati nella realtà americana, e lo fa con un piglio sociologico mai pedante. La storia di questi ragazzi colpisce inevitabilmente, come colpisce la vita di Luma, la sua passione, il progetto di trasformare un'attività sportiva in una vera occasione di inserimento. E fa quasi male l'ottusità di sceriffo, sindaco e altre realtà locali, preoccupati più della salute di un manto erboso che della integrazione dei nuovi arrivati. L'autore, giovane giornalista del New York Times, è sufficientemente modesto da non dichiararlo, ma furono proprio i suoi articoli pubblicati dal quotidiano della Grande Mela a scatenare il sostegno all'iniziativa, che conta oggi anche su sponsor importanti.

Sono un acceso tifoso, chi mi conosce o mi legge lo sa. Consentitemi quindi una chiusura personale: il desiderio per stagione appena iniziata di vedere i giocatori della mia Triestina mettere in campo il cuore, la voglia, il sudore di questi giovani, ricordandosi di quando correvano dietro un pallone da piccoli. I risultati conteranno un po' meno.

[Dindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Working with clients has been a 20-year challenge during which I created an analogy comparing a soccer team to a public relations team, a device for clients to comprehend that it takes both sides to achieve a goal. I had little interest in soccer until Frank Reiss, owner of A Cappella Books, suggested I obtain a review copy of a book about the Fugees, a soccer team just outside of Atlanta.

In “Outcasts United: A Refugee Team, an American Town,” Warren St. John, a New York Times reporter (on sale April 21) tells the poignant story of refugees joining a team to reach their goal – a new life in the United States. A front-page article in the New York Times, in January 2007, began St. John’s reporting on the Fugees and he followed up with two articles inspiring him to write his book.

St. John brings together the refugee’s desire for community in the Diaspora, education as a means to success, discipline and fun. The author will appear in Atlanta with Coach Luma Mufleh at The Carter Center, presented by A Cappella Books, at 7:00 p.m. on April 22. Tickets are $10 or free with the purchase of the book. St. John returns to Atlanta on May 20 for an appearance at Borders. For a full schedule and information visit the publisher’s website at www.randomhouse.com and click on author events.

Refugees and immigrants are at opposite ends of the spectrum. A refugee is a person in exile, one fleeing, no matter the cost, from persecution. The immigrant is one who has opted to settle in a new country. According to the Homeland Security Office Department of Immigration Statistics, 166,392 persons were admitted to the United States as refugees during 2008 (the latest statistics available).

According to the Georgia Depart of Human Resources (last statistics available from July 2007), Georgia ranks among the nation’s top ten state programs in resettling new citizens. Currently refugees from 41 countries have settled in 40 of Georgia’s 159 counties with the highest concentration in Fulton and DeKalb (where Clarkston is located) counties. In 2006, approximately 2,000 refugees resettled in Georgia.

Clarkston, Georgia (13 miles from Atlanta) is home to the Fugees soccer team, comprised of refugees from Sudan, the Congo, Kosovo, Liberia, Iraq and Afghanistan. St. John’s compelling prose tells of the obstacles that the team has faced – lack of equipment and a permanent playing field and the most egregious of all, Clarkston’s Mayor Swaney, who declared it illegal for the Fugees to practice on public athletic fields. An article about the soccer team ran in the Atlanta Journal Constitution on April 6, 2005 and a few months later another article in the same newspaper highlighted the dispute between the team and the local government. The Mayor of Doraville, a nearby Georgia town echoed Swaney’s stance according to St. John, complaining of seeing “immigrants playing soccer in a town cemetery.”

Setting the stage for the book, St. John focuses on Luma Mufleh, the coach of the Fugees. Mufleh left Amman, Jordan and her well-to-do family in search of freedom from the constraints of the Middle East. She had attended the American Community School in Jordan where she first tasted the liberty from Muslin expectations of women through sports – playing soccer, basketball, volleyball and baseball. In St. John’s book her coach, Rhonda Brown (an African American) says, Luma was “keen to learn, dedicated and the kind of player a team could be built around.”

St. John writes tenderly of Luma’s relationship with her grandmother, the only one, “among the family that seemed to understand the implications of Luma attending college in the United States.” Her grandmother knew that once there, Luma would never return to Jordan. Her departure created a vast rift in the family and the silence fueled Luma’s desire to create a new family in the United States. Today, Luma has reconciled with her family who have visited her in Clarkston and assisted the Fugees through sponsorship of school and athletic supplies.

As much as the author tells Luma’s story, he also provides insight into the soccer players and their families. The stories behind the relocations of Luma and members of the Fugees to the United States and what happened to family members left behind are the most intriguing parts of the book. While I have not had the refugee experience, I have lived in Mexico and various cities in the United States, far from my native New York in culture, language and opportunity. I have found my way by creating new friends and through volunteering. Writing about culture and people and through the eyes of authors such as Warren St. John, I have adapted and come to love my new surroundings and the adventure each move brings. To assist the refugee community visit the website of the Refugee Resettlement & Immigration Services of Atlanta (rrisa.org), a non-profit agency that provides services to transition into American culture for hundreds of refugees annually.

