I'm going to have to sit with this for a bit. This is my community, and Amy Bass did an incredible job capturing so much.

**Update 3/20** I realize in retrospect that "sit with this" sounds sort of ominous. I really meant that the experience of living in the community and knowing so many of the names and places and stories made this whole reading experience especially powerful, and at times, a little overwhelming. I needed a minute to process all of the emotions I felt (I laughed! I cried!).

I loved this book. I really appreciated that Bass didn't sugarcoat Lewiston or Maine and some of the real problems that exist, but also that she managed to capture the rugged and tenacious pride that is at the heart of everyone making a home here. This team did and continues to do something important and powerful, and I'm glad that just by doing what they love, they got a chance to share their truth. america immigrant-stories maine ...more15 s Betsy Tomlinson6

“He flashed back to when his family first arrived in Lewiston, the days when people told him to leave. His mother told him then to have a big heart, to have empathy. ‘When you love others,’ she said, ‘sincerely love them, you will eventually get it back.’ Looking at the crowd of Blue Devils fans - white, black, Muslim, Catholic, Somali, Franco - Shobow realized that his mother was right. While his community wasn’t perfect, it was better. He felt the stereotypes - terrorist, drug dealer, pirate - that had plagued him just a few years ago beginning to disappear. Here, he thought looking at the field, he was a proud Lewiston soccer player.”

Amy Bass does a magical job of weaving the nuanced and complicated local history into the narrative of the current group of Somali immigrants who make up the majority of the championship soccer team. She introduces us to the players and their families, and the hurdles they’ve faced. As we follow their championship season, we see the power of sport to bring a community together. The story of the season unfolds in a dramatic and suspenseful way - even when I knew the outcome, I couldn’t wait to read the details of each game and how the season progressed. And now I feel a fan of these kids, these coaches and teacher and the whole city.4 s Jesseca Timmons135

This is an incredibly powerful, uplifting, and beautifully written book: journalist Amy Bass tells the story of how the first predominantly African-American high school sports team in the history of the state of Maine won Lewiston's first state soccer championship. Bass uncovers the heartbreaking immigrant stories of the mostly Somalian, devout Muslim players, and how their families adjust to life the old mill city of Lewiston, Maine, their experiences mirroring the emigration of the French-speaking Acadians just a few generations before. While the players and families face racism and hatred, obstacles in Lewiston mostly pale in comparison with life in refugee camps, where most of the players grew up playing soccer barefoot and with nothing but a bundle of rags for a ball. Bass finds true heroes as well, including Lewiston High's legendary soccer coach, the high school staff, and the wider community. This story of how soccer bridges the chasm between two vastly different cultures gives one hope for our country. I would recommend to anyone!!4 s Dana70 2

Great story. I can't believe I live just across the river from this and I was completely oblivious to how good Lewiston's soccer team was (is). Congrats to the Blue Devils.4 s Rachel CullenAuthor 7 books89

This is an amazing book and an amazing story of sports bringing a town together. If you want to be inspired and feel good, this is the book for you!4 s Amber369 12

This is a great story--of a Maine high school soccer team full of east African immigrants that wins a state championship--but just an okay book. This book gives you an appreciation that this sort of non-fiction is very difficult to write. The author introduces you to lots of different characters and ideas, but ultimately none in enough depth that you feel you really understand the yin and yang of both the immigrant community and the nativist backlash. Much attention is paid to lionizing the coach, but you don't really feel you got to know him, either.

