Sarimah has played soccer in both her home in Syria and then in a Turkish refugee camp, honing her skills there with an old soccer ball on a sandy field with any kids she could find. But when her family suddenly moves to Canada, Sarimah is too busy learning English and getting used to the cold Saskatoon winter to think about her favourite game. She is surprised to find that the kids at her school play soccer in the snow, but she feels clumsy and slow in her winter coat and boots. And she doesn't understand why Tamsen, her classmate and star of the girls league team, has decided she doesn't like Sarimah. But Sarimah finds that playing soccer in the snow is like playing the game in the sand. Her skills win her a place on the league team, even though Tamsen is convinced that the chance is given to Sarimah as charity. Sarimah has to find out if she has what it takes to play organized soccer on an indoor field, to show Tamsen that she deserves a place on the team, and to learn to love her new home as much as she loves the game.
Author
David is a father of three little girls and an award-winning journalist turned author. He's published two middle-grade books for reluctant readers with a third expected in early 2018 for the Sports Stories series through Lorimer Kids and Teens. He enjoys trying to weave classic sports themes of teamwork, dedication, and loyalty alongside more challenging, modern-day topics (like race, culture, and class). It's all in hopes young readers can more easily identify with the characters they might be reading about in his books. When he's not making school lunches, dropping kids at school, picking kids up at school (or gymnastics or ballet or soccer or birthday parties)...he's trying to write and read as much as possible.