In the course of writing his book, St. John asked Luma to put her philosophy into words to “provide a framework for others who hoped to replicate the kind of program she created.” According to the author, he learned that there was “no great secret to what made the Fugees work. “They were powered by simple but enduring ideas: a sense of fairness, love, forgiveness and most of all, a willingness to work – to engage in the process of turning these simple notions into actions that could affect others.”

Writing of the developments since he turned in his manuscript, St. John says that, “Relations between the city of Clarkston and the Fugees, for the most part, have improved.” The reporting that Mayor Swaney’s term ends this year and that he will not seek reelection tumbles off the page in a matter of fact manner but left this reader believing that what goes around comes around.

Pages in newspapers and news websites recount impersonal refugee stories. Warren St. John has made the larger story personal and emotional. The non-fiction telling of the Fugees’ success is a lesson for all citizens as well those who have adopted the United States as their home. Crossing cultures the book shows that community, hard work and dedication create a future worth living.

# # #

[Richie Partington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Richie’s Picks: OUTCASTS UNITED: THE STORY OF A REFUGEE SOCCER TEAM THAT CHANGED A TOWN by Warren St. John, Delacorte, September 2012, 240p., ISBN: 978-0-385-74194-1

“There he was with his immigration face
Giving me a paper chase
But the sun was coming
Cos all at once he looked into my space
And stamped a number over my face
And he sent me running”
-- Graham Nash/David Crosby, “Immigration Man”

“Before tryouts began, the boys seemed puzzled. Where, they wondered, was the coach? Luma was right in front of them, but a woman soccer coach was a strange sight to young Africans, and to the young Muslim boys from Afghanistan and Iraq. During a shooting drill, Luma was teaching the boys how to strike the ball with the tops of their feet when she overheard a Sudanese boy talking to the others.
“’She’s a girl,’ he said. ‘She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.’
“Luma ordered him to stand in goal. She took off her shoes as the boy waited beneath the crossbar, rocking back and forth and growing more anxious by the moment. She asked for a ball, which she placed on the grass. Then, barefoot, as the team looked on, she blasted a shot directly at the boy, who dove out of the way as the ball rocketed into the net. Luma turned toward her team. ‘Anybody else?’ she asked.”

Jordanian-born Luma Mufleh was educated at the elite American Community School in Amman before traveling to the United States for a higher education and graduating from Smith College. Believing that a permanent life in the U.S. offered her far more possibilities that the second-class citizenship provided to women in her native land – where the civil code is based on patriarchal Islamic law – Luma defied her parents and stayed in America. Having thus been disowned, Luma was living near Atlanta, struggling with a failing eatery, and coaching a girls’ soccer team when she happened upon nearby Clarkston, a town that has been transformed over two decades by an influx of refugees from war zones around the world.

Happening upon an international cast of young men playing soccer in an apartment complex there in Clarkston, Luma was inspired to start and coach a soccer program for them. In OUTCASTS UNITED, an adaptation of his adult book about the Fugee team “family,” New York Times reporter Warren St. John moves back and forth between the individual family stories of the young immigrants who make up the Fugees soccer teams (three different age groups), and the chronicling of their coming together under Coach Luma Mufleh.

“After the trauma of war and relocation, many refugee kids had severe problems. Luma had to keep this in mind. She had learned from experience that she needed about a third of her players to be well-adjusted kids from stable families. They would set an example for the others. Another third of the team would be boys who were for the most part dependable even if they had a few problems at school or with other kids. The last third would be kids with real problems and unstable families. These were the boys who would require most of Luma’s energy and who would most likely cause fighting on the teams. They were also the boys who needed the Fugees the most.”

As we learn from the harrowing true stories in OUTCASTS UNITED, there are still plenty of people coming to America for the same reasons that so many of our ancestors landed here during past generations. And, as we come to see, Luma Mufleh is a bona fide American hero for the work she has done in Clarkston to change these young lives for the better.

Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.com
BudNotBuddy@aol.com
Moderator http://groups.yahoo.com/group/middle_... http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/people/facult...

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since I tend to read most books about soccer that I happen to hear about, this much buzzed-about book eventually made it to the top of my pile. Even then I shied away from it for a while, since I'm leery of books that are described as "inspirational." Nonetheless, I eventually cracked the spine, and discovered that it's that rare breed of book that's both fascinating and frustrating. Fascinating because it actually is kind of inspirational and will open the reader's eye to the daunting financial and social issues faced by refugees in the United States. Frustrating because it is neither well constructed nor well written.

