Felipe Alou: l’histoire d’un grand champion

by Carol Gaab

Non-fiction novel

Under ordinary circumstances, the odds of being struck by lightning are greater than the odds of becoming a Major League Baseball player, but Felipe Alou’s circumstances in 1955 were anything but ‘ordinary’… He was a black athlete living in the Dominican Republic, and he spoke no English- not exactly a recipe for success in the U.S., especially during the height of the civil rights movement. This is Felipe’s amazing (true) story of perseverance and determination to beat overwhelming odds and insurmountable obstacles to become one of baseball’s greatest players and managers.

The low unique word count and high frequency factor (the number of times core structures are embedded in the text) make this an ideal read for advanced beginning French students.