Outcasts United: A Refugee Team, an American Town by Warren St. John

Jan 19, 2009

Eleanor rated it

Shelves: non-fiction

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...more

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Mar 17, 2009

Marie rated it

Shelves: finished

"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 t...more

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Jan 18, 2012

Dindy rated it

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 reporte...more

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Nov 01, 2011

Jaime rated it

Shelves: 2011, non-fiction

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 exp...more

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Aug 28, 2011

Kathy Scantle rated it

· review of another edition

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 out...moreI 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.
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Jul 26, 2011

Patti from Charlotte added it

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 gam...more

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Jan 14, 2011

Jack Cheng added it

Terrific book about a Luma, a Jordanian woman who sets up a soccer program for kids in her community. Her community happens to be just outside of Atlanta, in Clarkston, GA, where international and American refugee agencies place refugee families. To help keep the boys out of trouble, and to help them integrate into their new life, Luma coaches teams comprised of Somalis, Bosnians, Sudanese, Iraqis -- the list goes on. And these are not just immigrants, they all carry with them traumatic stories ...more

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Nov 14, 2010

Robyn rated it

This is a true story about a refugee soccer team in suburban Atlanta. It really makes you think about multi-culturalism, as this community is undergoing such an intense transition. While some of the residents of the community were completely closed to change, some people were resistant to change because they were never included in the discussion about how to bring refugees into their community. They did become more open over time, but you had to wonder if it would have been a smoother transit...more

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Sep 25, 2010

Chris rated it

I read this after a newspaper article that said the book was required reading for all incoming freshmen at GA State. I figured it had to be "readable" and have a message. It's both. Even more interesting is that it takes place in Clarkston GA where I live and where I do volunteer literacy work with women refugees. The book was spot on about the older residents of Clarkston. The Fugee's bought land near our house to build a school and soccer field. They came around with a petition...more

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Feb 18, 2010

Matt rated it

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 bro...moreIf 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.(less)

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Nov 01, 2009

Tony rated it

Shelves: nonfiction

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...moreSince 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.(less)

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Oct 07, 2009

Maricruz Bravo added it

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 ...moreMaricruz 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.

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Oct 07, 2009

Mariana D'apuzzo rated it

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 oth...moreMariana 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.

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Oct 06, 2009

Elias Polonsky added it

“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 fr...more “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.
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Oct 06, 2009

Simon Lapscher rated it

Recommended to Simon by: Teacher

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 disadva...moreThis 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.

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Aug 19, 2009

Faith rated it

I see a world where all people accept each other as friends and neighbors and celebrate each person's uniqueness as a vital part of everyone's life, like threads in a tapestry.

This is my statement of my life vision. It's still more dream than reality, but every now and then something comes along that encourages me about the possibilities. Outcasts United: A Refugee Team, an American Town is one of those encouragements.

Outcasts United: A Refugee Team, an American Town is ...more

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Jun 17, 2009

Mary rated it

Shelves: culture

Everyone troubled by immigration, and especially the immigration of refugees to this country should read this book. St. John could have taken the easy way out and called the people of Clarkson, GA, simple racists, but he didn't. He showed how frightened they were by the refugees, by change, by the unknown. Still, the mayor wasn't likeable, and his wife even less.

Even though I teach ESL and have had several students who were refugees and had lived in camps for many years, I learned ...more

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May 21, 2009

Laurie rated it

Clarkston, Georgia: an Atlanta suburb, and a resettlement community for thousands of refugees from some of the most war-torn parts of the world. Outcasts United is the story of a youth soccer team (three teams, really) comprised of Clarkston's newest young residents. The teams, the Fugees, face nearly insurmountable odds. The players and their families have found themselves torn from home, in a foreign environment, with few resources. Backbreaking work schedules, few resources, and shell shock a...moreClarkston, Georgia: an Atlanta suburb, and a resettlement community for thousands of refugees from some of the most war-torn parts of the world. Outcasts United is the story of a youth soccer team (three teams, really) comprised of Clarkston's newest young residents. The teams, the Fugees, face nearly insurmountable odds. The players and their families have found themselves torn from home, in a foreign environment, with few resources. Backbreaking work schedules, few resources, and shell shock all haunt the resettled families of Clarkston. But many of the children from these families share a love of soccer. Under the direction of a dedicated coach, Luma Mufleh, a Jordanian woman looking to find her niche in the United States, the Fugees create a team, against seemingly insurmountable odds. The Fugees lack equipment and practice space, they also face significant opposition from the longtime residents of Clarkston, including the mayor and city council. Clarkston is clearly a town in transition, and one that is having a hard time handling that transition. In telling the story of Clarkston and the Fugees, St. John has crafted an engaging narrative that wraps hope and seeming hoplessness into a story in which its nearly impossible to not root for the kids. Throughout the book St. John remains sympathetic to all of the parties in the book. It's easy to cheer on the kids; the longtime residents of Clarkston are less sympathetic. Still, St. John does an admirable job of trying to understand the myriad of problems Clarkston's mayor, in particular, tries to manage as he deals with a growing population with diverse needs. This is a story about a community, but it is also important to note that this is a story about a soccer team too. For those who are not terribly interested in soccer (such as myself), I did find there to be quite a bit of discussion of the sport- the plays manuevers used during the games. This I did not care for quite as much, and found myself thumbing forward a few pages for most of the in-depth discussions of gametime. That said, there is still much here to interest the general reader of literary non-fiction. I was taken with the Fugees' story, and I am certain many other readers will be too. (less)

