Cecile Rey can"t wait for Mardi Gras, the dazzling season of parties and costume balls in New Orleans. For the grandest event of all, the Children"s Ball, Cecile is determined to come up with a fantastic costume like no other. Everyone will notice her! And after Mardi Gras, Cecile"s beloved brother, Armand, will finally come home after two long years in faraway France. But Mardi Gras season turns out to be even more exciting than Cecile expects when she meets a new girl named Marie-Grace Gardner. Together they form an unlikely friendship . . .and share a daring adventure! Includes an illustrated Looking Back essay about the history of free people of color in New Orleans. The story continues in the third book in the series: Marie-Grace and the Orphans.