• Age: 8 to 12
• Grade: 3 to 7
• Reading age: 8 to 12

Separated from his family when they were forced to flee their home, a young East African boy named Deo lives alone in the Lukole refugee camp in Tanzania. With scarce resources at the camp, bullies have formed gangs to steal what they can, and a leader named Remy has begun targeting Deo. Then one day a coach gathers all the children to play soccer. Though Deo loves soccer and has even made his own ball out of banana leaves, he's unsure at first about joining in when he sees Remy on the field. But as Deo and the other boys get drawn into the game, everything begins to change. Their shared joy in playing provides the children --- including Remy --- with a sense of belonging. “Ball by ball, practice by practice, children who were once afraid of each other laugh together,” the book explains, and “no one feels so alone anymore.”

Based on a true story, Katie Smith Milway's inspiring tale shows how a desperate situation can be improved by finding common ground through play. It provides a perfect starting point for discussing the social justice issues surrounding the growing number of refugees worldwide. Award-winning Shane W. Evans's artwork powerfully and poignantly personalizes for children the experience of refugees. Furthermore, the book examines the value of using sports to build pro-social behavior, particularly as it relates to bullying. By depicting characters who change and evolve over the course of the story, kids of all backgrounds and experiences will find something positive to relate to. The back matter contains information about the “real” Deo, instructions for games that build trust and inclusion through play, and suggestions for how to support play-based nonprofit organizations.

Katie Smith Milway is the bestselling, award-winning author of One Hen and several other books in the CitizenKid collection. She has served on the board of World Vision U.S., coordinated community development programs in Latin America and Africa for Food for the Hungry International, and written several adult books on sustainable development in addition to working as senior advisor at The Bridgespan Group and principal at MilwayPLUS. A graduate of Stanford University, Katie spent a decade working in and around a dozen countries in Africa on sustainable development projects. She is based in Boston, Massachusetts.

Katie Smith Milway's profile page

Shane W. Evans is the illustrator of many picture books for children, including The Way a Door Closes, a Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award winner; Underground, a Coretta Scott King Award winner; My Brother Charlie, a NAACP Image Award winner; We March and Lillian's Right to Vote, Jane Addams Award winners; as well as Chocolate Me! and Mixed Me! He has exhibited his art in West Africa and Paris, as well as in Chicago, New York, and other major U.S. cities. He lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where he runs Dream Studio, a community art space.

Shane W. Evans' profile page

• Short-listed, Alberta Children's Choice Rocky Mountain Book Award
• Short-listed, Massachusetts Book Awards - Picture Book Category, Massachusetts Center for the Book
• Winner, Best Children's Books of the Year, Bank Street College
• Winner, Skipping Stones Honor List, Skipping Stones Magazine
• Short-listed, Silver Birch Express Award, Ontario Library Association
• Short-listed, CCBC Choices 2018, Cooperative Children's Book Center
• Winner, Eureka! Honor Award, California Reading Association
• Winner, Best Books for Kids & Teens, starred selection, Canadian Children's Book Centre

This outside-looking-in depiction of the power of play to bridge new relationships in Burundi serves as a universal lesson that all readers can draw on.

Kirkus Reviews

... this book is sure to prompt deep conversations.

School Library Connection

A moving story about how a single item can change a life and how playing can fill that life with joy.

Booklist

This title will fill the gaps of any collection looking for more materials on the refugee crisis, and Burundi refugees in particular, and how the power of organized play can positively impact a dark time in any community.

School Library Journal