Troubles for Cécile

American Girl: Marie-Grace and Cécile #4

by Denise Lewis Patrick, Christine Kornacki (Illustrator)

Cécile's summer is off to a glowing start. She loves spending time with her older brother, Armand, who is finally home from France. And she and her friend Marie-Grace enjoy helping at a nearby orphanage, playing with the children. But a shadow falls over the bright summer when Cécile hears that a terrible sickness--yellow fever--is spreading in New Orleans. When yellow fever strikes in her own home, Cécile is more afraid than she has ever been before. Can she find the strength to help when her family needs her most?

Genres: Historical Fiction, Childrens, Historical, Middle Grade, Fiction, Young Adult, Juvenile

94 pages, Paperback

First published August 30, 2011

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The great AG marathon continues. Again, reading for the first time as an adult, inspired by the American Girls podcast. Here's what stood out to me:

Bet Armand wishes he had waited until August to come home from Paris after all. In which case, maybe he would have had news of the epidemic before he sailed, and waited a few more months.

By this point, the epidemic has worsened to the point where it's no longer rumor, it's touching people our protagonists care about, like Armand. Cécile's brother is very sick; the housemaid Ellen dies. As an adult reader, that's clearly calculated to make the danger real and nearby without actually killing off a family member - but it makes sense, too. As a relative newcomer to New Orleans, Ellen is more vulnerable.

A large portion of this book takes place within the Reys' home - which, though large, begins to feel slightly claustrophobic in the way that COVID lockdown did, and Cécile finds herself at loose ends in much the same way. Though Ellen shoos away visitors when Armand first gets sick, Cécile's friend Monette and her father stop by later on, which made me a little twitchy. And then the mayor calls for everyone to assemble to pray?? All of this makes me vaguely anxious.

Cécile's reaction to a letter from frenemy Agnes Metoyer is a great check-in point in the middle of the book: Cécile recognizes that Agnes doesn't understand the scale and impact of the tragedy. It's something she has struggled to wrap her own head around - and haven't we all been THERE, now - and of course she views it at a nine-year-old level, thinking first of the people who matter to her. But she's got her eyes open, and she's willing to help as she's able - chopping okra for Mathilde, telling stories to the orphans.

The orphanage is replacing Océane's singing lessons as the place where Cécile and Marie-Grace run into each other. In one case - a clever reversal of their first meeting - Cécile hears MG singing before she sees her. But this way around, Cécile really is impressed by MG's voice. Just in case there was any doubt about who the talented musician is, between these two.

But beyond Cécile running into Marie-Grace, this book also create a connection between their parents when Cécile asks MG to send her father to help care for Armand.

Like Marie-Grace and the Orphans, this one ends with a punch: Madmoiselle Océane, last seen running out to visit her sick friend, has yellow fever, too. Does their teacher - now engaged to MG's uncle Luc - belong in Ellen's category, or Armand's? Read on...

[Historical Dolls Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who is living though the COVID paramedic this book hit me home harder verse if I were to read this back in 2011 when this book first came out. Honestly I almost cried when reading this book with the people that Cécile was losing around her. This is probably (as of the moment) the saddest American Girl series I’ve read yet.

- This is coming from someone who has read Julie’s whole series.

[Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

girl was going through it!!! I think this girl's hardship is the only one really on par with Kirsten's (and they're set in the same decade!!)

[Panda Incognito · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I read the first two books in this series, I enjoyed Cecile's point of view more than Marie-Grace's, but that changed here. Cecile seems very shallow and spoiled throughout this book, first by trying to ignore the coming yellow fever epidemic, and then by only caring about how it will affect her family. She lacks a true sense of how disastrous this is for the city and for the people around her, and only really cares about it when it personally affects her. Even worse, the way that the author makes it personal to her sends problematic messages.

Cecile's brother falls sick and recovers, while Ellen, the family's maid, dies. This was completely predictable to me, and sends the unintended message that the lives of the serving class are less significant. Ellen was disposable for the sake of Cecile's character development, and even though it was a white woman dying for a black girl's plot and character arc, not the other way around, this is still deeply problematic. It's easy to miss the harmful message because the racial dynamics are switched, but Ellen was in the position of less power and privilege here. She was a poor immigrant working in a wealthy family's home, and the author kills her off for Cecile to grow and learn life lessons.