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May 06, 2009

Kim rated it

Shelves: read-in-2009

After reading "Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer," Warren St. John's previous book detailing the personalities who follow the Alabama football team in their RVs during football season, I was looking forward to "Outcasts United." I anticipated another examination of the intersection of personal stories, cultural attitudes, and sport.

In this, I was not disappointed. "Outcasts United" does an admirable job of getting at the larger story surrounding a young soccer...more

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Sep 11, 2009

Maggie rated it

Shelves: 2009-fall-challenge, favorites, made-me-cry-like-a-baby, read-2009

This might be my favorite book of 2009 so far! I loved it!

I'm a part time nanny for a great family, and William, the father, is a friend of Warren St. John, the author. William, knowing that I like to read, had offered to lend me this book multiple times and I always sort of said, "sure, it sounds great!" While thinking, eh, it's about soccer, whatever.

I knew that it took place in Atlanta, where I lived until I went to college, and where most of my family sti...moreThis might be my favorite book of 2009 so far! I loved it!

I'm a part time nanny for a great family, and William, the father, is a friend of Warren St. John, the author. William, knowing that I like to read, had offered to lend me this book multiple times and I always sort of said, "sure, it sounds great!" While thinking, eh, it's about soccer, whatever.

I knew that it took place in Atlanta, where I lived until I went to college, and where most of my family still lives, but I had NO IDEA that it's set literally a few miles from where I grew up and even closer to where my parents live now!

So that's probably part of the reason I feel such a special connection to this book, but honestly, I think you should read it no matter where you live. It's such an inspiring story.

Refugees from all over the world have ended up in Clarkston, Ga. They have no money, often they can't speak a word of English and they have left everything they've known behind in their homelands, hoping to find a safer and happier place to raise their families. They come to Clarkston and find that they still have the cards stacked against them. While moms and dads are gone for very long hours working and trying to make ends meet, kids have the temptation of gangs, drugs or the chance of just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The older population of Clarkston isn't happy about this influx of refugees, which doesn't help these people feel any more welcome in a strange land.

In comes Luma, a sort of refugee herself. Estranged from her family in Jordan, she's ended up in Atlanta and is sort of floundering. On a whim, she drives through Clarkston and meets several of these boys. She sees a need, they need structure, something to do after school, and are great soccer players.

It isn't easy, and there are a lot of obstacles, and trials and tribulations, but she ends up with a team in every sense of the word.

There were lots of part of this book that made me sad, the stories of these families, what they have seen and been through is heartbreaking! And it was especially sad knowing that there was such hatefulness and bigotry, not to mention crime, that was happening just steps from my home. But this book gives me hope, as corny as that sounds, that with a little bit of patience, hard work and understanding we can all work and live together happily.

PS-if you live in the Atlanta area and you haven't been to the Dekalb Farmers Market GO! It's awesome, they have stuff from ALL OVER the world.(less)

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Jun 08, 2009

Gloria rated it

Shelves: 2009

It is an amazing story of what one person can do to help a group of strangers who have no one in the world. Luma Muflef, the soon to be coach of the Fugees, finds herself relating to the isolation of the refugees that relocated to Clarkston, Georgia's resettlement center. She offers to coach three boys teams from U-17 to U-13. She does it for no salary and soon finds herself immersed in her player's lives.

Warren St. John really emphasizes the circular nature of the player's live...more

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Feb 22, 2011

Lana rated it

Story about a Jordanian woman living in Atlanta who sees a need as refugees come pouring into the community. She not only coaches soccer, but becomes a friend and mentor to families as they struggle to heal from tragedies they are escaping and adjust to a new culture and language at the same time.

Quote from the book (pp.222-3): "The refugees Cole worked with came from literally dozens of different countries and ethnic groups, and yet there was something culturally similar about...more

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Jul 07, 2010

Greg rated it

· review of another edition

From http://weeksnotice.blogspot.com/2010/07/...

A feel good story about refugees coming together while playing soccer sounds trite, but in Outcasts United Warren St. John manages to show enough of everyone's rough edges to bring out a great story.* A Jordanian woman, Luma Mufleh, came to Clarkston, Georgia and created soccer teams for boys composed of the rapidly growing refugee population there in the small town South. The story avoids sappiness or oversimplification.

Th...moreFrom http://weeksnotice.blogspot.com/2010/07/...

