Cute book set in New Orleans. Marie-Grace is a very likeable character as is Cecile. I can let my daughter read this without worrying about inappropriate content. There is a rich, mean-girl named Lavinia in the book, but Marie-Grace always rises above the meanness of the other girl -she always responds kindly to her no matter what happens. A good role model in a historical setting my child can learn from - love it. Marie-Grace has just moved back to her hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana where she doesn't have any friends, isn't a rich society girl, and barely remembers the preferred language... French. However, thanks to meeting a new friend, Cecile Rey, things start looking up. Marie-Grace is one of the newer historic American Girls. I enjoyed reading about 1853 New Orleans. Louisiana is a state that I don't know much about and I honestly never had any interest in learning more about it. Outside of the Sookie Stackhouse books (better know as True Blood), I don't recall reading any other books based in this state. I enjoyed that as Marie-Grace discovered and learned more about New Orleans, so did my little sister and I. Like with Meet Rebecca, we also ended up with a small lesson in a foreign language, French. Most parents will recognize the French in this book from their high school or college introductory French classes. It's all very basic, but it's a great start for young girls. I love that the American Girl books always offer plenty of opportunities to learn!The only thing I felt was lacking was that Marie-Grace didn't seem to have any lesson learn, like with most of the American Girls. Often this lesson is sacrifice like with Molly, Rebecca, and Caroline. Sometimes, there's hardships to overcome like with Kirsten and Addy. Other times there doesn't seem to be much of a lesson or challenge and that's where the story falls a little flat or tends to feel a bit empty such as with Josefina, Kit, Samantha and now Marie-Grace. I suppose it's not fair to say that those girls didn't have any challenges, because they did- Marie-Grace and Josefina's mothers passed-away, both of Samantha's parents were dead, and Kit's father was laid-off during the Great Depression and she had to learn how to share her house with complete strangers since her mom began renting out rooms (including her own!) to earn extra cash. But, those girls just didn't have to face the things that Kirsten (a pioneer) and Addy (a slave) did. From what I can tell this series is going to get a bit more tense and challenging for both Marie-Grace and Cecile as Yellow Fever takes over New Orleans, so the introductory book to this series can be forgiven.Overall, I did enjoy Meet Marie-Grace and I look forward to reading Meet Cecile with my sister. I am giving Meet Marie-Grace 4 out of 5 stars and like most American Girl books I would recommend this book to any young girl.
What do You think about Meet Marie-Grace (2011)?
I really enjoyed reading this book because I am thinking about buying the doll.
—Tita
i have the American girl doll along with the books.
—rEs
Liked it...French glossary in back was helpful.
—Slick
