Cecile Rey and Marie-Grace Gardner

First post besides my intro! Here, I'm hoping to create a post with  known, factual information about Marie-Grace and Cecile so you don't have to google all over the place for known info. First of all, these two girls were leaked through a booksellers catalog - apparently a girl who worked their took pictures of the book covers and, well, the rest is history. The pictures were released onto the internet and are now spreading like wildfire. Exactly when they'll be released is unknown, but they are from 1853 in New Orleans (hence the French names). Amazon says that the first book will be released in September 2011, so we don't have to wait too long! American Girl will probably start dropping some hints about the new girls this summer. Judging by the images, both girls look very well-off. One isn't a best friend doll of the other, both girls tell half of the story, Cecile has three books in this series and Marie-Grace has three books. The series begins with Meet Marie-Grace, the second book is Meet Cecile, the third is Marie-Grace and the Orphans, the fourth is Troubles for Cecile, the fifth is Marie-Grace makes a Difference, and the sixth is Cecile's Gift.

http://messageboard.americangirlfan.com/post?id=5289692 has great pictures of the book covers and great descriptions. Judging by these, it appears that 1 and 2, 3 and 4, and 5 and 6 tell difference girls points of view of the same events. That will most definitely be interesting. Judging by the descriptions, it can be inferred that Marie-Grace is shy, Cecile is more confident, and both girls care about others (as they're volunteering at an orphanage). The yellow fever and orphanage volunteering portion of the story kind of reminds me of the book Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson.

For anyone who could possibly still be skeptic, AG HAS trademarked the names Marie-Grace and Cecile- http://www.trademarkia.com/mariegrace-77630955.html.

That's all for now! Stay tuned - I'm going to write another post discussing what the dolls may look like, their clothes, their era, and so forth.