I was not impressed with this, and the story as a whole is surface-level, convenient, and predictable. It's possible that I would be less critical of this if I had read it back when the series released, instead of during a pandemic, but because the first book was so boring, I was never interested in reading it back then. Part of the appeal to trying this series now was to connect with a story about a historical viral disaster, but the book's shallowness and Cecile's self-focus made this totally unsatisfying.

[Hannah Showalter · Rating 5 out of 5]

DAMN this shit was so good, i wish i had this series when i was a kid. soooo engaging and had me on the edge of my seat literally. so intense for a children’s book!

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recap:
Cecile Rey is one of the "gens de couleur libres" or "free people of color" living in New Orleans in 1853. Together, she and her friend, Marie Grace, experience all that the diverse, busy city has to offer: Mardi Gras parades and costume balls, outdoor French markets, helping to fight a yellow fever epidemic, volunteering at a local orphanage, and performing at a city-wide benefit for the orphaned children.

Review:
Happy Mardi Gras, book lovers! In honor of the holiday, today I'm featuring a series set in New Orleans, and the first two books take place during Mardi Gras!

I was first inspired to cover this American Girl series after seeing a feature on author Denise Lewis Patrick on The Brown Bookshelf. I'd never given a thought to the authors behind my beloved American Girl books, and reading the story of how Patrick was asked to author the Cecile series piqued my interest. The Cecile series is unique from that of the other American Girls because she shares her books with a girl named Marie Grace. I read "Meet Marie Grace" and then all of the Cecile books in the series, and it's very clear that the two authors plotted the stories out together. Between the two "Meet ____" books, some lines were actually word-for-word the same. I'm really not sure why they chose to have two main characters this time. If any of you know, please fill me in!

On the surface, the Cecile/Marie Grace series follows the same "formula" as every other in the AG line. We "Meet" the girls, they go through some "troubles" but eventually save the day, and everyone ends up stronger and wiser. A little didactic, yes... but these characters are brave, self-confident role models for little girls today. I really like the fact that each book includes a chapter of nonfiction in the back, explaining how the events in the story are a reflection of real events from the past.

Cecile's story is notable because, unlike so many black characters in historial fiction - including Addy!, she has no ties to slavery. In fact, her family is one of the wealthier in New Orleans. She speaks French fluently (a french glossary and pronunciation key is in the back of every book!), takes lessons from a well known Opera singer, and attends a private school. Stereotypical, Cecile is not. Now I love Addy and I think her story is an important one, but I also think it's exciting to see such a unique narrative through Cecile.

Recommendation:
Gosh, I love the American Girls. This series, and the rest in the AG collection, are perfect for elementary school aged girls. And have you been to the AG website lately? There are games, videos, and apps galore!

[Renn · Rating 5 out of 5]

CWs death, disease, epidemic, ill loved one

Definitely the best book in the series. Also, I had no idea yellow fever was spread by mosquitos!

[RaspberryRoses · Rating 4 out of 5]

another enjoyable one in the series that i don't have much in particular to say about

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely devastating. American Girls experiencing trauma just as God intended them to.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow wtf this one went pretty hard

[Ciara · Rating 2 out of 5]

cecile's brother armand comes down with yellow fever & the rey family is quarantined. everyone is shocked because they were under the impression that people who had been in new orleans for a long time were somehow immune to the fever. the fact that armand got sick is seen as evidence that the yellow fever outbreak is progressing into a full-blown epidemic.

cecile somehow gets in touch with marie-grace & asks her to please ask her father, dr. gardner, to come check in on armand. cecile thinks dr. gardner is one of the best doctors in the city, & that if anyone can save armand, it's him. even though my understanding is that there was no real medicine for yellow fever & whether you lived or died depended on how strong you were before you got sick, how tough your immune system is, & getting the proper care in terms of staying hydrated.

while they wait on dr. gardner, the rey's maid, ellen, also falls ill with the fever. she tells cecile that she emigrated from ireland to have a better life for herself, & that she has ten brothers, including two that live in boston. her father didn't want her to leave ireland, but she wanted to be free to explore her potential. by...being a maid? i don't know. i felt really bad for ellen in this book. there's no shame in being a maid, i myself have worked as a hotel maid, but if the reader was supposed to get the sense that ellen is following her dreams, i'm not really hearing that. & in contrast, cecile seems very spoiled.

even moreso when dr. gardner shows up. he attends to both patients, but while armand begins to improve, ellen gets worse & eventually dies. there's a scene in which is cecile is attending to ellen's bedside & feels guilty because she finds herself distracted with worry over armand. you should feel bad, cecile! not that it's her fault ellen died, but hello, pay attention to the person dying in the bed next to you!

the reys are thrilled when armand recovers, but sad about ellen. to assuage their grief, they send ellen's wages to her brothers in boston with a note explaining that she died. i bet the brothers were THRILLED to get that letter! oh wait.

i think the problem with these books being so character-driven is that i rather dislike the characters. especially cecile. she seems really self-involved to me.