The book revolves around the determined efforts of a young Jordanian immigrant woman to build a youth soccer club in a small town about fifteen miles outside of Atlanta. The twist is that her club is comprised of kids (or rather, boys) from the town's large refugee population of Liberians, Albanians, Afghans, etc. This allows the author to explore the many financial and social problems refugees face in trying to resettle in the United States, as well as the interesting effects of such demographic change in some of the areas where aid agencies place them. St. John does a reasonably good journalistic job of tracing the woman's backstory and detailing her efforts to establish the club, and the various administrative and cultural roadblocks she had to overcome.

This story originally appeared as a series of articles in the New York Times, and I'm guessing it was actually better in that shorter format. Here, the clunky writing becomes glaringly obvious, as does his inability to write well about the game of soccer. The book has more redundancies and restatements of information than any I can recall reading in the last several years -- both in the general narrative, but especially when he tries to write about the boys' games. The overall effect is rather like a mediocre high school paper, in which the student is trying desperately to pad his material to meet a ten-page requirement by saying the same thing over and over with only minor variations in word choice.

Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of compelling material -- especially the struggle to find a field to play on, the various bureaucratic roadblocks thrown up by xenophobic "old-timers," and the fragile psyches of the boys themselves. Unfortunately, these are undermined by the book's significant narrative problems, as the author skips around quite a bit, diving in and out of the lives of his subjects, never settling long enough on any one to provide any focus. Even his ostensible protagonist, the coach, is left fairly unexplored and unchallenged. Overall, I guess it's worth checking out if you're interested in either refugee issues, immigration, or soccer -- just don't come to it with huge expectations.

[Leigh Collazo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hundreds more reviews at Mrs. ReaderPants.

REVIEW: Well wasn't this a nice little surprise? I really did not expect to enjoy this book as much as I did. I only read it because it's on our Battle of the Books list, and I signed up to write the questions for this book. I signed up back in September and have been putting it off ever since. Now, it's February, and I know someone will come calling for the questions any day now. Time to get started!

Outcasts United is written so that it's easy to get into. It's kind of a documentary-style book, where you have profiles of the students, their families, the town, and the coach that brought them all together. They encounter prejudice and fear from long-time residents, resistance from the city council, violence, and gangs. The boys on the team speak different languages and come from different countries and situations. Life in America isn't all rainbows and sunshine; many of the parents are single parents whose spouses are imprisoned in their home country or have been killed. They work low-paying factory jobs and constantly struggle to make ends meet.

My one criticism is the switch from first person in the introduction to third person for most of the rest of the book. I'm assuming this first person narrating the story is a reporter or journalist, but it is disjointed with the rest of the book. There's even a part in the middle where it switches back to first person briefly, then back to third person again. I didn't like that.

I know many schools and universities are using this book as a school-wide "one book" or as part of required reading lists. I'm really not a fan of forcing students to read specific titles, but if you are going to do that, this is a great choice for middle and high school students.

THEMES: refugees, soccer, overcoming challenges, perseverance

THE BOTTOM LINE: A must for any middle or high school library.

STATUS IN MY LIBRARY: We have two copies, and because it's a Battle of the Books title, they are frequently checked out.

RATING BREAKDOWN:

Overall: 4/5
Creativity: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Engrossing: 4/5
Writing: 3/5
Appeal to teens: 4/5
Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5


CONTENT:
Language: none
Sexuality: none
Violence: medium--a father is beaten to death, a woman is mugged, a boy is shot in the face, gang violence, war violence
Drugs/Alcohol: none

[Brent · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is so great: the stories of soccer coach and team - and many intersecting lives - who find themselves in Clarkston (DeKalb County), Georgia and thereabouts. Since publication in 2009, I understand there is a documentary, which I must find and view. Quoting: "For More Information
To learn more about the Fugees, and for ideas on ways to help or get involved, please visit www.FugeesFamily.org.

For more about the book, including guides for book clubs and educators, visit www.OutcastsUnited.com.

And visit the author at www.WarrenStJohn.com.

Or write to: Fugees Family, P. O. Box 388, Scottdale, GA 30079-0388"
Highest recommendation.

[Elias Polonsky]

