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1 Beaverton Sports and Fitness- Soccer

The Boys from Little Mexico: A Season Chasing the American Dream

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The Boys from Little Mexico: A Season Chasing the American Dream Cover

ISBN13: 9780807021675
ISBN10: 0807021679
Condition: Standard
Dustjacket: Standard
All Product Details

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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

The all-Hispanic boys' soccer team from Woodburn High has made the playoffs for nineteen straight years. As they prepare to make it twenty, the boys are determined that this will be the season they beat the wealthy suburban schools around them and finally win the Oregon state championship. Their spirited drive gives a rare sense of hope and unity to a blue-collar farming community that has been transformed by waves of immigrants over recent decades, a town locals call Little Mexico.

In 2005, Woodburn High's Bulldogs, aka Los Perros, will start the season with eight undocumented students, three boys who speak almost no English, a midfielder groomed to play for a pro Mexican team, a goalkeeper living in his third foster home, and an Irish-descended white coach desperate to lead all of them to success. Watched over by a south Texas transplant — a surrogate father to half the squad — this band of brothers must learn to come together on the field and look after each other off it.

More than just riveting sports writing, The Boys from Little Mexico is also about the fight for the future of the next generation and a hard, true look at boys dismissed as gangbangers, told to go home by lily-white sideline crowds. At school, these kids battle academically in a country where barely half of all Hispanic boys graduate and fewer still make it to college. Now, in a gutsy quest for their first state championship, one thing will become clear: Los Perros play the beautiful game with heart, pride, and their lives on the line. The wins and losses they notch along the way spin a striking and fast-paced tale of how sometimes it takes more than raw talent, discipline, and passion to capture the American Dream.

Review:

"In The Boys from Little Mexico, Steve Wilson does more than chase the American Dream — he captures it on the move. Wilson provides us with a glimpse of the future of sports in America, one that promises to be as rich and compelling as the past." Glenn Stout, author and Series Editor of The Best American Sports Writing

Review:

"I hate soccer ... but I loved this book. Steve Wilson has written a story where culture, sport, and good writing collide." Larry Colton, former pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies and author of Counting Coup

Review:

"Just as Buzz Bissinger did in Friday Night Lights, Steve Wilson manages to achieve the unexpected: a book about sports that turns out to be about so much more. He wrests poetry out of these boys' lives, while aiming directly for that one destination where we all seek home — the heart." Luis Alberto Urrea, author of Into the Beautiful North and The Devil's Highway

Review:

"With compassion and an unflinching eye, Steve Wilson offers us through sports a preview of a new America, one whose people may look different, but whose virtues of what we like to believe in ourselves remain triumphantly the same." Howard Bryant, ESPN senior writer and author of The Last Hero

Synopsis:

One gutsy team plays the beautiful game with heart, pride, and their lives on the line, in an extraordinary cross between Friday Night Lights and Enrique's Journey.
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About the Author

Steve Wilson lives with his family in Portland, Oregon, and teaches at Portland State University. This is his first book.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 3 comments:
bakesus, January 28, 2011 (view all comments by bakesus)
A non-fiction narrative, this is the story of the all Latino soccer team from Woodburn, Oregon and the challenges these boys and their coaches face both on the field and off. Giving faces to the invisible, mostly Mexican immigrant kids trying to make it in a new and sometimes hostile country helps all of us to see each other more clearly.
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MP DeGroot, July 20, 2010 (view all comments by MP DeGroot)
As a native Oregonian and soccer fan, I enjoyed this book. It was fun to read about places I've long known, and discover places I haven't been before, even though they are in my backyard. It was also fun to stumble across familiar names quite unexpectedly. I liked how the story focused on the boys as people and gave insights into their background that helped shape them. The backstories added a lot of depth to the characters. I also appreciated knowing a little more about what happened to these boys after the season ended. I found myself rooting for the Woodburn team and wanting all the boys to succeed, both on the field and off. The only part I didn't like was the characterization of the nearby communities as somehow being at fault and cast negatively for having the resources to send their kids to camps and play in private soccer clubs. Maybe I'm just defensive because I'm a resident of these "privileged, affluent" areas, but I didn't like being painted with that brush, because I don't think it's a generalization that applies to everyone in my community. Otherwise, it was a fun read that really brings home the importance that team sports can play in the lives of kids, and what a difference a caring, engaged adult/coach can do.
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traceyweidner, May 31, 2010 (view all comments by traceyweidner)
Octavio. Carlos. Omar. Cheo. Chuy. Coach Flannigan. Getting snippets into each of their lives and the decisions each of them made to bring them together in Woodburn was fun to follow. Steve Wilson has written a book that is engaging and real. I felt like he was telling me a story, not simply writing a book, because I could imagine these individuals as I read. The triumphs felt real. The obstacles and concerns were real. I've always enjoyed the Woodburn community when I pass through and now I have a lot more love for both the community and their soccer team. Go Bulldogs! Go Los Perros!
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780807021675
Subtitle:
A Season Chasing the American Dream
Author:
Wilson, Steve
Publisher:
Beacon Press
Subject:
Soccer players - Mexico
Subject:
Soccer - Oregon - Woodburn
Subject:
Soccer
Subject:
Adoption & Fostering
Subject:
Emigration & Immigration
Subject:
General Social Science
Subject:
Sports and Fitness-Soccer
Edition Description:
Trade Cloth
Publication Date:
20100601
Binding:
Hardback
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
256
Dimensions:
9.25 x 6.15 x .9 in 1.1 lb
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Related Subjects

Health and Self-Help » Child Care and Parenting » Adoption and Foster Care
History and Social Science » Ethnic Studies » Immigration
Sports and Outdoors » Sports and Fitness » Soccer » General

The Boys from Little Mexico: A Season Chasing the American Dream Used Hardcover
0 stars - 0 reviews
$17.50 In Stock
Product details 256 pages Beacon Press - English 9780807021675 Reviews:
"Review" by , "In The Boys from Little Mexico, Steve Wilson does more than chase the American Dream — he captures it on the move. Wilson provides us with a glimpse of the future of sports in America, one that promises to be as rich and compelling as the past."
"Review" by , "I hate soccer ... but I loved this book. Steve Wilson has written a story where culture, sport, and good writing collide."
"Review" by , "Just as Buzz Bissinger did in Friday Night Lights, Steve Wilson manages to achieve the unexpected: a book about sports that turns out to be about so much more. He wrests poetry out of these boys' lives, while aiming directly for that one destination where we all seek home — the heart."
"Review" by , "With compassion and an unflinching eye, Steve Wilson offers us through sports a preview of a new America, one whose people may look different, but whose virtues of what we like to believe in ourselves remain triumphantly the same."
"Synopsis" by , One gutsy team plays the beautiful game with heart, pride, and their lives on the line, in an extraordinary cross between Friday Night Lights and Enrique's Journey.
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