A Team of Their Own

July 8, 2019
In this entertaining history, New York Times journalist Berkman follows the South Korean women’s national hockey team for the year leading up to the 2018 Olympics. Losing games by as much as 29-0, the squad was a nonentity on the international scene. But thanks to American coach Sarah Murray and the addition of North American “imports” of Korean descent (such as Marissa Brandt, a Korean adoptee who grew up playing hockey in Minnesota, and Grace Lee, whose family immigrated to the U.S.), the team won their division at the World Championship and were poised to be a surprise contender at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in 2018. But then the South Korean government unified the team with the North Korean team just weeks before the games were to begin. Adding players with less skill and distinct cultural differences threatened to derail the team, but, Berkman notes, the players bonded and made it work. The author shines at describing the roller-coaster ride through the Olympics, during which the unified Korean team scored one of their only two goals of the tournament against Japan (“No matter how far North and South drifted apart... few activities brought them closer than rooting against Japan”). Berkman unveils a great story of women’s hockey that’s sure to thrill those rooting for the underdog.

August 15, 2019
A tale of unlikely friendships and camaraderie forged through ice hockey. Just before the opening of the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, the South Korean women's ice hockey team became the only team to include North Koreans on its roster. The Unified team fought hard on the ice, but their opponents proved too strong, and the team lost each of their matches. Nonetheless, they won the hearts of Koreans from both sides as well as those from countries around the world. In this feel-good tale of women athletes suddenly placed in the international spotlight, New York Times contributor Berkman takes readers behind the scenes of the South Korean team. He shows each player's immense passion for a sport that was often not considered suitable for young women. He discusses the American and Canadian Koreans, or "imports," who were brought in to bolster the team prior to the games and the impact they had on the South Koreans. He shares each woman's hopes, dreams, and determination to play despite the odds and sacrifices each needed to make, including using old equipment and practicing at late hours due to lack of funds and support from sponsors. "Prior to South Korea being named the host of the 2018 Olympics," writes the author, "a majority of the women's team felt that [the Korean Ice Hockey Association] never really cared about them to begin with. Even before the Games, they earned just $50 a day." In addition to exploring the gender discrimination at play, Berkman weaves in bits of history about the two Koreas and their hostilities toward Japan. Ultimately, what shines through is the women's passion for their sport and the bonds they forged on and off the ice, alliances that cross an array of boundaries. A well-written, impassioned story of sports, friendship, and determination.

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September 1, 2019

Much was made of North Korea's participation in the 2018 Winter Olympics. However, the makeup of the Korean women's hockey team was more unique than most realized. South Korea had an existing women's hockey program but with the spotlight of hosting increasing pressure to qualify, officials decided to recruit Korean-born players from the United States and Canada. New York Times journalist Berkman spends a large portion of this book providing extensive backstories for the original Korean team members and for the "imports," chronicling how the two groups slowly came together as a team and went from being resentful strangers to the closest of friends. They were then once again forced to adapt when the decision was made to add North Korean players to create a unified team. Though there is plenty about hockey, the focus here is clearly on the personalities and experiences of the women and their relationships with their country and one another. VERDICT This poignant story showcases the bonds of friendship over Olympic glory and will appeal to fans of women's sports and anyone who has experienced the special kinship that comes from being part of a team.--Sara Holder, Univ. of Illinois Libs., Champaign

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Narrator Jackie Chung gives voice to the incredible story of how, despite decades of enmity, the two Koreas joined together to create their first female Olympic ice hockey team. In Korea, women's hockey was at best ignored, at worst, ridiculed. In hopes of putting together a team that could succeed in the 2018 Olympics, women of Korean background were gathered from multiple countries to form a highly skilled team for South Korea. Just two weeks before the Olympic opening ceremonies, South Korea was told they'd be sharing their team roster with North Korean skaters. Chung skillfully lends her talents to describing how the team accomplished what ambassadors had been unable to, getting both sides to communicate and play fairly. There's plenty of technical information about playing hockey, as well. V.B. � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

Starred review from September 1, 2019
The 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, featured a team whose story was as unlikely and inspirational as that of the Jamaican bobsled team in the 1988 Winter Games?or even the legendary Miracle on Ice achieved by the 1980 men's hockey team. This one began with a band of sisters from South Korea, plus several recruits of Korean descent from the U.S. and Canada (affectionately called the imports ), who, along with head coach Sarah Murray, defied language and cultural barriers to forge a squad ready to represent the host country. Yet, with a mere two weeks' notice prior to the start of the Games, the leaders of South Korea and North Korea announced that they would be combining their women's hockey teams and would play as one unified team representing all of Korea. Berkman, a New York Times contributor who was born in Seoul and raised in New Jersey, does a fantastic job of providing historical context and capturing the tremendous sacrifices made by the players as well as the passion they shared for the sport. Readers will find themselves cheering for a team who began as political pawns but who ultimately showed the world the Olympic spirit in action, despite losing every game they played. A must-have for its slice of Olympic history and its portrait of Korean culture.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)