In celebration of the launch of the How To Coach Girls book, we are partnering with Berkshire Soccer Academy, a sleep-away soccer camp for girls, with a five-part series.
How To Coach Girls available for pre-order here.
March: The effect of Team Impact on the Boston College Women’s Soccer Team. Team Impact is a national nonprofit that matches kids facing serious and chronic illnesses with local college athletic teams. The bonds that are formed can be life-long and life-changing. We will be learning about Lily and Alison Foley’s women’s varsity soccer team and what they have been up to thus far this year. Holly Confalone, a midfielder on the team, will be filling us in.
Happy Birthday to Lily…the newest member of the #BCWSoccer team as she signed her NLI with her teammates by her side yesterday.
Gaby Carriero kicking it around with #teamimpact teammate Lily before the game.
April: Alison and I sent our daughters, Sidnie and Ali, for a week of soccer camp at Berkshire Soccer Academy. They were excited to train with Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, and Trisha Venturini Hoch through their organization, TeamFirst. TeamFirst is a group of friends who are living out their passion for teaching soccer and life skills to kids across the country. It just so happens that these friends are NCAA Champions, World Cup Champions, Olympic Gold Medalists, and Hall of Famers. An important part of the TeamFirst DNA is giving back. Each camp TeamFirst partners with a local or national charity organization to raise money for awareness and research.
May: We are asking professional soccer players and sisters Kristie and Samantha Mewis: 1) What is it like as sisters playing at an elite level and even competing against each other? What is that dynamic like? 2) Have you ever had a moment of doubt about your ability as a soccer player? 3) What are you up to now and what’s next?
June: Kristine Lilly was at Berkshire Soccer Academy as a coach and as a mother of a player. We are going to ask her about the balance of coaching your daughter and get her perspective about what her daughter got out of camp with her mom. We also want to know more about Team First.
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My books:
Bookshop.org / Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Barbed Wire Between Us by Mia Wenjen, illustrated by Violeta Encarnación
- ⭐ Starred review from Kirkus
- ⭐ Starred review from Publishers Weekly
- ⭐ Starred review from School Library Journal
- Kirkus: The Most Anticipated Children’s Books of Spring 2026
Free and downloadable guide:
Barbed Wire Between Us Teacher’s Guide
Bookshop.org / Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Bookshop.org / Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
- California Eureka Non-Fiction Gold Award
- Junior Library Guild Gold Selection
- Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Winner (from National Council for the Social Studies and Children’s Book Council)
The Traveling Taco:
- California Eureka Non-Fiction Silver Award
- Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Winner (from National Council for the Social Studies and Children’s Book Council)
- Reading Rockets’ Summer Reading Guide 2025
Bookshop.org / Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Bookshop.org / Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
We Sing from the Heart: How the Slants® Took Their Fight for Free Speech to the Supreme Court
- ALSC Notable Children’s Book
- 2025 Carter G. Woodson Book Award Middle Level Honoree
- Orbis Pictus Recommended Book for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children
- 2024 Julia Ward Howe Prize for Children’s Literature Winner
- California Eureka Non-Fiction Award Honor Book
- Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Winner (from National Council for the Social Studies and Children’s Book Council)
- Bank Street Best Children’s Books of the Year 2025
- Recommended Reading for the Social Justice Literature Award 2025 (International Literacy Association)
- Pennsylvania Mountain Laurel Book Award Nominee 2026-27
- Junior Library Guild Gold Selection
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Bookshop.org / Amazon / Barefoot Books / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World
- ⭐ Starred review from School Library Journal!
- Junior Library Guild Gold selection
- Massachusetts Book Award Long List
- dPICTUS 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023
- Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
- 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist
- Green Earth Book Award Long List
- Nautilus Silver Winner, Nonfiction Children’s Picture Book
- Sunshine State Young Readers Award Orange Blossom List for Nonfiction
- Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids
Bookshop.org / Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Bank Street College’s The Best Children’s Books of the Year
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Team Impact sounds like an amazing program!
I thought it was for any team but TeamImpact just works with college sports teams. I am so impressed with how the team supported Lily all year!
Very helpful article!
How To Keep Girls In Sports series with Berkshire Soccer Academy!
Thanks so much Michael!