Ten-year-old Julia Gillian's best friend is keeping secrets, their beloved lunch lady was replaced by a tyrant, and trumpet lessons prove difficult, making it hard for her to follow the music teacher's advice to "look for the joy."

Relates what becomes of Ermengarde and the other girls left behind at Miss Minchin's School after Sara Crewe leaves to live with her guardian, the Indian gentleman.

In 1949, thirteen-year-old Francine goes to Catholic school in Los Angeles where she becomes best friends with a girl who questions authority and is frequently punished by the nuns, causing Francine to question her own values.