“Outcast United” it s a really good book and I enjoyed reading it. For me it’s a book that teaches us many important things about life, and shows us also how the society that we live in is. It also teaches us how to make our own decision as Luma did in the book. We are in a stage that we don’t know what we want about life, and fro the most of us is first time that we have to make our own decisions. It also teaches us that no matter what you have to be happy in what you are doing. As many freshmen have told me, freshman year is for deciding what you want to do. You can know now what you want to do but in a matter of seconds you can change your mind completely. In every book I read I try to look for the things that the book wants to teach us.
In the first part of the book it talks about Luma, the coach of the team that she goes against her family because she wanted to do something of her own, she wanted to do something that makes her happy. We can see this in a lot of communities, and more often in the less liberal ones. As in Luma’s society women are expected just to get married and take care of the children but as the book teaches us, they have to decide that by themselves, if they want to get married and raise their children and if they are happy is okay, but if they want to do something else with their lives, something different it should also be okay, because the purpose of making these decisions is to be happy and to be doing what you like not what someone else wants you to do. Those decision are going to mark you for the rest of your life, if you choose to do something that you like you are never going to regret, but if somebody chooses for you, you are going to regret for the rest of your life. In the book Luma goes against her parents and stays in the states because that makes her happy. She wanted to stay and never in the book there is a big feeling of regret by her taking the wrong decision.
When it talks about Clarkston the city that the refugees where resettled, it talks about how the new comers accommodate into their new world and how the old comers treated them and how they think about them. A lot of old comers were unhappy by the situation that the government was relocating all the immigrants in their city, so a lot of them left but most of the people that stayed didn’t like what was happening. We cannot say that they were mean by not accepting them; we have to be on their shoes first to talk about them. We can say that we are good people and that if that happen to us we would accept them and help them, but as most of the societies now a day they just care about themselves and nobody else, I am not saying that everyone is like this but most of them are. In Clarkston there were a lot of problems with the new comers because all of them came from different countries, form different problems and form different cultures, so the problems were not only between the new comers and old comers were also between the different cultures that collapsed between each other. Most of the new comers have had really hard lives, most of them come from war countries and each of them has their own stories that lead them to a refugee camp and after that to Clarkston. In the story there are particular stories of some kids that lost their families, they have lived I war zones and one of them saw how they murdered his family. They had some hard lives and have lived too much for the ages that they have.
Their relocation wasn’t exactly what most people call the American dream because they taught that they were coming to the land of opportunities and that their life would be as an normal US citizen. But that wasn’t truth, yes they have a better life because they weren’t anymore in a war zone and people are helping them but most of the people didn’t like them and didn’t treat them as they were expecting. Examples from the book are when the YMCA didn’t let them play in their field; they had to go to Indians Creek Field that wasn’t exactly the best place for those kids to practice. The field had no goals and for their home games they had to go to another field that wasn’t exactly near for the players. Another example is when the police cup beat someone up with no reason. At the end he got fired but the newcomers weren’t exactly 100% accepted.
The main topic of the book is the soccer program that Luma created for the refugees, a team called “The Fugees”. A sport can give you so much, team work, new friends, teach you hard work, discipline and for the new refugee kids it can help them in their relocation. It can give them something to care about, to be passionate of. Making the team had many challenges, Luma’s work, the boys, the parents, finding a soccer field, practices and discipline. When it talks about the practices it talks about the group of kids that were formed at the beginning, each group was from kids from the same country and spoke the same language. One of the challenges was to get them all to work together. The discipline was another big issue, with the gangs hanging around practice Luma had to make some harsh rules for the ones that wanted to stay in the team. The boys that played had every one of them their own issues, most of them were traumatized in their home countries and getting into a new place and starting a new life wasn’t easy.
Reading the book I learn some really important things to help me in my freshman year. The role that Luma played in the story is not an easy task. She wasn’t with his family and she hadn’t the support that a normal parent would give to a kid. Also when she started the soccer program everybody was telling her that she was crazy and nobody at the beginning wanted to help her. She fight against all that to do what she loved that was soccer, and that teaches us that no matter what you should do what you love and what you want to do with the rest of your life. And from the other issues in the book I learned that the world is not even close to perfect, and is far from being neither perfect nor good. But you can find some good people that are willing to go against adversity to help anybody in their way.

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

The middle school I work in chose this to be the summer reading book, and unfortunately I think that purpose for reading affected my enjoyment of the book. If I had read it on my own, maybe I would have given it 3 stars, or at least 2.5, because I can understand and appreciate the nuances of immigrants fitting in to American society/culture and the social commentary that Warren St. John creates by telling this story. However, reading it with the lens of whether or not middle schoolers would enjoy it and whether or not I would be able to use it in my class brought this down. This version is adapted for young people, but none of the young people that I have talked to so far enjoyed it. It seems like it's a book about soccer, but really it isn't. It's about the aforementioned social commentary on immigrants and American culture, which isn't really that appealing to middle schoolers, even with the dumbed-down writing. Middle schoolers can see through the dumbed-down writing, by the way. They know that this is not a book that is meant for them, and no amount of "Woo! Soccer!" is going to convince them otherwise. Not only is the writing dumbed down, it's just generally poor. The first 91 pages are written in the third person, and then all of a sudden on page 92 it switches to the first person. If one read the introduction (which most young readers skip over) one can assume that it is the reporter telling the story, but it's not obvious. This mysterious reporter only inserts himself in one other chapter; the rest of the book continues without nary a mention of his role in telling the story. This is confusing for middle schoolers and shows that this is not a very strong adaptation for young people and not very strong in its writing overall.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not know what to expect from Outcasts United. On the one hand, I do not like sports--watching sports or reading about sports. On the other hand, I do like compelling personal accounts, people working, struggling, hoping, believing. The hero of Outcasts United is Luma Mufleh, a woman soccer coach. Mufleh was born and raised in Jordan; she came to the United States for college and decided that this is where she wanted to live. Staying in the U.S. meant breaking apart the family, and angering her family. But she'd had a taste of freedom, and wanted more. She knew it would be work, work, work. She knew it would not be easy, but she knew this would be her best chance. This isn't her story alone, it is the story of lives touching and connecting--immigrant stories. Readers learn a handful of stories about boys mainly, these are those Luma came to know in her role as coach. She wasn't just teaching soccer, she was also teaching discipline, self-control, responsibility, and respect.

