Not What I Signed Up For

Nick Hornby's new story about a country so tiny, it's just a field, a few houses, a shop, and a café. There, a boy whose mom happens to be president of this minuscule nation is called upon to show his patriotism by playing on the national soccer team. Nick Hornby is the author of a number of books, including High Fidelity, About a Boy, and A Long Way Down. This story is part of a larger collection of stories for young people called Noisy Outlaws, Unfriendly Blobs, and Some Other Thing That Aren't As Scary, Maybe, Depending on How You Feel About Lost Lands, Stray Cellphones, Creatures from the Sky, Parents Who Disappear in Peru, a Man Named Lars Farf, and One Other Story We Couldn't Quite Finish so Maybe You Could Help Us Out, which is a fundraiser for the literacy group 826NYC. (25 minutes)