**Adapted for young readers! Join two-time Women's World Cup champion, Olympic gold medalist, and trailblazing activist Megan Rapinoe in the fight for equality and justice in this middle grade adaptation of her New York Times bestselling memoir, One Life.
**

You know Megan Rapinoe as an international soccer superstar! She s also a fierce activist, boldly speaking out about issues of equality and justice from LGBTQ rights to the equal pay movement to Black Lives Matter.

In this adaptation for middle school readers of her memoir One Life, get to know Megan: from her childhood in a small California town where she learned to play soccer and how to fight for social justice; through high school, college and beyond; to 2016 when she became the first high-profile white athlete to take a knee in support of Colin Kaepernik, and also suing the United States Soccer Federation along with her teammates over gender discrimination.

Using stories from her own life and career, Rapinoe discusses the responsibility we have to speak up. In this edition specifically for young readers, she reveals the impact everyone, even kids, can have on their communities and how kids can get involved in making the world a better place.

Autorentext

Megan Rapinoe

Klappentext

Adapted for young readers! Join Olympic gold medalist, two-time Women's World Cup champion, and trailblazing activist Megan Rapinoe in the fight for equality and justice in this middle grade adaptation of her New York Times bestselling memoir, One Life.

You know Megan Rapinoe as an international soccer superstar! She's also a fierce activist, boldly speaking out about issues of equality and justice-from LGBTQ rights to the equal pay movement to Black Lives Matter.

In this adaptation for middle school readers of her memoir One Life, get to know Megan: from her childhood in a small California town where she learned to play soccer and how to fight for social justice; through high school, college and beyond; to 2016 when she became the first high-profile white athlete to take a knee in support of Colin Kaepernik, and also suing the United States Soccer Federation along with her teammates over gender discrimination.

Using stories from her own life and career, Rapinoe discusses the responsibility we have to speak up. In this edition specifically for young readers, she reveals the impact everyone, even kids, can have on their communities and how kids can get involved in making the world a better place.

Zusammenfassung
Adapted for young readers! Join two-time Women's World Cup champion, Olympic gold medalist, and trailblazing activist Megan Rapinoe in the fight for equality and justice in this middle grade adaptation of her New York Times bestselling memoir, One Life.
 

You know Megan Rapinoe as an international soccer superstar! She’s also a fierce activist, boldly speaking out about issues of equality and justice—from LGBTQ rights to the equal pay movement to Black Lives Matter.
 
In this adaptation for middle school readers of her memoir One Life, get to know Megan: from her childhood in a small California town where she learned to play soccer and how to fight for social justice; through high school, college and beyond; to 2016 when she became the first high-profile white athlete to take a knee in support of Colin Kaepernik, and also suing the United States Soccer Federation along with her teammates over gender discrimination.
 
Using stories from her own life and career, Rapinoe discusses the responsibility we have to speak up. In this edition specifically for young readers, she reveals the impact everyone, even kids, can have on their communities and how kids can get involved in making the world a better place.
 

Leseprobe
Dear 13-year-old Megan,
 
Do you remember walking down the halls in middle school, right on the heels of your twin Rachael?
 
She seemed to have this seventh-grade thing figured out way more than you did. If she felt as awkward and self-conscious as you did, she didn’t seem to show it. So you stuck close. So close, in fact, that one day, as she stopped walking down the hall, you ran right into the back of her.
 
“I’m right here,” she said. “You don’t have to follow me everywhere.”
 
If you knew then what you know now, maybe you would have felt better about branching out on your own a little more. Maybe you would have realized that it was totally OK that you didn’t quite know how to wear the right clothes or whether you were supposed to think the boy sitting next to you in class was cute.
 
Maybe you would have realized that you were gay. And funny. And outgoing. And one of the best soccer players around.
 
You would have understood that your relationships with your friends and your teammates would be the corner­stones of your life. That failure and adversity will challenge and strengthen you. That success will embolden you, and that sometimes being brave will absolutely be called for.
 
I’ve been asked a lot through the years, why I came out as gay, why I decided to do that. Most people assumed I was gay and I can live my life the way I want to. But for me, it was important, really important to the rest of the community I live in.
 
If you are feeling uncomfortable about speaking out about something, instead of doing it for yourself, do it for someone else. Do it for the people, or the cause, that you are standing up for. Sometimes it’s just bigger than you. If you carry the strength of other people, it makes it a little less daunting.
 
Putting yourself out there is hard, but it’s so worth it.
 
I don’t think anyone who has ever spoken out, or stood up or had a brave moment, has regretted it. It’s empowering and confidence-building and inspiring. Not only to other people, but to yourself.
 
But it’s tough to learn those lessons in the seventh grade.
 
Still, I’d like to help you see them from where I stand now. The view, as it turns out, is pretty good.
 
Your life is about to get amazing. You are going to want to soak it all in, embrace the great moments and gain perspective from the not-so-great ones.
 
And remember, always, to look up and watch where you are headed.
 
Love,
Megan

 
Prologue
 
In the pages that follow, you will read about my childhood in Northern California; my twin sister, Rachael; my hilarious mom and wacky dad; and my highs and lows with the US women’s national soccer team. My time on the soccer field is probably how you know me. But while I have your attention, I also want to discuss personal, political, and social issues that are important to me and have nothing to do with sports or my family.
 
As a child, I was small for my age. I didn’t always fit in. And while I was a natural athlete from the start, for a long time, I wasn’t totally sure of myself. Not until I was eighteen and in college did I even realize I was gay! Given how completely obvious it was, I’m still upset at my family for not pointing it out sooner.
 
Like almost everyone in my hometown, my family was conservative, although we weren’t a “political household” on the surface. The lessons I learned growing up had to do with standing up to bullies and doing the right thing, part of which, my parents said, meant acknowledging how lucky we were. There were lots of kids in our family and we didn’t have much money, but we grew up in a safe, loving environment where all our needs were met. On top of that, my twin and I were cute, good at sports, and popular at school. We h…