Denise Lewis Patrick

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Meet Cecile

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Cecile Rey can't wait for Mardi Gras- New Orleans' dazzling season of parties and costume balls. For the grandest of all, the Children's Ball, Cecile is determined to come up with a fantastic costume like no one else's. Everyone will notice her! But Mardi Gras season turns turns out to be even more exciting than she expects when she meets a new girl named Marie-Grace Gardner. Together they form an unlikely friendship and share a daring adventure. Find out more about the history of free people of color in New Orleans in the illustrated "Looking Back" essay featured at the end of the book.

Selected Works

Historical Fiction
Meet Cecile
Cecile Amelie Rey is a free girl of color in 1850's New Orleans. It's an exciting time in her life-- Mardi Gras season, full of parties and balls, is coming up. More importantly, her beloved brother Armand is about to return from two years of study in France. But when she meets a new friend, unexpected adventures begin!
Troubles For Cecile
What happens to Cecile, her family, and her friend Marie-Grace as disaster hits the entire city of New Orleans? Find out how Cecile learns to deal with some difficult problems, and learns a lot about her own strengths.
Cecile's Gift
Every person is special, Cecile learns. But what, exactly, is the gift she has to offer her family and her beloved city of New Orleans?
The Adventures of Midnight Son
“In a voice strong and true, Patrick’s narrator easily carries the story, winning readers; hearts…”
Kirkus Reviews
Poems
Spirit Revisited
Are you searching for perspective? Reassurance? Fulfillment? Take these poems with you. These are times for reflection...
Picture Book
Ma Dear’s Old Green House
“This heartwarming story is just right for intergenerational sharing.”
–School Library Journal
Biography
A Lesson For Martin Luther King, Jr.
From The Childhood of Famous Americans Series of Books