CeeCee

♦ A brave overlay of a thought-provoking retelling of the Cinderella story, this does not arrive at a conventional fairy-tale ending, but something far better: the young heroine finds a pathway to freedom. CeeCee, who is Black, only has a scrap of paper with her true name on it that her mother gave her before they were separated by the cruel conditions of slavery. CeeCee grows up in Maryland, enslaved by a white family with two girls who treat her very poorly in wicked stepsister fashion. Digital illustrations effectively capture CeeCee’s stoicism, showing the warmth of the kitchen and the hardship of the attic where she is locked after she is caught trying to read. She repeatedly dreams of being rescued by a prince, but it is Binty, the cook, and her own resourcefulness that guide her to make a gown and coat suitable for her escape. When the time of CeeCee’s liberation arrives, safety comes from a different version of royalty—Harriet Tubman. Educators will love this opportunity to show the ongoing merits of the old tales: as vehicles for lessons, history, and metaphors in a guide to life. Readers looking for a straightforward retelling of Cinderella will be rewarded instead with a tale rich in depth as they root for CeeCee. Visually appealing illustrations feature dark shadows and effective use of light to depict CeeCee’s bravery as well as her persistent humanity in an inhumane situation. VERDICT With rich language and a complex subject matter deftly touched on throughout, this is suitable for intermediate students; it’s no fairy tale, but a retelling that amplifies courage and perseverance in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges.
—School Library Journal, starred review

♦ A familiar fairy tale is given a historical spin.
An enslaved Black girl dubbed CeeCee (her real name is a “secret…kept close to her heart”) toils endlessly for the Townsends, a cruel white family who own a plantation in Maryland. She’s prohibited from reading, but as she overhears the stories the children are learning to read, she’s inspired, and she begins to yearn for more. She faces an uphill battle; whenever Mrs. Townsend notices CeeCee so much as glancing at the pages of a book, she locks the girl in the mouse-infested attic. But her hopes are sustained by Binty, the cook, who plays the role of fairy godmother in this grounded retelling of “Cinderella.” As CeeCee falls asleep one night, Binty’s tales of Moses, a savior whom enslaved people follow to freedom, blend with her fantasies of Cinderella’s prince (portrayed as a Black man wearing a crown and kente cloth), and she awakens determined to escape to the North. Brimming with warmth, Freeman’s full-color digital illustrations depict the freckle-faced young protagonist’s melancholy in heartbreaking detail, while her vivid use of pattern and textures gives the visuals an almost three-dimensional, utterly immersive feel. Layering together references to the beloved fairy tale, Christian theology, and history, Keller celebrates the power of stories while paying tribute to the courage of all those who endured chattel enslavement.
Rewarding, potent, and wholly original.
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

♦ In riveting prose, Keller pens an engaging “Cinderella” variation about a girl, enslaved in Maryland, for whom layered stories offer freedom. When the cruel, pale-skinned daughters of CeeCee’s enslavers begin tutoring, brown-skinned CeeCee is beaten and locked away for even staring at a book’s pages. But household cook Binty encourages the girl and shares a tale of “an underground, secret savior who helped free enslaved people—a knight named Moses.” The story melds in CeeCee’s dreams with “Cinderella,” and she awakens with a plan to head north, for which she’ll need a gown, a pair of gloves, and a fitting coat, objects she painstakingly acquires. Binty, in the fairy godmother role, supplies the child with an old pocket watch: “You must get to the river by midnight. Moses will be there.” And it’s by the river that the youth reveals her true name—written on a slip of paper by her mother—before learning Moses’s real identity and setting forward to freedom. Freeman blends soft textures and vibrant colors to render largely domestic scenes in this immersive tribute to determination, community alliance, and self-knowledge. Contextualizing notes conclude.
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

♦ Shana Keller brilliantly adapts a classic fairy tale in CeeCee: Underground Railroad Cinderella. In this compelling picture book about an enslaved girl in Maryland named CeeCee, Keller’s prose flows so well that it feels like a history-worn tale itself. Early on, for instance, readers learn: “It’s possible that CeeCee might have forgotten her real name over time. But her mother had written it down on a scrap of paper before she left. It was a secret CeeCee kept close to her heart.”

After being separated from her mother, CeeCee is forced to wait on two entitled sisters of a plantation family. Those girls are able to enjoy learning, fun and scrumptious pastries while CeeCee does all the work and is sent to the attic at night as punishment whenever she doesn’t “behave.” From there, she gazes at the North Star, yearning for education and freedom. The family cook, an enslaved woman named Binty, serves up kindness and hope while telling CeeCee about the Underground Railroad and the Biblical figure of Moses. After listening to the sisters reading Cinderella, CeeCee’s dreams merge the two stories, as she envisions both Moses and an African prince. Eventually, Binty, acting as CeeCee’s fairy godmother, helps CeeCee escape, telling her to meet Moses by the river at midnight.

Young readers will be enthralled with Keller’s storytelling, while Freeman’s illustrations seamlessly blend the historical realities of slavery on Maryland’s Eastern Shore plantations with CeeCee’s fairy-tale dreams. The artwork contrasts wealthy plantation life—the white girls’ bright dresses, a fancy tea set and candelabra—with the darkness of the rough-hewn attic and the plainness of Binty’s kitchen to great effect, highlighting the injustice and exploitation underlying these pristine settings. CeeCee secretly uses beautiful scraps from the sisters’ sewing to create her own luxurious escape outfit in a meaningful twist on Cinderella’s ball gown. And as CeeCee runs into the deep dark woods on Binty’s appointed night, Freeman’s dark and stylized illustrations of leaves strikingly complement the reddish tones of CeeCee’s dress, achieving a foreboding yet hopeful tone.

The best surprise of all, which provides a nice twist on Prince Charming, awaits down by the river. Although this ending feels a bit abrupt, it nicely harkens back to the beginning of the book. CeeCee is an excellent, exciting and informative intersection of fairy tale and—as back matter further illuminates—real history.
—BookPage, starred review

The Cinderella story is retold through the lens of the Underground Railroad in this inspirational picture book about legacy, courage, and hope. CeeCee is not her real name, but it’s what the Townsend family calls her on the plantation where she works. Forbidden from learning with the Townsend daughters, CeeCee teaches herself in secret and soaks up stories from Binty, the cook. One story is not a story at all, however, and an unlikely prince appears to whisk CeeCee safely to the North.
—Foreword Reviews