Leave this book aside and read a good newspaper article about what the team accomplished. 3 s Justin736 11

This one was close. The story's amazing, and once Bass gets to the final season of the main narrative, the book picks up considerably. Her structure in the first half is a little odd, with too many jumps. We meet most of the team and coaching staff, but few of them are fleshed out enough to really appreciate. A more linear opening, more details on the community's challenges, and some more time with key figures would have helped make this book into something really special. 3.5/5soccer3 s Stephen Rossetti17

I just finished reading One Goal over the weekend, and I loved it. Author Amy Bass will draw you in and immerse you into this amazing story of Somali refugees coming to America to escape the horrors of civil war and life in a refugee camp, and the town that took them in despite the misgivings of certain sectors of the populace. Everything is different for these kids – language, culture, food, even weather. Everything except soccer. Soccer is their rock, and they are able to coalesce around it to form new bonds of community, not only among the refugee population, but also with their adopted town of Lewiston, ME. But the town had to change too, adapting to new cultures, practices, and ways of life that these Somalis brought with them. Again, soccer is the catalyst, with the high school coach leading the way. The bond between these kids and their coach should be the envy of every high school team of any sport, with him providing structure, focus, encouragement, and support in and out of school, and them giving him their unwavering dedication and spirit. Amy Bass has thoroughly researched the subject, providing historical background of both Lewiston and the Somali refugee problem; political views permeating the population of Lewiston, Maine, and America; individual life stories; and even play-by-play narrative. One Goal is a very well told and engaging book, and I strongly recommend it. You will find yourself rooting for the Lewiston Blue Devils to go all the way!2 s MeherAuthor 1 book12

This is a book about soccer as much as Star Wars is about space travel. The sport, the unrelenting loyalty, team spirit, and passion it inspires is simply a conduit for Amy Bass to narrate a very American story. It's a story about communities in migration, about America and the free world it rushes to represent providing space and comfort to broken families. It's the story about a town, that could very well be the story of this country.

One Goal is surprisingly emotional, expectedly thrilling, and surprisingly cinematic. 2018 non-fiction2 s Kathy1,751 26

One Goal is one great book!

Lewiston, Maine, population 36,000 (96% of whom were white) agreed in 2001 to accept 7,000 African refugee (primarily Somalian) immigrants. Lewiston, which had been losing population for decades, and was somewhat looked down upon as a poor hard-scrabble town by other towns nearby, was virtually changed overnight.

Amy Bass does an excellent job of giving us the sociological background of the town, the impact to and reactions of the town of the influx of African immigrants, the racism that reared it's ugly head, an interesting look into the Somalian culture, the Islamic tenets, and wonderful insider views of the characters, the halls of the high school, and the soccer field.

Human nature has many conflicting inclinations; two of which are the desire to help others, and the want/need to feel "better than" someone else. The Somalian influx to Lewiston, brought out both. Townspeople who were all for the immigrants coming, suddenly weren't sure that they d the changes in their town. Anger grew among many. Meanwhile, the Somalian families were trying to learn a new language, acclimate to the vast differences in America versus where they had come from, while honoring their own culture and beliefs.

One Goal focuses primarily on the high-school soccer team, the impact the immigrants had on the team, and the team's ultimate impact on the town. For the male immigrants, soccer was life. They had played it every day since childhood, for hours on end. It was more than a sport to them - it was a way to communicate, to vent, to escape, to think things through, to focus - they could not imagine life without soccer. Their playing abilities on the field were nothing anyone had ever seen before. For the white athletes, soccer was a sport, a game. Coach Mike McGraw, taught them that playing soccer is one thing, playing as a team, with no thought to your own glory is another, playing as a brotherhood takes it even further. Coach Mike McGraw made that happen. With his down-to-earth ways, his strict but fair rules, his interest in his players as individuals, his recognizing the need to learn more about and respect the Somalian culture and Islamic religion, and incorporate that into the team, he molded and melded the team bit by bit.

During a break in practice he noticed the white players were resting on one end of the practice field, the black players on another. Yelling at them to gather in the center of the field and sit, he mixed up all up until he was satisfied with the reconfiguration. "Now they are speckled, he thought. Perfect." He then told them that they were to always be a team, on the field and off, acknowledging each other, spending time together, building relationships and respect. "We can teach the town" he told them, and they believed him. Always encouraging, playing off strengths and reducing each player's weaknesses, and unafraid to take someone to task, Coach McGraw consistently stressed that the only way they would win was together, as one team with one goal, the state championship.

