Dutton, 2002
ISBN 0-525-46899-4

(continued from previous page)

''This is where I belong,'' Felix thinks. "With a real baseball team.''

The Miracle, a West Lauderdale team, is real enough, but with 28 straight losses, it hasn't had a miraculous season. Nor do the players look to be Major League material. Even so, the general manager welcomes Felix, as does the team. ''Ahora eres uno de nosostros,'' a Dominican player tells Felix. "Now you are one of us.''

Felix's desire to belong is so strong, he tells his mother he's staying with a friend then stows away on the team's bus, leaving his home in Naples to be part of the game, even the part that means washing dirty uniforms.

You don't have to love baseball or know Spanish to enjoy Free Baseball. Corbett provides a glossary of Spanish phrases and baseball terms plus an author's note about Cuban immigration at the back of the book. It's a nice touch, but Corbett deftly tucks the information into her story, too. She drops in bits of Spanish as well as details about Cuba, Florida and life in the minors as neatly as balls dropping into Felix's glove.