Mufleh's three teams are mentioned: her under 17, her under 15, and her under 13 teams. But for the most part, it is the two younger teams that are the focus of the book. The book highlights specific players from specific seasons of the game.

This one has a definite sports emphasis. It is a book dedicated to the sport of soccer. If you have zero interest in that subject, you may or may not get enough satisfaction from the other stories. I liked some chapters better than others.

[Patti from Charlotte]

Having lived in Clarkston, Georgia, the setting of the book, for several years in the early 1980's and having been a 'soccer mom' for the better part of the last ten years as well, this book 'spoke' to me on many natural levels. However, the depth of the story extended far, far beyond those simple parameters and to the many backstories of Luma Mufleh and the refugee families that she encountered during her own exodus from her native land. Never again will I sit on the sidelines of a soccer game in my collapsable chair under my umbrella, Diet Coke in hand, without thinking of the small army of lives touched by her hand on other soccer fields of the Southeast. The hardships that the Fugee teams encountered to play this "Beautiful Game" stretched much further than the simple creature comforts seemingly important to my suburban world. In documenting her story and those other stories of her journey, Warren St. John quoted her friend and assistant (an understatement!) Tracy Ediger aptly, "No one person can do everything, but we can all do something." This book is a challenge to do just that, from adjusting our attitudes to opening our eyes to the real games of the modern world.

[Jacob Clark · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was ok it wasn’t the greatest but not the worst. Luma had many difficult challenges in her life she came over here for school. Her family was in jordan living there lifestyle she never left clarkston because of soccer and her hometown. She worked really hard to get where she is today by opening a ice cream parlor, being a waitress, and being a soccer coach. Trying to life her life multitasking

[Colton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a true inspirational story of Middle Eastern refugees in a small town in Georgia who share a love for the same sport. Their coach, Luma, is Middle Eastern herself and can speak many of the languages that the players speak. Luma inspires the players to work hard, do good in school, and stay out of trouble while still having fun as a team.

[Raina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've spent my career (thus far) connecting with "young people." Attempting to meet kids and teens where they are and show them how the public library can be relevant to them in their actual lives.

So, this book was fascinating to me. The author apparently spent time observing and interviewing an early-aughts season of one soccer coach in Georgia. We meet many of the kids on the three different teams ("under 13s," "under 15s," and "under 17s") Luma Mufleh coached, learn their stories, and watch the team's successes and struggles. All of the players are refugees.

Mufleh seems to have hit on a formula that works. Soccer is a sport that is more popular outside of amerika than inside, so kids from all over the world can and want to play. Mufleh requires the team players to participate in a tutoring program. Fast forward to today, and her system is apparently thriving. I was pretty riveted to this book.

That said, I'm learning my lesson once again that "young reader editions" of books should be avoided when I'm looking for things to take out to my annual middle school visits. For those visits, I'm looking for high interest-low barrier books. When I picked this up, I was hoping for a lot of soccer action (check), and some mirroring for the kids in my community who may have been born in other countries (we have a large military population - parts of this were pretty great for that).
Unfortunately, even as I personally got into the story, I found that too much of it focused on the adult perspective. Particularly the very beginning. The introduction is one of the places where the author-perspective is the most exposed, and the first chapter is literally named "Luma" and starts with her life and childhood. Throughout the book, the focus is on how Mufleh made decisions, the longer-term goals of the program, other stuff that might make some kids feel more like objects than subjects. When I'm trying to find things to tell thousands of kids about, I want stories that are a little less analytical - that feel more like a mirror/window/sliding door than a microscope. A little less obviously a white cisguy visiting Georgia to tourist in/tell the world about their stories.
I chalk this up to being a Young Readers edition because I read another book with the same goal in mind this year which was also a YRE, and it had the same problem. The books were originally written (literally) for an adult audience, and as far as I can tell (as someone who hasn't actually read both editions), has had some "mature" content filtered out, but otherwise stayed generally the same. Books originally conceptualized for a young audience rarely have this problem, in my experience.

Worth reading, but only a hand-sell or perhaps classroom read for actual kids.

