All Identities Change with Movement

“I wasn't like other kids.”

“I felt alone and tried to hide it...”

The novel's main character, Joey, is introduced in this excerpt. Joey is full of spunk, but he also has trouble focusing and controlling all of his urges—which sometimes leads him to make bad choices.

In this story, Hani faces the decision of removing her hijab in order to play in a basketball tournament or sitting on the bench and watching the game. With the support of her teammates, she stands up to injustice and makes an important decision.

This is the story of Kitty Lunn, who had an accident that left her a paraplegic. She went on to open her own dance company, and dance in the 1996 Olympics.

Michael and Cathy Hoffman recount how their son with Down syndrome is included on the middle school soccer team and how his teammates and opponents show support in a way that leads to his first goal.

“Traditional sports build cultural solidarity. In rural North Carolina, Tomás, a retired semi-professional soccer player from Mexico, co-founds an organized soccer league with family and fellow Central and Latin American undocumented immigrants. The common language of the sport forges bonds among the players and across generations, helping to foster more open communication between fathers and sons, and creates mentoring relationships with other adults. Moreover, the league's frequent games promote physical and psychological resilience in a community burdened by the risk of deportation.”