A rich and inspiring true story about a youth soccer team in Georgia made up of refugees from around the world. Twenty years ago, Clarkston, Georgia was practically a ghost town. Now a federally designated refugee center, the town is filled with women and children from all over the world. Bestselling author Warren St. John delivers a dramatic account of the team, the town, and the amazing woman who brought a community together.
About the Author :
Warren St. John is a reporter for The New York Times and the author of the national bestseller Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer.
Review :
"Not merely about soccer, St. John's book teaches readers about the social and economic difficulties of adapting to a new culture and the challenges facing a town with a new and disparate population. Despite their cultural and religious differences and the difficulty of adaptation, the Fugees came together to play soccer. This wonderful, poignant book is highly recommended..."
-Library Journal, starred review A "richly detailed, uplifting account of a young Jordanian immigrant who created a soccer program in Georgia for young refugees from war-torn nations . . . educational and enriching."
- Kirkus Reviews
"St. John hits a trifecta . . . A fascinating and fast-moving account of big-picture politics, small-town sports, and some very memorable people."
-Booklist
"Inspiring...richly detailed...Deeply satisfying...a bighearted book."
-Shelf Awareness
"As St. John tells it, the Fugees' story is something of a radical social experiment: a test case in 21st-century immigration and identity politics. But it's also a deeply moving example of what men and women of goodwill can do."
-Very Short List
"A brilliant and empathetic depiction of our common quest for meaning and happiness. Warren St. John invites us into the lives of a community of refugees, their bewildered neighbors in a small town, and a Jordanian woman who not only coaches but also mentors, mothers, and inspires some remarkable boys, to create a heartwarming tale about the transformations that occur when our disparate lives connect."
-Ishmael Beah, author of A Long Way Gone
"Truly unforgettable, Outcasts United offers a stirring lesson in the power of a single person to transform the lives of many. It's an incisive window into the world ahead for all of us, where cultural diversity won't be an ideal or a course requirement or a corporate initiative but a fact of life that has to be wrestled with and reconciled, if never quite resolved."
-Reza Aslan, author of No God but God