The team began to win game after game, shutting out team after team. As the wins increased, the town became more interested in soccer and proud of their team. They began to see how the players and their families interacted, and were more open-minded as a result.

This is a wonderful, inspiring read. I think Mike McGraw is a hero, and a testament to how one person can change thousands of lives. Please don't miss this read!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Books for allowing me to read an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed here are my own. 5-stars-my-favorites netgalley non-fiction2 s Sunsettowers791 20

Full disclaimer first: The author of this book is my cousin. That said, I would have wanted to read this book regardless, and I would have loved it regardless. It's thought-provoking, uplifting, and inspiring, and a fascinating read.

One Goal tells the true story of a high school soccer team, where Somali refugees not only play alongside boys whose families can trace their Maine lineage back generations, but play as a band of brothers. They weather cruel words thrown at them by opposing teams' fans and by people who live in their own town, even by a mayor who asks that Somalis stop coming to "his town". Through all this, they are a team, who stick together, play together, and win together. They are led by Coach McGraw, who never gives up on them and loves them as his own, who inspires them to greater heights than they ever thought they could reach.

This is a book that is desperately needed today. In a time when there are so many divides between people, when there is once again a politician calling for refugees to stay away, we all need to be reminded that we are stronger together.

You will not be able to stop rooting for this high school team, and for the inspiring lesson they, and Bass, impart.non-fiction2 s Harry Miller4

This is a tremendous story which Amy relates deftly, never getting in the way of what is important, which is the triumph of the kids and the community... not just in soccer but in their lives and the town they live in. A real American story, with real everyday heroes and is so relevant and timely. Well done. 2 s NJB169 2

There is something universal, All-American about this story. As a soccer goalie’s mom—one who became the”hot” goalie whilst his team made a state run on a team where 50% of the students were of Hispanic heritage, I can truly relate to this book. Prejudice was thrown at my son’s team- hurtful words were yelled at the Hispanics & the white kids because they played with the other kids. My son’s team also thought it was hilarious when predominately Hispanic teams would call out plays in Spanish not realizing all the white kids could speak Spanish on his team. Amy Bass’ book is a universal story of how we must accept the changes in the USA & that each generation must come to grips with the new refuges & immigrants who populate & enhance & change our country.2 s Samantha2,887 9

Finally got to finish this one! It's really good. I love inspirational sports stories, and to read one that takes place in my home state, with events I remember, makes it even better. I will say that it also made me think about how far I've come in terms of racial/classist thinking, and where I might still need to go. Excellent book.non-fiction2 s Debbie2,210

It was so great to talk to this exceptional author who is a history professor and has become personally and passionately involved with the people of Lewiston.2 s Dana Clinton749 2

One Goal: A Coach, a Team, and the Game that Brought a Divided Town Together (by Amy Bass)...this was the local library's choice for our August zoom book group meeting, later tonight. Even though I have lived in Maine now for over 30 years, no real "Mainer" would consider me as belonging... I had heard snippets of news (since I don't have television, my snippets come from reading...) of the settlement of large numbers of Somali refugees in Lewiston, the poor community which was once a thriving mill town, of the uproar that caused in one of the whitest areas of the USA... (after all, 9/11 was a very recent memory, as well as the horrors of the terrorist wars in Somalia... from which these people were fleeing). So I learned a lot not just about this particular moment in the history of Maine, but much more about this beautiful state I live in. Lewiston is a "twin" city; Auburn, the other half, is much more well-t0-do, the home of Bates College, where I once spent a summer session for French teachers in 1988. It is a book which showcases many generous hearts who opened their hearts and their minds to welcome traumatized fellow human beings, especially Mike McGraw, head soccer coach of the Blue Devils of Lewiston High School. Telling the story of Lewiston and its refugees through the lens of the road to the Soccer State Champions of 2015 gave the book cohesion and allowed the social and political issues to be aired fully. It is a hopeful book, even as it is clear that hatred still abounds all around us. Amy Bass surely did her footwork, to be able to present the reality of soccer in often minute detail, as well as to make the history and present of a small Maine town come to life. I really enjoyed this read. The author's introduction gives us the trajectory of the book: "The meteoric rise of the Lewiston Blue Devils to the top ranks of U.S. high school soccer shows what happens when America works the way it is supposed to; the way it reads on paper. On the surface, the Blue Devils are a simple feel-good tale: refugee kids playing soccer. But theirs is more than just a great sports story. The Blue Devils made their championship run in one of the whitest states in America, in a city that didn't talk about hope for a long time. They played soccer while politicians debated Syrian refugees and American security, and the presidential campaign of Donald J. Trump generated headlines about the prospect of building a wall to keep out immigrants, illegal or otherwise." Brava, Amy Bass.1 Dirk LangeveldAuthor 1 book1 follower

