Marie-Grace can’t wait to begin her journey up the Mississippi River with her father. The steamboat they’re traveling on is the biggest and fanciest boat Marie-Grace has ever seen. It’s crowded with all sorts of interesting passengers, including Wilhelmina Newman, a girl her age. Wilhelmina is traveling alone, and she’s carrying a secret in one of her trunks—clues to hidden Gold Rush treasure. Marie-Grace and Wilhelmina have to unravel the clues to find the gold—and they’re not the only ones looking for it! An illustrated “Looking Back” essay provides facts about the 1850s.

As C�cile exits a crowded showboat after enjoying a lavish Floating Circus, she stumbles—and when she gets up, she realizes that the cameo necklace she borrowed from her aunt is no longer on her neck. Knowing that the necklace was the last gift Tante Tay's husband gave her before he died, C�cile is desperate to find it. As she tracks down the people in the crowd who were near her when she fell, her search takes her into many corners of New Orleans, from a society tea party to the crowded French Market, even the dangerous cypress swamps...and deep into secrets she never imagined! An illustrated �Looking Back� essay provides facts about the 1850s.

Marie-Grace is excited that a well-known English opera company will perform in New Orleans—at the same theater where she takes singing lessons from Aunt Océane. Even better, her aunt has gotten a role in the opera! As Marie-Grace and her friend, Cécile, help out during rehearsals, they're thrilled to meet real opera stars and get a peek into theater life. But thrills turn to chills as the girls make disturbing discoveries behind the scenes! An illustrated "Looking Back" essay describes New Orleans' place as a leading cultural center for opera and theater in 1800s America.