[Bulk Reviews · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is full of emotions. Every page has someone hugging, sobbing in each other's arms, feeling dazed, frightened, numb, worried, unsettled. They are frozen, pale, with hearts thumping, stomachs fluttering nervously, throats tightening.

(^I am only using words and phrases explicitly stated in the book.)

Essentially, this book is over-emotional, and also very repetitive. The first third of the book is Cecile hearing rumors about yellow fever. This goes on for a while without anything of note actually happening. The book has a huge emphasis on everyone's feelings, but what it lacks is detail. There is sparse information about how yellow fever spreads, what precautions people took, or even really what the signs and symptoms were (besides a fever.)

The last two-thirds of the book are Cecile and her family freaking out because her brother is sick. Of course, he lives, but their maid (a more dispensable character, I guess) dies. Again, the book has very few non-emotional descriptors. The entire book is about yellow fever, and yet I barely know what it is.

I think what this book fails to understand is that unless the reader connects to the characters and the story, there will fail to be an emotional whammy. It doesn't matter how many times you tell me that Cecile is tired, shocked, crying, that a lump rose in her throat, that she couldn't force her lips to move (again, all of this comes from the book!) because I don't care about her. Her reactions to grief are all very cliche; she isn't a unique or developed character. The story follows a basic format on how an average family might react to a loved one being sick, but it is too predictable and formulaic for me to become invested.

I feel bad. It seems like this series really does try. It just isn't very good.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book begins in July 1853, shortly after the ending of book three. Cécile is worried when she hears her mother and aunt talking about yellow fever. There have always been cases of yellow fever in New Orleans every summer, but this year people seem much more worried. Many people are fleeing the city because they are so afraid.

Cécile's worst fears come true when her beloved older brother, Armand, catches yellow fever. Cécile is afraid for her brother, because many people in the city have died from the disease. Cécile must be strong and help her family and others in New Orleans, while praying that her brother will recover.

I loved the American Girls books as a child, but even now as an adult I am really enjoying the series about Marie-Grace and Cécile. I love the unusual historical setting of New Orleans in 1853, and I think telling the story from the points of view of two girls from very different backgrounds was a good choice. I think young girls will enjoy this series while hopefully learning about about a very unique place and time from American history.

[Katie Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading about a 19th-century epidemic in the midst of a 21st-century pandemic leaves me wondering if advances in medical science are as helpful as they should be. For the privileged, running away to the country seems more effective than a lot of 2020 approaches. Then again if we all listened to medical science and behaved rationally and cautiously, there would be no question.

I had time to think about all of these things because the characterizarion and plot continue to be skeletal. Tapping into the interests of future nurses is a brilliant idea, and this one had some parallels to Nanea. The execution is just so boring though!

[Jessica Kuznicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by far the best book in the whole series. But in light of Covid, it is a haunting and chilling read. Clever to have the maid die, but not Armand. I grieve Ellen with Cecile. An emotionally tough read, but worth it. The cliff hanger about the singing teacher is great too. Every scene is felt and captured vividly, this a a great author at work here.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting to read about the yellow fever epidemic. But sad as well.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it was really sad because Cecile's maid, Ellen dies of the yellow fever. All in all, it was a great book.

[KP · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, this book features an epidemic, so that's... timely...

[Elisheva]

More engaging than Marie-Grace’s book.

[Yazmin Singleton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Troubles for Cecile was an amazing read that kept me interested in the characters story/life.

This book is based off of a young girl that lives in New Orleans.She spends most of her time with her family,friends and at the orphanage.She is faced with challenges throughout the book that force her to stay strong,not just for herself but her family as well.Can she find the strength to help when her needs her the most?

