lewiston (me.)

The true story of a high school soccer team in Lewiston, Maine that helped to unite the town of multigenerational Mainers with the Somali refugees in the quest for state and national glory.

Over the past 15 years, the town of Lewiston, Maine-once a booming mill town that had fallen on harder times-- has improbably become one of the most Islamic towns in America. Some 6000 Somali immigrants have settled there, drastically changing the makeup of a town of 36,000 people in total. Lewiston now has the third highest per capita Muslim population of any U.S. city Cynthia Anderson tells the story of this fractious yet resilient town and how it is thriving in a new era. With empathy and honesty, she delivers a dramatic portrait of a community grappling with change, while humanizing one of the most defining political issues in America today. Her reporting takes the reader deep into the lives of both immigrants and lifelong Mainers to tell the story of America's relationship to Islam, and deliver an honest refutation of the idea that we'd be better off without change.

"In the tradition of Friday Night Lights and Outcasts United, ONE GOAL tells the inspiring story of the soccer team in a town bristling with racial tension that united Somali refugees and multi-generation Mainers in their quest for state--and ultimately national--glory. When thousands of Somali refugees resettled in Lewiston, Maine, a struggling, overwhelmingly white town, longtime residents grew uneasy. Then the mayor wrote a letter asking Somalis to stop coming, which became a national story. While scandal threatened to subsume the town, its high school's soccer coach integrated Somali kids onto his team, and their passion began to heal old wounds. Taking readers behind the tumult of this controversial team--and onto the pitch where the teammates vied to become state champions and achieved a vital sense of understanding--ONE GOAL is a timely story about overcoming the prejudices that divide us"--.

"... tells the inspiring story of the soccer team in a town bristling with racial tension that united Somali refugees and multi-generation Mainers in their quest for state--and ultimately national--glory. When thousands of Somali refugees resettled in Lewiston, Maine, a struggling, overwhelmingly white town, longtime residents grew uneasy. Then the mayor wrote a letter asking Somalis to stop coming, which became a national story. While scandal threatened to subsume the town, its high school's soccer coach integrated Somali kids onto his team, and their passion began to heal old wounds."--Provided by publisher.