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47 reviews for:
Outcasts United: The Story of a Refugee Soccer Team That Changed a Town
Warren St. John
3.85 AVERAGE
47 reviews for:
Outcasts United: The Story of a Refugee Soccer Team That Changed a Town
Warren St. John
3.85 AVERAGE
Well-written, with more variation on subject matter than either the cover or basic description would lead one to expect.
Read this for a possible book choice for our Global Lit. class and really liked it. It's long, but it might be a good stretch option for an immigration unit. Need to follow up with the original article and photo essay, which might be good ways to differentiate. Nice to be moving fast through some books now that Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is done!
I read the unabridged version of this book several summers ago, and we'd hoped to use it for our 9th grade class, but it was a long and challenging read (I confess that I thought it could've benefited from a hard edit to cut it down by maybe 50 pages), so I seized on this abridged-by-author version, and I am really happy with it. The book profiles a lot of issues: immigration, the decay of the inner city, ethnic tension, the role of sport in young people's lives (young men's lives, especially), and it ties those stories into a pretty fast-paced sports story about a group of scrappy underdogs! The abridgement is good, tho it could use pictures and an updated epilogue. However, I'm hoping it's out in paperback, as it would be a terrific starter book for our class next year!
An account of the trials and adjustments of refugees from various countries landing in a small town outside of Atlanta. They face resentment, discrimination, good ol boy bureaucracy, language, education and labor issues. One woman takes the lead and tries to help the boys and their families transition through soccer. Very interesting. I learned a lot.
As the number of stars indicate... it was just okay. "Freedom Writers" for soccer fans. Meh.
I will also never give over a rather interesting choice of idioms made by the author. He ends a short section following a player getting shot in a bout of gang violence by stating that Lema, the coach, was going to "give it her best shot." Yes, great, talk about "giving it a shot" immediately following someone getting SHOT IN THE FACE.
I will also never give over a rather interesting choice of idioms made by the author. He ends a short section following a player getting shot in a bout of gang violence by stating that Lema, the coach, was going to "give it her best shot." Yes, great, talk about "giving it a shot" immediately following someone getting SHOT IN THE FACE.
Review is posted at LibraryThing (member: ichliebebueche).
I read the ARC, which had a different cover and subtitle.
I read the ARC, which had a different cover and subtitle.
This is the second book by Warren St. John I've read. The other is the one where he hangs out with Bama Man during football season and it's quite a fun read. I finally got around to this one which I've wanted to read for a long time: first, WSJ is a good writer; it's set in Georgia; and it's about soccer. This is a fine book which I found moving and inspirational. It's also 15 years old and the themes feel more relevant today than even then: immigration, assimilation, the challenges facing displaced persons... and the challenges facing people seeing their safe world change. I appreciate that WSJ showed empathy all around - even for the seemingly awful people who made life harder on the Fugees. And that he explores how the new diversity is addressed positively with engagement and openness to change. It's hard to change. Outcasts helps us think through how we are resistant to change and how they can negatively effect others.
I strongly recommend this book -- it really changed my perspective on the United States, immigration, and refugees. It's a remarkable story -- the author, a NY Times journalist, uses an all-refugee youth soccer team and its coach to examine the effects of refugee immigration on an American town. I learned a lot about how challenging it is to be a refugee, both practically and psychologically, plus I definitely was exposed to countries of the world -- like Congo, Bosnia, Liberia, and Burundi -- where there are terrible conflicts.
Although I read this on my own initiative, I may recommend it to my book club -- it would be a great book to discuss.
Although I read this on my own initiative, I may recommend it to my book club -- it would be a great book to discuss.
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced