Marie-Grace and the Orphans

American Girl: Marie-Grace and Cécile #3

by Sarah Masters Buckey, Christine Kornacki (Illustrator)

Marie-Grace can't believe what she finds on her doorstep one rainy night: a sweet little baby! More than anything, Marie-Grace hopes her father will let the child stay with them. Then a stranger comes looking for the little boy, and Marie-Grace realizes the baby is in terrible danger. Together, she and her friend Cecile come up with a plan to protect the child-and to help the other orphans, too. But when rumors of a terrible sickness begin to swirl in New Orleans, Marie-Grace begins to worry-will anyone truly be safe? Includes an illustrated Looking Back essay about orphanages in the 1800s. The story continues in the fourth book in the series: Troubles for Cecile.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Childrens, Historical, Middle Grade, Fiction, Juvenile, Chapter Books

104 pages, Hardcover

First published August 30, 2011

About the author

Sarah Masters Buckey was raised in New Jersey and lived in Texas for 15 years. Sarah was nominated for the Agatha Award in 2008 for A Thief in the Theater and in 2005 for The Curse of Ravenscourt. She was nominated for an Edgar Award in 2007 for The Stolen Sapphire.

Reviews

[Renn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hits different after 2020

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

- This is the book where the yellow fever epidemic is first hinted at — it's a rising action book. To keep things interesting while that starts to build, we have this plotline about a baby left on the Gardeners' doorstep. There are questions (and accusations, for that matter) of whether this could be the child of an enslaved woman, which drives most of the drama.

- Cécile provides fancy clothes so the priest at the orphanage will assume the baby came from a wealthy, white family. Which of course is ironic since the clothes previously belonged to the child of a wealthy, black family.

- Mademoiselle Oceane: "I'm hardly a newcomer! I've been in New Orleans since last October!" Ohhhh you sweet summer child.

- Reading post-COVID, this one is where it starts to get triggering. I'm glad I didn't read these in 2020; it's bad enough now.

- The speed at which MG realizes the damage her lie could do, and speaks up to correct it is impressive (though necessary, given the length of the book). She may be shy sometimes, but she has a streak of bravery that runs deep.

- Even though baby Philip is taken to Chicago at the end of the book, where he'll presumably be safer and perhaps even adopted, this introduction to the orphanage (orphanages, really, since they were segregated) is key to the rest of MG's arc.

- MG harbors a hope that she can be like a sister to baby Philip, even once they take him to the orphanage, because she misses her baby brother who died of cholera. And it strikes me: Despite all these time periods with high infant and child mortality rates, she's the first AG character to have lost a sibling. The danger is discussed in Happy Birthday, Kirsten, but Mama and Britta come through safely.


More Marie-Grace & Cecile babble

Meet Marie-Grace | Meet Cecile | Marie-Grace and the Orphans | Troubles for Cecile | Marie-Grace Makes a Difference | Cecile’s Gift

The Hidden Gold | The Cameo Necklace | The Haunted Opera

[Hannah Showalter · Rating 4 out of 5]

these books are so good honestly, really keeping my interest and i’m eager to see what happens next!! this yellow fever epidemic can only mean trouble for these girls i fear…

[Panda Incognito · Rating 3 out of 5]

In my opinion, this is the best-written and most meaningful book in the Marie-Grace and Cecile series. It still has the same one-dimensional characterizations, lackluster artwork, and plodding writing of the other books, but it has a full story arc, is far more suspenseful than the other books, and gives Cecile the opportunity to grow as a character as she experiences self-sacrifice for the good of the child she takes responsibility for.

This book also addresses important social issues, such as orphan care in 1800s America, the reality of segregated orphanages, and Marie-Grace's fear that the baby abandoned on her father's doorstep will be reclaimed by a slave-catcher. She helps the child pass as white to be protected in a white orphanage, and even though this part of the story is surface-level, it still introduces important issues to young readers.

[RaspberryRoses · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my favorite of Marie-Grace's offerings. I don't have anything that unique or insightful to say about it - I just think this was the best-written book in her 3, and I like what it did for her as a character.

[Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

these books are written so differently than the originals and tell me why i'm so invested in the plot

[Shayla Salazar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book covered a very difficult topic and I love the love and strength shown in handling it.

[Kaylei]

The book was about Marie Grace, she found an orphan on the steps of her house, when she turned around the mother or she thought she was turned around and ran away. There was a guy who came to her door and told her father that the baby was his and that the slave mother had runaway a few weeks ago and that he had come to it but he didn't believe him so instead marie grace tricked the headmaster of the orphanage to thinking that he was white so he could stay there.Well I cant tell what else is going to happen And also i would recommennd this book for anyone who likes fantasy

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

So disappointing that Marie-Grace and Cécile were discontinued in 2014, 6 years before the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the major points of American Girl was to help young girls relate to history, to see the ways that their lives were both very similar and very different to girls of the past. Marie-Grace and Cécile living through the 1853 yellow fever epidemic could have been such a powerful point of connection for little girls in 2020.

[Lacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one! This was a reread for me, I buddy read it with my bestie!

[Ciara · Rating 2 out of 5]

marie-grace finds an orphan of indeterminate ethnicity on her doorstep one evening. it's just a tiny baby & she thinks she sees a woman in a head scarf of the variety often worn by women of color in new orleans lurking around the corner, waiting to make sure the baby is brought inside. but she can't leave the baby alone to go chasing after the woman.

when dr. gardner gets home, he speculates that the baby has been abandoned at their house because he is a well-known doctor & people assume the baby will safe with a doctor. he wonders if the baby may be mixed race. the woman marie-grace saw could have been a family servant...or a slave. marie-grace is horrified by the possibility that the baby's mother could be a slave. that would mean that, by law, he is a slave as well & that his owners could come to claim him.

dr. gardner places an ad in the paper to try to find the baby's family, & just as he & marie-grace feared, a man from a plantation shows up, claiming that one of the slaves ran off with her new baby & that the baby fits the description of the baby the gardners found. dr. gardner presents the man with a large bill for the baby's care & the man gets angry & storms off. dr. gardner suggests turning the baby over to a local orphanage for white children. he's light enough that the priest that vets the children might be fooled, & the plantation owner would never think to look for an escaped slave in an orhphanage for white people. marie-grace hates the idea of giving the baby up--she has named him philip--but she's hopeful that he'll be safer there. she arranges to borrow fancy baby clothes from cecile's family so that the baby will appear rich & less likely to be a slave child.

astonishingly, the fancy clothes work. the priest is all, "this is so sad. this baby is obviously from a very wealthy family." seriously, dude? you're not even going to ask if the baby showed up in such fancy duds or if they were maybe from the gardners? anyway, philip is accepted into the orphanage & marie-grace starts visiting all the time to see him & the other children.

then the yellow fever epidemic strikes. the common wisdom is that only newcomers are likely to get ill. one of the nuns at the orphanage tells marie-grace that a local woman has become quite taken with philip & wants to bring him to chicago to be placed in an orphanage there so he won't catch yellow fever. she will do so if dr. gardner thinks it's wise. dr. gardner tells marie-grace that he thinks it's a great idea--slave owners would never think to go all the way to chicago to look for the baby. & he'll be far away from the yellow fever. but marie-grace tells the nuns he said no because she doesn't want to risk never seeing philip again. it's not until marie-grace learns that her music teacher, madamoiselle oceane, is sick with yellow fever, that she agrees to let philip go to chicago.

these books are really character-driven, but in a weird way that doesn't appeal to me. i'm just not wild about this series & i can't quite figure out why.

[Rachel B · Rating 4 out of 5]

#1 in the Marie-Grace and Cecile series in my opinion. This book was better than the previous two because I feel like the plot actually got moving in this one, and I also really liked the Looking Back section at the end. I found Philip's story very interesting, and in particular an interesting commentary on skin colour at that time. Philip and probably also his mom both are light skinned and can pass as white...yet they are still black in the eyes of the law and therefore enslaved. Philip can look like a white kid but not be allowed into the white orphanage because his parents (or more likely just one of them) are legally designated as black.

It really shows the "race science" (even though the "science" part wasn't as much of a concept at that time) idea of race rather than race being about appearance. If someone has one drop of black blood, even if they are very light skinned and many of their ancestors are white, they are still black and can't be in the white orphanage. I remember when I was a kid being fascinated by Addy's mystery book "Shadows on Society Hill" because that book gets into a similar topic, so I really liked this aspect of this book. Obviously the book is a children's book and therefore doesn't explain WHY some black children/enslaved children have such light skin...but I appreciate that the topic is mentioned at all.

Mr. Gardner's idea to detail all the expenses of caring for Philip to the plantation manager was very clever, as was Marie-Grace's idea to dress Philip as a wealthy child (although obviously rich black children exist too, so I'm not sure that would be the home run Marie-Grace thinks it is, but I guess it would at least imply that the child was not born enslaved...or that Marie-Grace is very fast at sewing).

I wasn't sure how realistic life at the orphanage was portrayed as. Life at the orphanage is kind of idyllic compared to, say, Nellie's experience. I understand that orphanages would vary, but this seems like an orphanage that's primarily for poor children (as most orphanages were), and it didn't seem realistic to me that the children would receive so much time to run around the grounds playing, rather than having the strict discipline imposed at Nellie's orphanage or at least somewhere in between.

The Looking Back section at the end addresses this and explains that at many orphanages, strict discipline was imposed. Obviously there were SOME orphanages were children were treated very respectfully and given lots of time to play; it just seems awfully convenient that in this series, the characters get the best of everything (the orphanage is wonderful, none of the characters except the Obvious Baddies harbour any racial prejudice whatsoever, Cecile is so sheltered that she's shocked at experiencing racism, separate but equal IS actually equal, etc).

The book also doesn't delve into what it would actually mean for Philip and his future to grow up in Chicago in a white orphanage and possibly be adopted by a white family. He might never know his roots and might never know he's black (or he might become more phenotypically black when he gets older and this might cause lots of problems for him). Either way, he would probably never know that he was the son of an enslaved woman, and his culture and personal history would be lost. Obviously his life would be easier as a white man in Chicago than as the son of an enslaved (eventually formerly enslaved) black woman in New Orleans, but also, his mom might come back for him.

We've learned in Addy's story that many children of enslaved people were left behind as the enslaved parents (and sometimes older siblings, as in Addy's case) ran away from slavery. Many of those parents, like Addy's parents, intended to reclaim their children in the future. Slavery is twelve years away from ending in New Orleans. It's quite likely that Philip's mother would be posting ads or writing letters (as Addy's family did) looking for her son, or even traveling back to Mr. Gardner's home to see if he knows what became of the boy. So while sending Philip away is obviously safer, both for yellow fever reasons and for avoiding him being recaptured and sent back to slavery reasons, it means he's probably never going to see his mom again, and that he will never know about his family history.

I liked Marie-Grace lying by omission to the nun at first about whether her dad thought Philip should go to Chicago; this seemed like the realistic thing a nine-year-old would do (without fully understanding the consequences of her actions). I also liked that as soon as she DID understand the consequences of her actions, she did the right thing for Philip and told the truth, even though losing Philip made her sad. And I liked that in that conversation the nun was honest with Marie-Grace that Philip would not remember her, but that this decision was still what was best for him.

There are still some aspects of this book I found unrealistic. Once again, I was confounded by Mrs. Curtis acting disapproving towards her BOSS, Mr. Gardner. That did not read as realistic to the time period. I also thought it was unrealistic how everyone in the society accepts that there is no difference between a white child and a black one (Mrs. Curtis, Mademoiselle Oceane, perhaps also Mrs. Lambert?). Even if they don't support slavery (and honestly, most people living in New Orleans at the time would have accepted slavery as normal, although the newcomers like Mademoiselle Oceane and Mrs. Curtis get a pass on this), most people would have thought there were differences between the races, and a white woman would probably not have wanted to nurse a black child.

I did like how the scene with Marie-Grace and the plantation manager captured the strange feeling a person has when they're in a new place, they're witnessing something that seems obviously wrong, they don't know exactly the customs governing the interaction, but they want to help, and also not being native to the specific culture, coming in as an outsider, it's easier to see that sending a baby back to be enslaved would be very wrong. I like that Marie-Grace clearly didn't know exactly how to act in that scene but wanted to do something, and her dad, having spent time in New Orleans in the past, knew better what to do.

Also, possibly some foreshadowing of Mademoiselle Oceane getting sick and dying?

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was okay, not up to the usual standard I have for AG books. Not sure why, these just aren't holding my interest the way the others in the past have. If you're interested in 1800's New Orleans history they would be an interesting read.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked reading about orphanages in the 1850s. The widespread yellow fever epidemic was quite scary.

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Children's historical fiction. It's been a long time since I have read an American Girl book, but they were an important part of my childhood. This book crossed my path, and the nostalgia combined with the abandoned baby storyline drew me in. Marie-Grace lives with her father in New Orleans in 1853. Both her mother and younger brother died in a cholera epidemic years earlier. When a baby is left on the doctor's office doorstep, Marie-Grace is the one to find him. She takes him inside and names him Philip. Her father is so busy with work that he can't take on the baby's care, but does find a local woman to serve as a wet nurse until the baby can be taken to the orphanage. Meanwhile, the whole city of New Orleans is buzzing with a particularly bad year for yellow fever, which causes several of Marie-Grace's classmates to leave the city for the summer. Luckily her best friend Cecile is staying around. Back matter includes a looking back excerpt on orphans in American history and an excerpt for the next book: Troubles for Cecile.

This book caught my attention quickly as I wanted to make sure that the baby was looked after. It was interesting to read in the story (and in my internet research afterwards) about yellow fever and about living during a more localized epidemic. This book reminded me of what I loved about the American Girl books growing up-- learning about history through the eyes of a strong female protagonist and then reading about the real events that inspired the story in the back matter. I don't know that I will read more of the books in the near future, but it's nice to meet two of the newer American girls (Cecile and Marie-Grace alternate as the lead character).

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's really only one plot point in this book: a baby is dropped off at Marie-Grace's house. She and her doctor father take care of him before they decide to send him to an orphanage. It is possible that the baby was dropped off by an enslaved woman who escaped and couldn't take him with her. A man comes asking for the baby, but Mr. Gardner demands him to pay the medical bills if he wants him and the man refuses. They are able to take the baby to an orphanage. One of the nuns tells Marie Grace that one of their volunteers wants to take Phillip (the orphan) to Chicago because they think he will be safer there. At first, Marie-Grace doesnt' like this idea because she wants him to be close to her, but then more and more people are getting yellow fever so Marie-Grace agrees that he will be safer there if he stays, he might get sick.

I guess the other plot point is that yellow fever is becoming more prominent. One of Madame Oceane's friend has become sick and another has died. Now I've been spoiled by someone who's died of this. This person is not Cecil or Marie-Grace (duh, they're not going to kill) and it's not a family member, but it is a person that's in the "Family and Friends" portraits. (I told you it's not a family member, so that narrows it down to "Friends"). Now I will say it's not Lavinia, the Mean Bitchy girl. I don't think she's going to get it ,but I am worried about other people in this series that's going to get it. I have a feeling we're going to get a couple of deaths the next book.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm halfway through this series now and I'm quite sad. Poor Marie-Grace has the attention of no one, especially the adults in her life. She's clearly never been taught about grief despite living through it. This book carries the weight of loneliness and loss in such a way that should be overwhelming to a child. I'm disappointed we didn't get more time on Marie-Grace processing that, instead I spent most of this book feeling so sorry for what she's experienced. The book pivots from just the orphan plotline to one of plague and it hit hard, reminding me I also feel so sorry for our main character and what's to come for her. This made me oddly emotional when reading it through the eyes of my adult self. I think a child might not fully understand it all but maybe I've just had too much sorrow lately so it hit me hard.

[Danielle T · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marie-Grace finds a baby on their doorstop (as her papa is a doctor, this isn't totally random I suppose) and feels like she can don the older sister role again, as her own baby brother and mother died in an epidemic five years ago. However, doctor single dad is unfortunately busy enough that they really can't take on an infant, though not before he figures out a way to keep the foundling safe from slave catchers who want to claim him as property.

Still not a fan of this illustrator, sorry- maybe it's the posing and the lighting? but it feels like some kind of different-pieces-pasted-on-one-backdrop piece.

[Laura Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

More a 3.5, but I rounded up because I think the story is pretty good. It does a good job of showing how rampant illnesses were way back when. It also gave a good description on how many children might be orphaned when epidemics ran rampant. I do think it sugarcoated the atmosphere of an orphanage, however. Most were not as pleasant as the one in "Marie-Grace and the Orphans". Once again, the illustrations left a lot to be desired.

[Elisheva]

This book felt like half a story (which it technically is I guess?). There was no real conflict or arc or resolution of any story threads. It was just setting up the next book, Cecile’s half of the story.

The author introduces some important topics - slave catchers, orphanages, colorism and passing - but then hand waives it all away in favor of…not really sure as the rest of the book’s plot/arc is missing.

[Katie Kaste · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maire-Grace finds a baby on the doorstep of her father's practice. When he gets home he lets her know that baby Phillip, as Marie-Grace named him, needs to go to the orphanage tomorrow. A salve catcher shows up asking about the baby and the good Doctor pretends that Phillip is sick and has a long bill. They decide to take the baby to the orphanage where Marie-Grade goes to visit him every day. I really enjoyed this part of the story. When Marie-Grace starts volunteering at the orphanage.

[Aimee · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Getting more exciting with the storyline! Much better than the first one. They keep trying to make Marie-Grace and Cecile seem like best friends but I’m not seeing that with their friendship so far. There are much stronger friendships in other AG stories. I love the idea of these two being friends but it’s like a friend-acquaintance, not necessarily what they’re trying to make this series out to be.

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

In a sense I can't blame Marie-Grace for not wanting to give up Philip, and at the same time I just can't accept how greedy it is to risk his life for her own feelings. I guess that it's assumed if he (racially ambiguous baby, could pass for black or white) was at the white orphanage he wouldn't be found by the slaveholders, but I couldn't stop thinking about if her wanting to keep Philip could lead to him growing up enslaved.

[Katie Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's nice to have a plot complex enough to warrant 80 pages, especially one that is grounded in the interesting historical facts of M-G's life. Her father's being a doctor sets her up to deal with foundings and a yellow fever outbreak, and her own loneliness explains her strong attachment to these young orphans. Not bad.

[Jessica Kuznicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is where we finally get to know more about Marie-Grace, I feel like. She is very motherly and caring, and very lonely. Her work at the orphange is good, but I still have questions about how race was handled in this book. With the mention of nuns, you'd think religion would be dicussed but it's not. I like this book better than Meet Marie-Grace but still feel as if something is lacking.

[Meghan McFarland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tackling pandemics and racism? This series is more relatable to current times than I thought it’d be🤣. Props to the author on the way she handles discourse on race and racism in this book👏🏻. I feel for Marie-Grace, she appears to be so lonely. 😕 A rarity for AG main characters to be such introverts, but I love that she is.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought it would be more about how M-G actually helps. Not just takes plays with some kids and focuses on a single baby. This whole series is focused on yellow fever, which is important, but barely shows their everyday lives. Meh.

[Little Seal]

I liked this story despite there being some suspension of disbelief surrounding the reactions about the baby maybe being a slave and/or black. Maybe it's because everyone else in America at the time was very racist so I just assume Marie-Grace's father might also be racist too.

[Jacqueline M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cecile is infinitely more interesting than Marie-Grace, but I liked this book for it's historical fiction. The fear that the orphan will not be treated as white or free black brings history to life. Better than the first Marie-Grace focused book.

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always wondered why there aren’t orphanages anymore. The historical information section at the back of this book informed me. 5/5 for teaching me a cool new fact.
Also for making me cry over a BABY. I don’t even like babies.