Full disclosure: the author's sister is my former boss.

I'm not a huge sports fan, but every now and then I'll pick up a book about an athletic activity I do or a sports team I'm interested in. "One Goal" has certain parallels to "Faithful," Stephen King and Stewart O'Nan's chronicle of a year of Red Sox fandom they just happened to undertake when the team won the World Series for the first time in 86 years. Bass had similar good fortune when she followed the Lewiston High School soccer team in their quest for a state title in 2015 after losing the championship game the previous year.

The book gives an intimate look at the challenges the players faced during their season, which weren't just limited to the physical strain of the game. I lived in western Maine between 2007 and 2010, several years after Lewiston's Somali population had become established, and casual racism about these newcomers was commonplace (comments on the local newspaper often started with a tone-deaf "I'm not racist but..." before parroting stereotypes). Since the team was overwhelmingly Somali, Bass places the book in this context by tracing each player's upbringing, how they developed their love of soccer, and their strength in working toward a common goal in the face of bigotry.

The narrative is easy to follow despite its occasional sharp turns to recall certain games or discuss the family of an individual player. Coach Mike McGraw emerges as the quintessential gruff-but-lovable authority figure who quickly adapts to the new demographics of the team to be a strong guiding force. Soccer games are recounted in thrilling, immersive fashion.

While the story could easily be presented as a group of traditionally looked-down-upon outsiders providing a unifying force for the community to come together and rise above their differences, Bass avoids falling into such a simplistic happy ending. She notes how the team and their families were subject to continued pushback, ranging from monkey noises at games to statements by Maine's odious governor Paul LePage, and how the championship soccer game was soon followed by Donald Trump visiting the state and spewing falsehoods about the Somali community. It makes for a rather more bittersweet conclusion.

Bass does a truly exceptional job telling the story of the Blue Devils, and the appeal of "One Goal" should go well beyond traditional sports fans.1 Jenny876

I picked up this book visiting my parents in my home state of Maine. It is such an important book to read, particularly due to America’s current apoplexy regarding refugee settlement. This book tells the story of the outstanding soccer program in Lewiston, Maine, populated by a predominately black refugee team in the whitest state in the nation. The book starts with the team failing to win the championship for several years due to a variety of reasons, including foolishness and outside prejudice. The story then travels back to share the building years of the program and the resettlement stories of the players. The culmination in the final championship game is outstanding, revealing the power of the players to not only win the game but also unite the community, and hopefully, little by little, change the minds of the entire state. The title is both literal and symbolic, and it reveals the purpose of the book: that all of us can and should unite for one goal, whatever that may be, from soccer to revitalizing the economy to welcoming strangers and celebrating them. In the words of a player’s mother, “When you love others, sincerely love them, you will get it all back.”1 Jessie Allen208 9

