Every once in awhile I like to change things up with a good non-fiction book, and when I got the chance to request A Team of Their Own, it sounded like the perfect story to shake up the fiction and light novel binge I had been on.

Honestly I don't really follow hockey, but I do follow a lot going on in South Korea, as my love for their entertainment that blossomed in the early 2000s helped feed my interest to learn more about the country as a whole. I've even delved into a handful of books about the horrors of North Korea. So when the news hit before the Olympics started that North and South Korea would be fielding a unified team, I was intrigued yet skeptical. I figured this book would shed some light on if my skepticism was warranted.

Seth Berkman does a great job of really showcasing the personal stories of the ladies from South Korea and North America, as well as the way the bond together and become like sisters to one another. There were plenty of times where I definitely felt myself getting emotional at various moments, or even quotes of how the girls felt. I quickly became engrossed in seeing how all this played out leading up to the games. Sadly due to obvious reasons, we never really got to know much about the North Korean players like we did the others.

None of the stories in this book ever feel like filler, and even minor moments help to show how the girls interacted with each other. I loved seeing how many decided to look for personal growth outside of hockey, like learning English, or helping with a cause deal with fellow adopted children from South Korea, as a couple examples. It was really touching to see.

Not everything is touching, as there are plenty moments when you see just how neglected the team is, or how they are used for gain by the KIHA, men in charge, and politicians. I said I was skeptical about the North and South Korea unified team, and I was shocked reading how it was way worse when it came down to the politics of the matter than I could have thought. It actually made me get angry at the situation that the girls were put in.

I tried not to delve in to too much in terms of specifics, because I believe this is a very important read for people. It deals with a lot issues in terms of gender discrimination and inequality, but also in bonding and pushing back against those very constructs. It shows women bonding over a passion, women from North America learning to love a country they hadn't tried to fully get to know growing up, and women from S. Korea realizing their own thoughts on the "imports" were ill-conceived. Berkman does such a great job from start to finish in telling this story, and really digging in deep.

In what could have been an easy fluff peace about how miraculous it was all these women came together, he provided so much more depth. This is an introspective look in to these women's lives, passions, friendships, and the politics that surrounded them. You definitely will look at everything surrounding them in a different light.

During the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, some of the most memorable moments were made by a hockey team that didn’t win a medal or even a single game, but made the most powerful statement of unity that could be made. The Unified women’s hockey team of North and South Korea, together for just over two weeks, showed the world what a unified Korea can look like. The story of this team and many of the inspirational women playing on this team is told in this excellent book by Seth Berkman.

The women’s hockey team of South Korea had been struggling to compete in international competitions. After years of losing by scores that were more common in American football instead of hockey, South Korean sports leaders decided to open up spots on the team to players who are of Korean decent but live elsewhere. Players such as Randi Griffin, Danelle Im and Marissa Brandt, who were American citizens through either emigration or adoption but of Korean descent, were added to the team. Sarah Murphy, a Canadian woman, who was the daughter of a legendary NHL and Team Canada coach, had the formidable task of integrating these players with the veteran players of the team such as goalie Shin So-Jung, who was in net for many of those blowout losses but was clearly the most talented player on the team.

Berkman does a wonderful job of portraying these players, the coach and others as the team prepares for the 2018 Winter Olympics, in which they had to prove they would be competitive in order to receive the spot in the tournament that is given to the host nation. This included games in the United States against high school and college teams in which the team grew closer, both in terms of chemistry and scores on the ice.

Then, two weeks before the start of the Olympics, with a berth in the tourney secured, the government of both North and South Korea along with the International Olympic Committee, announced that players from North Korea would also be joining the women’s hockey team and they would play as a Unified Korea team. This led to even more confusion and frustration for the players who have already trained and played together. For veterans like Shin, this meant they would now have to acclimate to new players twice, having already accepted the “imports” like Griffin, Im and Brandt. They somehow made it work and even though the team did not win a match during the Games, they were the main story of the Olympics with the support they drew from all Koreans and the emotions they left both on the ice and through their interactions with the fans. Berkman shines in this portion of the book, making the reader feel like he or she is right there with the team, not only on the ice during the games, but also when they are receiving all the support and adulation from the Korean fans. At times, it may make readers get emotional themselves.

This book was just as good as was the story of the Unified team. Any reader who likes hockey, especially Olympic hockey, will need to read this book. One will feel quite inspired after reading the adventures of these young women.

I wish to thank Hanover Square Press for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.