A feel good story about refugees coming together while playing soccer sounds trite, but in Outcasts United Warren St. John manages to show enough of everyone's rough edges to bring out a great story.* A Jordanian woman, Luma Mufleh, came to Clarkston, Georgia and created soccer teams for boys composed of the rapidly growing refugee population there in the small town South. The story avoids sappiness or oversimplification.

There is no climax per se, but rather a constant fight against poverty, exclusion, and fear. Insert your "against all odds" cliche here. Nonetheless, it is very well-written and avoids black-and-white descriptions of the reactions to the refugees. St. John talks to everyone, and many of the people (some of the local politicians, community leaders, parents from other soccer teams, etc.) are more sympathetic than you might first think.

From a policy perspective, the book raises the point that immigration agencies do not bother coordinating with local government. They find communities with available cheap housing and ready public transportation access to metro areas (in this case Atlanta). They then bring in large numbers of people and say nothing to local officials, who find themselves in a sink or swim situation that raises tensions. When St. John attended the single meeting set up between local elected officials and immigration agencies, he actually portrayed the latter in a negative light, as they became defensive and implied everyone was discriminatory.

One point St. John does not explore is the question of soccer itself. Clarkston's mayor kept rejecting requests to play on a city field, saying that only baseball could be played there. An undertone of the first part of the book is the idea that soccer is foreign. Yet the second half of the book gives all sorts of examples of how wealthy Americans love soccer and support it. Do people dislike soccer, or just immigrants playing soccer? If a group of Spanish-speaking kids wanted to play baseball, would baseball also be banned? This is relevant in the context of the World Cup--media commentators discuss how foreign soccer is, it is slow, we're not used to ties, etc., yet millions of kids play it all the time, even in the deep South.(less)

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Apr 05, 2009

Ferris rated it

If you want to read about kids, soccer, politics, refugees, acceptance, courage, and discipline all in one book, then here is an excellent selection. I found "Outcasts United: A Refugee Team, an American Town", by Warren St. John, to be an outstanding book. St. John's writing style immediately engages the reader on multiple levels. He weaves in and out and around the intimate details of the individual and the macro-level sociopolitical issues of many different nations, and he does e...more

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Jan 19, 2012

Denise rated it

I really liked this book! I am not very educated about the game of soccer, but that doesn't really matter in reading this book. The crux of the story is about the life of the immigrants trying to settle in small town Georgia. They come from such diverse backgrounds and speak many different languages. They were all escaping from war-torn countries and had lived through extreme trauma. Then they get thrust into a small town that doesn't accept them or really try to help them. And they live i...more

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Jan 05, 2012

Mallory rated it

· review of another edition

I first heard of the Fugees soccer team and Luma Mufleh in a 2008 Sports Illustrated article that I saved because it was such a moving story. This book expands on that article and gives a greater background to the boys, their families, and their individual stories of flight and survival from their respective countries. Luma is hard-nosed but compassionate and to me, epitomizes the ideal coach. The struggles these kids face to immediately fit in to American culture shed light on the many inadequa...more

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Aug 08, 2009

J.C. rated it

Recommends it for: soccer fans, anyone who loves good journalism

Shelves: audiobooks

I picked this book up on a whim--needed an audio book for a long car trip and the store was closing in 5 minutes. The word "heartwarming" on the cover caught my attention, as I wasn't looking for anything sad or too intense.

It was a good choice! I thoroughly enjoyed this quality work of top-notch journalism. In fact, it reminded me how much I enjoy an authentic American story that is well-researched and well-written. It's a story about a Jordanian woman, Luma, who decided ...more

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Jan 18, 2012

Katie rated it

Although I love the story of the Fugees, I was highly disappointed in this book. The author did not do a great job writing this book. He makes Coach Luma sound like demanding and somewhat angry coach. On the contrary, Luma is a passionate (and fun) coach who truly cares about her team. This book was a "required" reading for the freshmen at Oklahoma City University, and as part of the reading, the university brought Coach Luma in to speak about the book. Well, she didn't speak about...more

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Aug 11, 2011

Jorge rated it

· review of another edition

It is very rare for me to finish a book in the middle of the night and immediately have the desire to post something about it on goodreads. When it happens, its not usually for the better (See Agincourt)...So tonight I want to praise a book that left me well, flabbergasted. It is more than a mush story, it is inspirational, and I was amazed by the dedication of the "coach" yet she is no portrayed as a superhuman. At times I would even say she is wildly irrational and so on. One thing I...more

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Jul 07, 2011

Susan rated it

I know that a lot of my friends wouldn't touch this with a 10-foot pole because it's "a soccer book." But the truth is, it is a great deal more than a soccer book, and the story it tells is an important one, often overlooked, I'd wager, by those of us who aren't living in a place like Clarkston, Georgia. A smallish town outside Atlanta, Clarkston experienced, in about one decade's time, a near doubling of its population. The incoming residents were almost entirely refugees. The ref...more

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