The true story of the Lewiston High School soccer team, largely made up of refugees, and their quest for the state championship. I’ve literally never sat through an entire soccer game in my life, but I absolutely devoured this book. This was a wildly inspiring story of a community coming to grips with a demographic that changed overnight. Buying two more copies for my classroom library and making everybody (especially the people looking to re-elect Paul LePage and need a extra large dose of empathy) read this.1 Jennifer Fitzpatrick300 7

One Goal is more than the true story of a soccer team in Lewiston, Maine. It’s the story of how togetherness, compassion, tenacity, and overcoming adversity can have a positive impact on the -isms in our society, particularly racism. The impact of Coach McGraw and his team on this community stands as a hopeful sign for America. “Say it simple, he thought. ‘We are gonna do it together.’” Great truths well presented, Amy Bass. Thank you. 1 Cole Shepherd11 1 follower

Win, win, win, make it to the playoffs, lose in a heartbreaking defeat. This is what head soccer coach Mike McGraw felt his team went through every year. To his team's dismay, they went through it once again in their most recent season. Mike McGraw teaches and coaches at Lewiston High School in Maine. Lewiston has one of the most interesting demographics in Maine. Due to tensions in Somali and the rest of Africa, many Somalis became refugees in America. While the refugees were placed in certain cities, nothing stopped them from relocating once in America. A Somali community formed in Lewiston, attracting new refugees who were struggling with assimilating into American culture. The children attending school had a difficult time adjusting, but soccer was one of the few things Somali and American culture shared. Within the course of a few years, the soccer roster included more and more Somalis. One Goal is not a difficult read, but it sends a clear, simple message, racism can be solved by a better understanding of each other and each other's culture. There was a backlash due to the influx on Somalis that came down on Lewiston very suddenly. Students were what helped bridge the gap between the two very different communities. The students were at school together every day, they played sports together, and many of them became good friends. This helped parents gain a better understanding of the other community's cultures. While even today some Lewiston townspeople wish the Somalis would leave, the majority of them support their new neighbors. The book is structured in chronological order, with only the beginning out of place. One Goal starts with how the soccer team lost in the playoffs but then talks about the history of Lewiston and how the team made it to that point. It then goes on to tell the story of the soccer team's next season. One complaint I have about this book is that the pictures in the center of the book give away the ending without any warning. This would be a relevant book for today's society to read because of the current controversy over foreign refugees coming into America. This book helps give its readers a new perspective on the issues these refugees are facing.1 Michelle8 1 follower

I d this book a lot. It gives a different perspective in regards to the immigration ordeal we have going on. If Coach McGraw is as good of a person/man that this book reflects, I would love to buy him a beer someday.
As a former soccer player and high school coach, this book made me laugh out loud as well as tear up.1 Paula Hoy12

I really enjoyed this but mostly because of its familiarity (Maine soccer) - not sure if would have a very broad appeal. It it is an inspiring, beautiful story. (Made even better by Lewiston winning this year’s state championship again!)1 Kim Zoot Holmes313 40

Wouldn't normally have read this one (I don't usually read non-fiction and I'm not a sports person) but John Green recommended it and I'm so glad he did because I loved it. Fascinating story.1 Mary Baumer106

Amazing story.....audio1 Monica Ravreby394 4

Top notch true story of how one Maine soccer team taught the world about the positivity of diversity... a lesson for all that question... Thank you, Amy Bass.1 Lila Cummings3

This book was very moving. Its telling the real story of a small community taking in Somali's that came from a struggling place. It's really eye opening because it tells the stories of many children in the refugee camps. It explains the struggles of the kids and adults trying to fit in and learn the American way while keeping their culture and religion. It shows how one thing that the kids have in common can bring a community together, soccer. 1 Martha Curtis291 2

Born in Lewiston befor the influx of Somalians. Having only media bits of the Somalians in Lewiston the book was an education. Also learned some of the history of Lewiston. The story of the soccer team was great. 1 Theresa54 1 follower

I really loved this book and the story. To know some of the people and places made the story so powerful. Would highly recommend to any reader!1 Isaac13

Autor del comentario:
=================================