An uplifting underdog story that will appeal to readers interested in the immigrant experience and the surprising role...
An inspiring account of a young Jordanian immigrant who created Fugees, a soccer program for refugees from war-torn nations.
Adapted from an adult book of the same title, St. John tells the story of how Luma Mufleh formed a soccer team composed of young refugees from all over the world, rescued by the U.N. High Commission for Refugees and living together in a crime-ridden settlement in suburban Atlanta. After seeing refugee children playing soccer in vacant lots around town, Mufleh persuaded the local YMCA to fund a free soccer program and signed on as its unpaid coach. The children she recruited came from such war-ravaged countries as Liberia, Sudan, Zaire, Kosovo and Afghanistan. The team offered youngsters traumatized by civil war and genocide the chance to enjoy a familiar recreation and an alternative to gangs. In addition to coaching, Mufleh often acted as counselor and surrogate parent to children whose own parents worked long hours. Though insightful about immigration and the challenges of assimilation, the fast-paced account lacks sufficient detail about the experiences that forced the players to leave their home countries.
An uplifting underdog story that will appeal to readers interested in the immigrant experience and the surprising role sports can play in people’s lives. (Nonfiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Sept. 11, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-385-74194-1
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A provocative shot but far from a slam-dunk.
After a promising young talent is shot dead on a neighborhood basketball court, the game takes on new meaning for a community in mourning.
Middle schooler Tony “Tone” Washington lost a close friend when a police officer opened fire on honor student Dante Jones, cutting the nationally ranked basketball player’s life short. The working-class Milwaukee neighborhood Tone and his family live in is no stranger to injustice, so in the aftermath, a rally, protest, and candlelight vigil are organized in tragically routine fashion. All the while, Tone’s focus is on making an elite local AAU basketball team, partially in commemoration of his late friend but also because—despite recognizing some of the disconcerting aspects of so much of your future being determined as a young teen—the sport takes up a significant space in the lives and dreams of the boys in his neighborhood. But the overlap of hoop dreams and police brutality ultimately makes for some uncomfortable and uneven narrative beats. As Tone narrates his interactions with Dante’s younger brother, Terry, the latter boy is obviously and justifiably angry and hurt because of his very personal loss, making Tone’s dogged focus on basketball strike a hollow note. Despite some compelling reflections on community and emotional health, sports clichés abound on the way to the national championship, and the impact of Dante’s death only three months earlier is not fully explored. Most characters are assumed Black.
A provocative shot but far from a slam-dunk. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-306959-6
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
A solid, warmhearted Sapphic romance showing how joy emerges when the bullies aren’t in charge.
Sixteen-year-old Ellie Young, bullied in middle school for her then-undiagnosed autism, believes she’s solved her social life challenges.
Following her rules (like “Rule #4: Always keep the topic of the conversation on the other person”)—even when that means hiding her true self, as her therapist points out—at least leads to people treating her “like a human being.” So it’s unfair when her boyfriend, Daniel Solomon, dumps her, drunkenly telling everyone she lacks personality. He’d invited her to attend beach volleyball camp, and even though she doesn’t enjoy kissing him and is strangely unbothered about the breakup, she plans to use the camp to make him want to get her back—proving that he was wrong about her being “cute but boring.” Ellie and her social circle at school are cued white; her group of new camp friends comprise a mix of religions, ethnicities, races, sexualities, and gender expressions. Also unlike school, at camp “the people who normally hide in the shadows to protect themselves get to live a little without constantly being judged.” The biggest complication is Sierra Levine, the white-presenting daughter of a beach volleyball legend. Ellie can’t understand why she’s so drawn to Sierra—until she finally gets it, complicating everything. Although the secondary characters are minimally developed, the pacing is nice and light. Schae’s pleasant debut offers a humane, compassionate view of teens supporting each other in pain and joy.
A solid, warmhearted Sapphic romance showing how joy emerges when the bullies aren’t in charge. (Romance. 14-16)Pub Date: May 12, 2026
ISBN: 9798217033263
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
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