Clarkston, Georgia, has had an influx of refugees since the late 1980s. Luma Mufleh, a Jordanian woman who came to the United States for college and decided to remain, was living in nearby Atlanta when she drove through Clarkston and caught sight of boys playing pick-up soccer. She soon had organized a team, the Fugees, which grew into several teams for different age groups. Luma had experience coaching but no background in teaching or social work. But she quickly realized these kids from war-torn countries like Afghanistan, Kosovo, Somalia, and Liberia needed more help than soccer alone could provide. She set up tutoring sessions and required her players to go if they wanted to stay on the team—and they did want to stay on the team. She bought food for families when food stamps ran out. She attended parent/teacher conferences. She also had to battle city leaders as she looked for a safe place for her teams to practice. Demanding of the kids both on and off the field, Luma’s innate sense of what to do, and how to adjust when things weren’t working, is remarkable. Journalist Warren St. John tells this inspiring story in an adaptation of his adult book of the same name (Spiegel & Grau, 2009). An afterword details what has happened since the 2006 soccer season, when this account ends, including the fact that Luma’s program has now expanded to include a school. (Age 11 and older)

A moving account of how a soccer team made up of diverse refugees inspired an entire community here in the United States.
 
Based on the adult bestseller, Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference, this young people's edition is a complex and inspirational story about the Fugees, a youth soccer team made up of diverse refugees from around the world, and their formidable female coach, Luma Mufleh.
 
Luma Mufleh, a young Jordanian woman educated in the United States and working as a coach for private youth soccer teams in Atlanta, was out for a drive one day and ended up in Clarkston, Georgia, where she was amazed and delighted to see young boys, black and brown and white, some barefoot, playing soccer on every flat surface they could find. Luma decided to quit her job, move to Clarkston, and start a soccer team that would soon defy the odds. Despite challenges to locate a practice field, minimal funding for uniforms and equipment, and zero fans on the sidelines, the Fugees practiced hard and demonstrated a team spirit that drew admiration from referees and competitors alike.
 
Outcasts United explores how the community changed with the influx of refugees and how the dedication of Lumah Mufleh and the entire Fugees soccer team inspired an entire community. 


Praise for Outcasts United
 
“An uplifting underdog story.”—Kirkus Reviews
 
“Motivating messages that will resonate with teen readers.”—School Library Journal, Starred Review

 
Praise for Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference
 
“Wonderful, poignant book is highly recommended..."–Library Journal, Starred Review
 
“Engagingly written.”—School Library Journal
 
“Richly detailed, uplifting … educational and enriching.”—Kirkus Reviews
 
“Dee"Inspiring...richly detailed...Deeply satisfying...a bighearted book."—Shelf Awareness