Ted Lasso · Season 1, Episode 3, "Trent Crimm: The Independent"
Sam's gift from Ted: Ender's Game
Sam Obisanya (Toheeb Jimoh)
Ted Lasso · S1 E3Sleuthed by @shelfsleuth
Buy Ender's Gamefrom an indie, via Bookshop.org. Not the other guy.
What it tells you
The youngest player on the squad gets a novel about a child genius sent away from home and trained by adults for a war. Sam is a young Nigerian player a long way from home. Ted's book gifts are personalized to a degree that should worry people.
Every book in Ted Lasso33 books →
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The book
Ender's Game
Orson Scott Card · 1985 · novel
Orson Scott Card's 1985 novel won both the Hugo and the Nebula. Ender is a kid far from his family being told he is the future of everything. Sam got through that season with more grace than Ender.
Buy from an indieThe show
Sleuthed by @shelfsleuth · 2026-10-17
Spotted another book in Ted Lasso? Drop the frame. The first 100 become Founding Sleuths.
Paused Tuesdays
One still, one stack, every Tuesday morning.
Also in Ted Lasso
All 33 books
Ted's welcome basket: The Ultimate Cockney Geezer's Guide to Rhyming SlangS1 E1
Beard's other flight book: Coaching Soccer For DummiesS1 E1
Beard's flight reading: Inverting the PyramidS1 E1
Ted's plane book: The Dharma BumsS1 E1
Beard's Bob Paisley biography: Quiet GeniusS1 E3
Robbie's gift from Ted: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar ChildrenS1 E3
Jamie's gift from Ted: The Beautiful and DamnedS1 E3
Roy's assigned reading: A Wrinkle in TimeS1 E3
Beard's desk manual: The Arco Book of Soccer Techniques and TacticsS1 E6
Beard's sports psychology read: The GreatestS2 E1
Beard's Arsenal memoir: Fever PitchS2 E5
Beard's football and politics book: Football Against the EnemyS2 E6We may earn a commission when you buy through these links. Learn more ›