[Simon Lapscher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is based in Clarkston, a small town in the outskirt of Atlanta, GA. In a seemingly fictional story, “Outcast United” tells the story of a group of newly arrived refugees, which have been relocated in this small town after having gone through horrible war and persecution nightmares in their home land. It takes us on a journey that shows us the insight of the immigrant’s world; what they feel, how they are treated and what they do to move forward, starting from scratch and with a disadvantage so big most people wouldn’t be able even to survive with. Warren St. John, the author of this book, gives this situation an incredible twist by recording the stories of this people through what represents the refugees’ escape of their every-day life: soccer. The most popular sport in the world plays a big role throughout the book, as we see that the stories of the refugees told are of those kids playing in the soccer team called the “Fugees”; a team created for the children immigrants as a way to help these youngsters. This team was created by one of the main characters, Luma or “Coach”, a Jordanian Muslim who also emigrated to the U.S some years ago and whose dedication helped her overcome many obstacles and made her a strong, independent leader.
In a personal manner, I related to this book in a really strong way. I was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela. All my life I went to the city’s only Jewish school, I had the same friends and lived my life comfortably without having to worry too much. In 1999, Hugo Chavez came into power and started changing the country into what it is now, a socialist dictatorship that keeps heading downhill as time goes by. It has become impossible for me to live there; I couldn’t stand the insecurity, the poverty, and the overall decaying political and economic situation. I realized it was time to leave in search for a place where I could build a normal life, one where I can go out on the streets without worrying about being kidnapped or robbed. I filled up my application and ended up here, in the Georgia Institute of Techology studying Industrial Engineering. Although I cannot compare all the horrifying incident of the refugees to those of my own, I can’t help but feel a bit identified as a person who has recently immigrated to the United States; the slight difference being they arrived to old complexes living next to drug dealers and having nothing to eat, I arrived to the number one school of my career and one best and most technological colleges in the world. I feel lucky, yet that doesn’t disappear the fact that I still feel disoriented and still consider myself an outsider to the American culture. The problems that these people faced upon their arrival to their “new home”, and continue to face afterwards, are incomprehensible to almost everyone, including myself, and they therefore deserve nothing but admiration and respect from our part.
The other way in which I personally relate to this story is soccer. Ever since I was 5 years old, I have practiced soccer with my school team. At first, I didn’t know very much what I was doing, but as time went by, I started to like this game better than any other thing I did; all I wanted was to play soccer twenty-four/seven. Soccer helped me overcome a lot of obstacles in my life; it was a way of releasing all my accumulated stress through kicking the ball. Three times a week (two for practice and one for game), I left all my thoughts and all my concerns outside and let my instincts be the only thing controlling my moves. Before every game, my coach would tell us the same speeches Luma gave this kids, we would worm up as a team the same way the Fugees did, and we would enjoy the game the same way these kids did. The soccer ball doesn’t care if the person kicking it is white, black, pink, Jewish, Christian, among others; the soccer ball just let itself be kicked by children or grown ups in a way that they will connect with the game and forget about all the other things they got going on. After every game, win or lose, we would feel relieved; then we would go talk to the other team and congratulate them on a game well played; at the end of the game, win or loose, we would shake the hand of the player in front of us as a symbol of respect, of fair play.
The Fugees need this game more than probably most people. They have so much going on in their lives, so many problems including starvation, post war trauma, becoming acquainted with gangs, that soccer seems like the perfect way for these young men to overcome these burdens, for them to become a better self. Soccer, especially Luma’s coaching, teaches them how to manage their immigrants life, how to manage themselves and their families, how to improve every day looking for a better future, looking for a better understanding of life.
They try to outgrown their horrendous past with a fresh start, one that is specifically difficult being that they don’t know the language or the culture or don’t have the resources to properly adapt. These refugees come to a new world that they only pictured in their dreams, however now figuring out that nothing is perfect and that the obstacles are not gone; that U.S is no paradise and that they will once more have to overcome themselves. This is an inspiring story filled with youthful insight, one that I identified with a lot, making this book a really strong and one; Warren St John makes us appreciate the things we have and the life we lead and makes us conscious of the problems that people 5 miles away from us go through in their daily basis.

[Destiny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so amazing and it warmed my heart a lot. Even though this book took me a bit longer to finish I still loved it, it showed an amazing story of friendships being formed, families being helped or saved from bad situations and getting a better life. This book is so heartwarming and it gives me hope that even though bad situations good things can happen and it can cause a ripple of goodness to happen. This book makes me want to meet the coach and the first teammates. Overall this book was amazing and thanks to my 7th-grade teacher for getting me this book for my birthday I loved it and I will read it again.

[Carter Stagner · Rating 3 out of 5]

(I read the “young readers” version)

This book was about a soccer club named the Fugees in Clarkston, Georgia. There are 3 age groups. The under 13’s, the under 15’s, and the under 17’s. The main character is Luma. She coaches for the club and she’s the only coach. The club is meant for refugees.

