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48 reviews for:
Outcasts United: The Story of a Refugee Soccer Team That Changed a Town
Warren St. John
3.84 AVERAGE
48 reviews for:
Outcasts United: The Story of a Refugee Soccer Team That Changed a Town
Warren St. John
3.84 AVERAGE
This is an unforgettable book. It will stay with you long after you read it. Just read it. You will feel better.
The beautiful game of soccer becomes a kind of metaphor for the competition for resources, for respect, for the right to self-determination, in this ensemble-cast book. Cheap rents and settlement services agencies made Clarkston a destination for new waves of huddled masses, but not everyone is comfortable with the new arrivals. Luma, a dynamic Jordanian woman (with her own issues), takes on the coaching of the refugee children surrounding her. She inspires, cajoles, and pushes these kids to better themselves through education and the discipline required for successful team sports. A very enjoyable read about a small Georgia town that ends up as the melting pot on low boil.
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.
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.
Absolutely wonderful inspirational story about the profound impact that one dedicated and passionate individual can make. In a small southern town, Coach Luma utilizes soccer as the change making force in the lives of refugee boys. Starting out as just a soccer coach with a ragtag team, she evolves into a teacher, co-parent and mentor. However the author doesn't make her out to be a saint, but just a person who wanted to make a difference. A book that helps to shed light on our complicated multicultural world - should be on the shelf with Mountains Beyond Mountains, A Long Journey Home and When the Spirit Catches you. Each telling the tales of the impact of war, globalism and capitalism on young people. Beautiful story that after reading, I had to learn more and you can too at their website: http://www.fugeesfamily.org
Most people give this a 4 or 5, so apparently my lesser degree of enthusiasm is not the norm.
There is a lot to like about this book for the first 150 pages or so as the author follows a woman from Jordan who coaches several youth soccer teams made up of immigrants, mostly from Africa, who play more typical youth soccer teams in the Atlanta suburbs. After the first half or so it doesn't introduce anything new and it becomes repetitive, unfortunately. A problem with a book where the author is describing his first hand observations is that he is dependent on real life to introduce some drama, which in this case is absent. I think there is a really good 200 page book in here if he had edited it but it's an OK 300 page book.
Apparently they are going to make a movie out of this (or have) so I assume that Hollywood will figure out some way to "dramatize" the story more than the book's author.
There is a lot to like about this book for the first 150 pages or so as the author follows a woman from Jordan who coaches several youth soccer teams made up of immigrants, mostly from Africa, who play more typical youth soccer teams in the Atlanta suburbs. After the first half or so it doesn't introduce anything new and it becomes repetitive, unfortunately. A problem with a book where the author is describing his first hand observations is that he is dependent on real life to introduce some drama, which in this case is absent. I think there is a really good 200 page book in here if he had edited it but it's an OK 300 page book.
Apparently they are going to make a movie out of this (or have) so I assume that Hollywood will figure out some way to "dramatize" the story more than the book's author.
I was probably predisposed to love this book, but even if you don't love soccer, aren't interested in the psychology of basic human behavior and don't get choked up reading about the (almost unfathomable) hardships that people all over the world face-I still think this book will hold your attention. Not only is Warren St. John very readable, but stories of friendship, teammates and adolescent angst are just good subject matter. Handsdown-my current favorite.
I read this for my book club, and as part of this year’s Roanoke Valley Reads program. The program is designed to increase reading and foster a sense of community, and is supplemented with several discussion programs across the valley. This book was a particularly good pick, because like Clarkston, Roanoke is a refugee resettlement community. I had no idea until I read this book.
Overall, I thought this book was interesting and well-done. St. John shares with us a variety of refugee experiences, ranging from African civil and tribal wars to the war in Bosnia. Along the way, we learn a little about what started these conflicts, and how the refugees ended up that way. We also learn about a side of small-town politics that I’m sure the town of Clarkston wishes they didn’t have.
But it’s not all about taking the side of the refugees over the "natives" of Clarkston. It’s obvious that the refugee resettlement program has a lot of problems, and many of the problems in Clarkston could have been eliminated if the program was better managed. Other problems are cultural, and are harder to overcome.
There’s a lot of soccer talk in the book, but it’s easy to understand even for the uninitiated. Several of the people in the book club who didn’t know anything about soccer said they had no problem following what was going on.
The only thing I thought the book was missing was a more well-rounded depiction of Luma. We get a good idea of her background, but eventually she becomes rather one-dimensional. She’s just "Coach". I can’t pinpoint exactly what else I would have liked to know, just that there was something missing.
Several blog posts about this book and the Roanoke Valley Reads events can be found on the Roanoke Valley Reads web site.
Overall, I thought this book was interesting and well-done. St. John shares with us a variety of refugee experiences, ranging from African civil and tribal wars to the war in Bosnia. Along the way, we learn a little about what started these conflicts, and how the refugees ended up that way. We also learn about a side of small-town politics that I’m sure the town of Clarkston wishes they didn’t have.
But it’s not all about taking the side of the refugees over the "natives" of Clarkston. It’s obvious that the refugee resettlement program has a lot of problems, and many of the problems in Clarkston could have been eliminated if the program was better managed. Other problems are cultural, and are harder to overcome.
There’s a lot of soccer talk in the book, but it’s easy to understand even for the uninitiated. Several of the people in the book club who didn’t know anything about soccer said they had no problem following what was going on.
The only thing I thought the book was missing was a more well-rounded depiction of Luma. We get a good idea of her background, but eventually she becomes rather one-dimensional. She’s just "Coach". I can’t pinpoint exactly what else I would have liked to know, just that there was something missing.
Several blog posts about this book and the Roanoke Valley Reads events can be found on the Roanoke Valley Reads web site.
Read for Battle of the Books 2017
Very touching and well-written - I don't usually read nonfiction, but I'm really glad I read this one. So heartwarming, and I loved the characters (people) and their stories. Smooth writing style and transitions. Wow. I almost cried more than once.
Very interesting, emotional, and insightful.
Very touching and well-written - I don't usually read nonfiction, but I'm really glad I read this one. So heartwarming, and I loved the characters (people) and their stories. Smooth writing style and transitions. Wow. I almost cried more than once.
Very interesting, emotional, and insightful.