Here it comes—grand and white and gleaming in the sun! It carries the latest news and mail from upriver, maple syrup for Harwood's General Store, and cotton bound for New Orleans. It brings hustle and bustle to a slow, hot day.

It is 1868, and young Blanche Douglas studies the Mississippi River. On this grand highway, the king of the road is the steam-boat. But the river is a trickster, swift and ever-changing; its muddy bottom holds the wrecks of many lost vessels.

Everyone knows that it takes daring and intelligence to navigate the Mississippi. Nobody knows that Blanche has decided to chart her own course: Someday she will pilot a mighty steamboat.

This fascinating picture-book biography tells the true story of an unusual girl whose courage and determination help her to become the country's first female steamboat captain.

From the dust jacket