The main things I like about this book is that it was about soccer, refugees, and it was set in Georgia (which is where I live). I liked the main character, Luma. I partly liked how it was non-fiction because I could imagine everything actually happening.

The writing was basic and it wasn't very fun for me to read, sometimes. It fell too simple at times. I think that because it was non-fiction there wasn’t much creativity put into it.

I think that to enjoy it more I probably should have read the standard version instead of the “young readers”. Overall I enjoyed the book but it could have been better.

[Maricruz Bravo]

Maricruz Bravo
10/7/09
Prof. Shannon Scott
GT 1000


The novel by Warren St. John “Outcast United” is a story of a refugee boy’s soccer team and their coach, Luma Mufleh, a refugee from Jordan. Luma is characterized by her determination to make the boys succeed as a team. Her determination may sometimes be confused with toughness and insensible traits, but deep inside her she has a soft and tender heart whose only purpose is to make the boys happy and successful as persons and soccer players. The story’s theme is about the obstacles encountered in a rapid changing world and it also talks about how everything is possible if one determines oneself to achieve whatever the goals are. The theme is portrayed through the group of refugees who have to deal with the changes, adaptations and their transitions to their new environment. After reading the book by Warren St. John “Outcast United” my philosophy of life was reaffirmed. There are always going to be obstacles in one’s life, but under any circumstance should one give up. Things in life happen for a reason, even though sometimes that reason is not necessarily known immediately. This novel made me realize that everything is achievable if one determines oneself to achieve it. I have always believed in that, but after reading “Outcast United” and seeing how those boys overcome themselves in such difficult circumstances showed me how if they could, everyone can. It also showed me the challenges and difficulties that people face in creating a community when having so little in common, but once again, the determination plays an important role. The coach, Luma is a refugee in Clarkston who had to deal also with the challenges that a refugee encounters when living in another country. She had to learn how to deal with the cultural clash between her Jordanian background and the new culture in which she was being introduced to. Nevertheless, she overcomes the challenges and obstacles and learned how to coexist in her new environment. One of the ways she dealt with her new reality was by dedicating her time to coach soccer to refugee boys who she saw playing in a parking lot of an old apartment building called the Lakes. She not only coaches them, but mentors them, educates them and helps them with their adaptation to the new environment, which she had already learn to deal with. She also helps them by bringing them food and necessities that their families cannot afford and/or the social service agencies were not able to deliver. Throughout Luma’s character, the reader get to know her true intention of coaching the boys and the reason why the boys play soccer. Luma discovers that soccer is the way for the boys to distract and not think of their new reality, of their new home and environment. It is the way that boys use to connect with the other refugees. I relate myself with Luma and the boys because of my international experience here at Tech. I left my home country to come to the United States to study. Not only did I leave my country, but also I left behind my culture, my language, my family, and my homemade food. I came into an unknown world to me, I did not know what to expect out of the university and all that it conveys. At first, the feeling of solitude was predominant all throughout my day. I missed everything, even my cat. As like the boys playing soccer as a way to connect to others in the same situation, I got involved with several international student organizations in order to meet students in my same situation. I also relate to the book because even though my situation was not exactly like that of the refugees I can at least have a small idea of their feelings, of their confusion, of their difficulties when adapting to a new environment where almost anything, if not all, is different from what you are used to. One day, my GT 1000 teacher said that she admired those who studied in a language other than their own. In that moment, I felt proud of myself, proud of my actions, proud of my decision of overcoming my fear and study at another country. I am actually one of those students whose native language is not English and still here I am studying Civil Engineering in one of the most honorable institutions of the United States of America. In this experience I am learning what Luma and the boys learned in their experience as refugees. I know that obstacles are always going to be present in my life, but in order to succeed I know that I have to overcome these challenges because obstacles are put in one’s path for a reason. If I want to succeed here at Tech and as a professional as a whole I have to be aware of those difficulties that will arise during my life, but I also have to know that my determination of succeeding has always to be bigger than the fear to fail because if one wants something and if one works for it without letting the fear win the race, one will achieve one’s goal.

[Mariana D'apuzzo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mariana D’Apuzzo
10/07/09
Prof. Shannon Scott
GT1000

Outcast United represents the integration of different identities in the multi-cultured city of Clarkston. As a uniquely multi-religious, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural association of people, Clarkston has reasons to be troubled by the urgency of intolerance4 and to consider its role in combating it. This merging comes with different consequences. Not only is it the fact that they get to know and learn from each other, but also it is the fact they learn to live with each other’s customs and traditions. After coexisting every day with that person, you create a level of tolerance for the wellbeing of the relationship, especially if being from different backgrounds. It is the fact that people should have the disposition to allow freedom of choice and behavior, no matter what the color of other people is. Coach Luma makes the soccer players generate this tolerance between them. However, her achievements don’t only stop in tolerance but also begin in the creation of brotherhood.

