For Amine, life is good. Living and working with his cousins in Shreveport, Louisiana, he is living what one might call the American Dream. After many years, Amine finally receives his permanent resident card (green card) and opens a business, a house-painting company. The work is steady and honest. In fact, it is so constant that Amine looks to buy a new vehicle to support the business. He is offered a truck at an incredible price, but he has to travel to Nouvelle-Orléans in order to pick it up. What should be a quick overnight trip turns into one of panic when Amine loses something extremely important.

Michelle is also living a good life. She and her husband, Marc, live in Bâton-Rouge, Louisiana. Michelle and Marc work hard—she as a delivery driver and he as a restaurant manager—in the hopes of bringing the rest of the family to live with them in Louisiana. Marc is originally from Haiti and has two daughters who still live there with his mother. What the couple lacks, however, is the money needed to secure a lawyer to help with legal paperwork. On one particular trip to Nouvelle-Orléans, though, Michelle’s luck seems to turn when she finds a large sum of cash—a perfect solution to her problem. Or is it?

Learn how the lives of Amine and Michelle intersect in Nouvelle-Orléans.

Level 2
Total Words: 5,100
Tense(s): present
Glossary: yes

©2018. French. Level 2. High school. 5 x 8 inches. Softcover, 68 pages.

About the Author

Jennifer Degenhardt taught middle and high school Spanish for 24 years. She decided to combine her language skills with storytelling, specifically involving kids and culture. Her books highlight cultural, social, economic, and political themes necessary for continued conversation, both inside and outside the classroom. She hopes her stories will provide a platform for discussion, as anything can be solved—to some degree—with a conversation.