I like Cecile because of how open her open minded she was.As the plot intensifies she's faced with problems when New Orleans is flushed with a terrible sickness call Yellow Fever.Cecile grows mentally throughout the story,but when the people she loves start to get ill from yellow fever,it takes a blow at her happiness and sanity.Her big heart shines brighter than all off the darkness that hits her family."So,now Phillip is safe,and even if he was born a slave,we'll never tell!"(6).She knew that helping slaves was against the law but she decided with her heart and not by the law.This decision really emphasized her boldness and how fearless and caring she is."I'll try not to be afraid,I don't know what's coming for my family,but i'll try to be strong for my Armand"(29).This shows that even in the midst of her brother being sick and her family devastated she was strong for her family because this was when this was needed most.

I enjoyed following Cecile throughout the story as she grew stronger from the devastation that hit her family.She became Mentally stronger as she was faced with challenges but she surpassed them with dignity and regal grace. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that has interest in historical books with a twist

[Faith Marshall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this book roughly 10 years ago and found it boring. Now, after re-reading it at the age of 20, I have no idea what I was thinking, for...

The story was gripping and well-written.

Cecile, one full of bravery and spirit, is a wonderful role model. She also has a bit of a character arc, or at least character growth. This can show readers that even heroes like Cecile make mistakes, but Cecile learns from them, and so can they!

The book is, as the title suggests, full of "troubles," but it handles the historical events very well for children, showing the seriousness and gravity of the situations but not letting the story become too upsetting.

The author, Denise Lewis Patrick, drew me into the story so much that my eyes watered at a couple of points and I have a bit of a crush on Cecile's older brother, Armand! (Shh... don't tell anyone!)

Kudos to Patrick for creating unique and lovable characters and making their stories intertwine with history. The book was fantastic and deserves much more recognition than it gets. Highly recommended!

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like troubles is an understatement in this book. When I saw a series split across two girls, I assumed their friendship was going to be a central plot point. The friendship does get a feature but instead I also get 2 times the trauma. Cécile honestly cannot catch a break in this book. Frankly I’m worried for her. She’s getting overlooked as much as Marie-Grace in a household full of people dismissing a series threat. Flashbacks to March 2020 all around for me. I have read several pandemic and epidemic books at this point but this one hit me hard once again. This is a book for children and as an adult who lost someone in the current pandemic, I’m feeling pretty anxious reading it. I just don’t know how a child would feel back circa 2011 but now it was a lot to process.

[Danielle T · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird, I thought I marked this on Goodreads. Anyway, yellow fever has hit New Orleans pretty hard including within Cecile's own household. An age-appropriate way to discuss mortality of the past, with discussion points on immunity (many NOLA citizens have the assumption that only newcomers are susceptible, which has a partial truth in immunity-by-having-it-as-a-youth thing).

3.5/5 for me- I do really like this one so far out of the series, but maaaaan the illustrations are still not impressing me much.

[Laura Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

Timely book considering the pandemic our country is currently dealing with. "Troubles for Cecile" depicts how selflessly some people act when faced with such a difficult epidemic. Others, like Agnes, show their true, selfish colors like too many people do nowadays.

Very sad when Ellen dies so far from home. I've always liked the relationship between her and Cecile and I'm sorry to see it end here. Like Marie-Grace, Cecile grows and matures as she is forced to face tragedy.

[Katie Kaste · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cécile brother has been hit with the Yellow Fever. She frantically tries to find Marie-Grace and her Doctor father. Cécile doesn't know what to do to help with her family. She starts taking on more chores and helping around the house so that her family will make it through. This was another solid book in the Marie-Grade and Cécile series. These two girls bond and make connections with each other and their community.

[Aimee · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars. We finally get to see a bit more Cecile and Marie-Grace interaction with this one, which was really nice! Author did a great job describing the yellow fever epidemic and all the emotions that came with it. I’m kind of shocked AG didn’t rerelease this series during COVID. It was absolutely fascinating to read this and realize it was written 9 years before and not with the intention of making a historical connection.

[Shani · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this one, more than the first. It's story was well told, and I got really into it. I could picture it clearly. I'm not usually one to get emotional with books, so when I am moved by one, I consider it to be good. And this one was.

IMO, Ellen's death is the most heartbreaking for me that I've read in an AG book. And I have read Meet Kirsten.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I was reading in small chunks, and then got so tied up in the story and didn't mean to finish. But I did. This one was much better. I guess the whole story had more going on and wasn't just an intro. We got into the good parts of their whole series.

[Becky Maddox · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was hard to read after having been through a pandemic, but also extra relatable.

[Little Seal]

I feel a great sadness for the death of Ellen to be honest!