Luma, being and incredibly smart young woman, discovers the way to unite a group of refugees and make them, as the saying goes, “brothers from another mother”. They left aside the clashing of cultures, and focused on each one of their good qualities. They learned to communicate between on another, for it was vital during each game. They were united for a common purpose, on which never left their minds, and they even shared the same quality, that being playing soccer. Coach Luna did teach them loyalty between themselves, however she also taught them that to be a good player, besides having the skills, requires having sportsmanship. This fellowship was determined on getting there, always with their values and principles going first.

With this determination came one of the most important things in life, discipline. United States Marine crop defines discipline as " the instant willingness and obedience to all orders, respect for authority, self reliance and teamwork. The ability to do the right thing even when no one is watching or suffer the consequences of guilt which produces pain in our bodies, through pain comes discipline." As it is true that Coach Luma took great part in helping the soccer team succeed, it is also true that each one of the players made it happen. Discipline had an immense roll in the part. They learned that without great effort and hard work nothing could be achieved, making them believe that where there’s a will there’s a way.

However this can only be done if that will of doing things includes love and passion for it. The only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work, and the only way to do great work is to love what you do. The key was having a love for soccer and a will to win that no other team had.

It is a mix of the values: tolerance, brotherhood, sportsmanship, discipline, and most importantly, love. I believe that the importance of these values was transmitted throughout the book. With these values, St. John also demonstrates the difficulties of adapting to such a city and how the clashing of cultures affects each one of the habitants. This group of kids face challenges, not only on the soccer field but also at school and home. With Coach Luma’s help, they get to overcome them. At the end they realize we are all human, and despite of our race and ethnicity, there is always the possibility of simply getting along and finding what positive qualities each one of us possess.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. Though the author did not tie up all of the loose ends that I felt could have been tied up, this book was wonderful.

[Ethan Kulinski · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the midst of a time where refugees can be attached to countless negative reputations, Outcasts United by Warren St. John shines light on the gritty and sometimes relentless experience of young refugees. The story begins with Luma Mufleh, a native of Jordan, who previously decided that she would spend the rest of her life in Georgia. Although you may expect a book with the cover of a boy’s soccer team to depict the times of athletes, it’s much more than that.

Instead of falling into the category of a sports story, Outcasts United can be seen as a statement of diversity and resiliency. Luma forms a soccer team to be known as the “Fugees”; a team that includes refugee children of various age groups and ethnicities that have recently migrated. The team starts with a slim amount of equipment and a group of kids who slip into the habit of engaging with only their teammates that are similar to themselves. What began as a team of division turns itself into a group of strong teenagers that use the game soccer to propel their lives forward after the emotionally damaging experiences that they’ve faced in the past.

Luma assumes the job of not only head coach of the Fugees, but as a personal tutor and caregiver. By building unbreakable relationships with refugee families from Clarkston, she teaches more than just soccer. Mufleh becomes less of a coach and more of an individual that her players look up to as a lifelong influencer. She treats her players as her own children; doing things like purchasing groceries for their families and driving them to practices and games. As refugee children, these athletes are in need of someone like this who sees more in them than a group of poor and unstable Africans.

This book will remembered as more than just a sports story, but a wake up call of diversity and the brutality that refugees find themselves involved in. It carefully displays the collective efforts of Luma and her players to become better players, better students, and above all, better people. St. John has written an informative masterpiece that should be read by all.

[Ngaire · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me feel like a spoiled first world moron, some of the time. Because I have so much, and most of the people in Outcasts United have nothing. I know the pain of being separated from my family and living in a foreign country, but I also know that I can call anyone in my family at any time, and could get on a plane tomorrow and go and see them, if I needed to. Refugees don't have that - they are completely cut off from their home countries by war, dictators, and the fact that for many of them, there's nobody left there to call or go back to anyway. And then to end up in the godforsaken corner of the world that is the outer suburbs of Atlanta, surrounded by other refugees who know as little about navigating the US as they do. (Sorry, Georgians, but it's true.) How horrible.

And yet, Outcasts United isn't depressing or a downer. It's pretty funny and uplifting, much of the time. Luma is a hard-ass coach, but her approach really works with most of the boys who want to play for the Fugees. They truly respond to her rules, and flourish in a structured environment. It sounds like such a cliche, but she really gives these kids something to look forward to and work towards. And it's not just the sport. The deal is they also have to do well at school, and Luma created a network of volunteers to help with that. Such an awesome and inspiring story and Warren St John tells it so well, you don't even have to be a soccer fan to enjoy it. I know about as much about soccer as I do about underwater hockey, but it wasn't hard to follow at all.

Just a note to say thank you to the Common Reader committee at Missouri State University for picking such an excellent book. I love the idea of a common reader and think Outcasts United is a great pick for our students.

NB. Luma and the Fugees are currently trying to build a facility so that refugee children will have a place to study, play sport, get help, and build a community. You can find out more here: http://www.fugeesfamily.org/